#And would have at one point; at least pointed a gun at Snowballs

[wannaeatramyeon]

How Lookism men confess to YOU they've caught feelings

G/N. Soft. Fluffy. All that good stuff. (Gun, Jake, Goo, James Lee/DG, Johan, Vin, Samuel, Eli, Ryuhei)

Gun opts for somewhere private, just the two of you. Whether that's his home, yours, or somewhere only you both know.

He tells you with certainty his feelings for you. That there's no point divulging if he didn't think it would work out, if you weren't better together.

Intensity radiates from him. His words, eyes, aura. He keeps his confession simple and to the point, unexpectedly romantic with how matter of fact he is.

.

.

Jake thought he was being subtle, but there's a lot of prying eyes in the shadows.

He shoos the Big Deal members away in his best authoritative, no nonsense boss tone. The one he reserves to deal with serious matters. Which this is. Of utmost seriousness.

Behind his beaming toothy grin and confident stance are anxious eyes. His words are cheesy and well-rehearsed. Sincerity pulses through his every fibre, leaving you starry eyed and breath hitched.

.

.

Goo announces his feelings with a grin on his lips.

Corners you somewhere crowded, at a completely inappropriate moment. But of course. It's only inappropriate if Goo deems it to be so, and there's no time like the present.

The words are said lightly, like he could play it off as a joke any moment. His ego too fragile for rejection. But his carefree attitude is off kilter, body language tense. Gaze steady and more serious than you have ever seen.

.

.

James is flippant. The arrogant, cocky man claims you as his already. Confesses without any doubt in his mind that rejection could happen, or it could sting.

He's not a gambling man. Only plays when the odds are in his favour and the gains far outweighs the losses.

There's no ifs or buts. Talks about 'us' and 'we' and a future where you're by his side.

.

.

Johan pulls out the words reluctantly and when you least expect. Like they will choke him if he keeps it from you any longer.

He says it without looking at you. Eyes fixed on the ground, a point in the distance, Miro, Eden, anywhere but you.

Brows knitted together, hands white knuckled. A second away from running away. But he needs to tell you, he has to. The words are too big to swallow down anymore.

.

.

Vin peppers his confession with insults and half-jokes. A type of self defence to spare his heart.

Hands in pocket, like it's no big deal. Words spilling out, trying to inject indifference into them. Back against the wall, peering over at you. 

Sunglasses firmly on, eyes shielded. Because he can't bear to be any more vulnerable than he has to right now. His words are barbed and prickly, but his feelings are completely bared.

.

.

Samuel offers his heart in between lofty promises and delusions of grandeur.

Words murmured against the back of your hand, breath ghosting over your skin. Eyes fixed on yours, fiery and almost challenging you to say no.

But a relentless phantom haunts him, one that he silences over and over again.

-That being by his side won't be enough, that offering you to be his queen is inadequate, lacking and there's so much more that you deserve.

Still, he promises you the world and is committed to giving you nothing less.

.

.

Trepidation lines Eli’s words. Like he can’t believe he’s here again. After everything that has happened, with everything on his plate.

He’s forced himself to make room for you, carved out a part of his life.

He confesses in a cramped dusty room in Hostel. Sat opposite one another on rickety uneven chairs, so close your knees are touching and there’s no personal space left. 

Body leaning forward, craving your touch and proximity as he rids the last remnants of hesitancy and takes a leap of faith.

.

.

Ryuhei tells you over and over again.

Until it becomes a daily mantra of sorts for him, and part of your day for you. At first as a joke, or at least you thought so. And then his earnestness snowballed until you could no longer ignore it.

He confesses, with the same sort of childish joy he always feels when he's with you. Tonight, his blood is thrumming in his vein and his pulse is beating in his ears.

With a hushed voice and hope in his eyes: he tells you once more.

[soullumii]

hold me steady

joel miller x f!reader, jackson era, fluff, nonsexual praise kink (is that a thing?)

no smut, just fluff | 1.5k words

Joel teaches you how to shoot a sniper while on your first patrol, praising you all the while.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷--------------------------------------------------------------------

As pretty as it was, winter in Jackson was your least favorite.

Especially when you were put on patrols.

The white snow crunched beneath your boot-clad feet as you and Joel traversed the mountainside looking out for Infected, the cold seeping through your jeans and coat.

The patrol was going smoothly with barely any Infected showing up on the well-worn path. And when one did, Joel took it out easily, or you managed to shoot them with your pistol before they could land a hit. For your first patrol, it wasn’t bad at all. And Joel helped ease the small seed of anxiety in your stomach.

He walked a few steps ahead of you, pistol at the ready as you both trudged through the white forest toward a cliffside.

“You doin’ alright back there?” he called out to you.

“Yep! Just fine,” you responded, hands clenched over your own pistol. You had only shot it a few times before in training and the couple of times you and Joel had come face to face with an Infected on this outing.

You were out with Joel for a purpose: to practice.

Joel was proficient in anything dealing with Infected. Stabbing, fist fighting, shooting, you name it—he knew.

You were…not as well versed. You had been in a QZ for most of your life, working as a teacher. Things in the QZ weren’t good by any means, but it was better than fighting for yourself out in no man’s land. However, that ended when Fireflies launched several attacks on the QZ. Thankfully, you had managed to escape, although narrowly.

You were left stumbling around in Wyoming after that, doing your best to avoid Infected. All you had was the switchblade FEDRA gave all their school teachers and a few MREs in your pack.

Then, a patrol from Jackson had found you, freezing, hungry, and alone and they thankfully took you in.

You worked as a teacher for them, too, helping the little kids of Jackson learn about history and math, and English. You loved it. Jackson was so much kinder than the QZ. However, they did require everyone older than 18 to partake in patrols every now and then. You hadn’t been on one yet, having been only briefly trained on how to hold a gun and shoot.

With school out for the holidays, now was the perfect time for your first patrol, and Joel Miller was the one to take you.

You had met him a couple of times before at the Tipsy Bison and at the few community events they held in Jackson. He was a kind man, if not a bit rugged, and you couldn’t help the feelings for him that had begun to form after your interactions. And, he seemed to reciprocate them, too.

Joel didn’t exactly fit the rumors you had heard of him: that he was villainous, ruthless, and merciless. You could sense that those qualities were hidden away inside him, but that they were only used in dire situations. And Ellie had told you as much when you and she became more acquainted.

You loved Ellie. She and Dina would pop over to the school and have snowball fights with the kids or play tag with them. It warmed your heart to see the kids enjoy a life that wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for the founders of Jackson.

Or for the patrols that kept it safe.

Joel held up a hand and you stopped, holding your breath. You could hear it before he even pointed it out: the wailing of Infected. They sounded far enough away, but they could still be a potential threat to Jackson.

Joel waved you forward and you both crouched behind a boulder, peering across the cliffside to hone in on the stray Infected huddling over a carcass of a deer. You tucked your pistol into the back of your jeans.

“What do we do?” You whispered. They were too far to fire at with the pistol, and the valley between you and them was too wide to jump across. Thankfully, that meant they wouldn’t be able to get to you, but it also meant you couldn’t get to them.

Joel reached behind him and grabbed the sniper slung over his shoulder. “We take ‘em out.” He looked down at you and held out the weapon. “You ever shoot one of these?”

You reared back, staring at the gun with wide eyes. You were a little scared having only handled a much smaller gun, but a part of you was curious, excited even, to be taught to handle one of this caliber. “No, I haven’t.”

“Take it, I’ll show you.”

He handed it to you. It was heavier than you thought (Joel made it look as light as a feather) and you fumbled a bit, accidentally pointing the barrel at him. His eyes widened in surprise and he laughed, guiding the barrel away from him and towards the cliffside with two fingers. “Easy…”

“Sorry—”

“You’re fine, darlin’.”

With the gun in your hold, Joel brought down the stands and propped it over the top of the boulder. He guided it so that the back of the gun hit the crook of your shoulder, snug in the folds of your big jacket.

“Alright, lean down so that your cheek lines up with the stock,” he guided, and you followed. “Good, put your hand here, the other goes up here. Keep your finger off the trigger.”

You listened, doing exactly as he said. “You’re doin’ great, much better listener than Ellie was.”

You laughed, hands shaking a bit around the gun, but Joel’s praise had you warming up amidst the freezing cold. You could imagine Ellie groaning about being told what to do, or whining when she didn’t make the shot, and you giggled quietly into the gun, then you remembered what you were giggling into and you froze.

“You okay?” Joel asked you, voice soft.

You nodded and swallowed your trepidation as you stared at the murder machine in your grip. “Yeah… I’m fine.”

“Good,” he gave your back a comforting rub with a large, gloved hand. “I want you to get used to the feelin’ of it. It’s not gonna be kind to you when you pull that trigger, so hold her close, like you’re ‘bout to lose her.”

You side-eyed him, thinking that perhaps he was joking, but Joel’s eyes were hard. He was stern as he peered down at you, and you felt a bit antsy, as if you were about to be graded on your performance.

You instead focused your attention on the task at hand rather than how he was making you feel, and tried to follow along, holding the sniper tight but not too tight to where you were uncomfortable. Just tight enough to where you felt it wouldn’t leave your side, just like he said.

“Okay…now what?”

“Now look through that scope and find your first target. Make sure ya leave room for the bullet to drop. Aim it a lil’ bit higher than your target.”

You did as he said, watching the reticle of the scope lift up above the head of a snarling Infected.

“Okay, got it.”

“Good job, darlin’. Now, take a deep breath in and slowly breathe it out, squeeze the trigger like you love it—nice and slow. Steady.”

You breathed in, your nerves taking over. The deep breath helped, but you knew it would be loud—you couldn’t brace yourself for the sound. After a long wavering moment, you squeezed the trigger.

BOOM!

When you opened your eyes, the Infected was still standing.

“What—?”

“You flinched. And you closed your eyes.”

“Oh." How did you manage to mess up so badly? "I’m sorry.”

“No worries, let’s try again, okay?"

You nodded and he instructed you again. "Pull back on that lever to eject the cartridge.” You followed, flinching a little when the cartridge flew out and sunk into the snow.

Anxiety gripped your throat. “Joel, I don’t know if I can do this—”

“You can, baby.” He shuffled in closer, his warmth transferred to you as he laid his hands over yours. His chest pressed into your back. He squeezed your palms around the rifle and you relaxed into him. “Breathe. Line up. You’ve got this.”

You’ve got this.

If Joel believed in you, you could do it.

You took a deep breath and peered through the scope, lined it up with the Infected, and aimed a little bit higher to make room for the bullet to drop.

“One…two…three…shoot.”

You loosed your breath and pulled the trigger like you loved it right on his command without hesitation, and Joel held you steady, body warm as he curled around you, arms strong as he gripped the sniper right along with you. The gun didn’t jerk this time and the sound wasn’t as bad since you knew it was coming. The bullet flew across the cliffside, and the Infected across the way wailed as the round sunk into its skull, collapsing to the ground.

“That’s it. Good girl.” Joel praised, patting your back and squeezing your arm. “I’m proud of you.”

You grinned and looked up at him. His eyes focused on you with pride, and a smile pulled at his lips. “Can you do another for me?”

For Joel? You’d do anything. Especially if it meant he’d look at you like that again.

You ejected the cartridge and lined up again. “Yeah, I can.”

[gamerwoo]

[SKZ Imprinted] Stray Kids: Dungeons & DragonsWerewolves (Spin-Off)

Characters: ot8 skz x ocs

Genre/warnings: college au, werewolf au (sort of), humor, minor angst. lots of d&d happening (coming from someone who knows very little about d&d), possible major character death in the beginning and the end but not really, a twist on dream theory

Word count: 2,976

Summary: What if it was all just one elaborate D&D campaign?

a/n: this wasn't requested i just thought this might be fun hehe

SKZ Imprinted Masterlist

This was it. This was the moment the entire pack had been waiting for.

Jungkook was back.

The only problem was it wasn't on the terms they'd hoped. They wanted Namjoon to track him down. They wanted the hunters to bring him to them under safe circumstances so they could be sure everyone on their side would be safe.

Instead, it was chaos.

Ryujin was held tightly in front of him, one of his strong arms wrapped around her to keep her there. In his other hand was a gun, the barrel pressed to her temple. Jungkook's wild eyes scanned the small crowd in front of him.

"Don't move," he threatened through clenched teeth, his jaw impossibly tight, "or I'll shoot."

But how could Minho not move? Of course he was going to do anything to save his mate, even if it meant putting his own life in danger.

He lunged forward, betting on his reflexes being faster than Jungkook's. The hunter moved his arm that held the gun to his sister's head and--

Bam!

The room froze, all eyes going from Ryujin to Minho as time seemed to slow. Chan's jaw dropped as he watched his brother fall to his knees in front of Jungkook. He saw the bullet come out from the back of Minho's head--

"No fuckin' way!"

Aeri slowly lifted her gaze from the two large books she propped up around her like a child in school taking an exam and trying to hide their test behind folders and binders. Spread out in front of her were more papers. But instead of her eyes being wide as she read off of the papers she had written and spent hours planning, she was now glaring at the cause of the interruption.

"Minho died?!" Hyunjin gasped, looking at the dungeon master with wide brown eyes.

"Well dumbass over here wanted to just lunge at Jungkook like a psychopath!" she stated, gesturing across the long table to the psychopath in question.

Minho still looked displeased, continuing his earlier outburst, "There's absolutely no shot I die there."

"There was actually a shot," Seungmin stated, "and you did die to it."

Minho continued to glare at Aeri as he grabbed his d20 without looking, while she scanned over her paperwork to make sure she was correct -- even though she knew she was. She had copies of all of their character sheets and had been keeping careful track of all of their stats. Minho definitely hit 0.

She looked up and nodded once, stating, "Roll."

It was her idea to start this D&D campaign. She actually came up with all of the characters and their backgrounds. She also decided to modify it to make it at least a little more realistic.

Originally, the eight boys were supposed to be part of a gang with all of them having different roles. But her boyfriend begged to be a werewolf, and then Seungmin decided he needed to be one, and it snowballed into all eight men banning together to create their werewolf pack.

Chan was their fearless alpha, which gave him an extra strength point just for that. Aeri assigned Minho as a Rogue, taking some inspiration from his slyness in real life. Changbin was a Rogue Barbarian, using a mix of stealth and brute force to take down any foes in his path. The others in the pack were simply 'Scholars', a class Aeri invented for this "realistic" campaign -- though, Hyunjin's character had a mysterious past that nobody knew details about, and they had yet to discover anything else about his possible class or alignment.

Overall, the girlfriends of the group were simple Human Scholars with their different alignments. The only exceptions were Jamie, and the sisters. Jamie's class and alignment were both unknown, though her character was a mostly non-verbal person with a lot of her thoughts, emotions, and past kept a mystery.

The youngest of the Jeon sisters was classified as a Fighter, while Elsie was a Werewolf Hunter -- another class Aeri invented, but said it was a sub-class of Fighter.

And their brother was made one of the villains, and was the current main villain. All because Aeri was upset he wouldn't join their campaign.

Minho's die hit the table. 14.

"One win," he smirked.

"Two more to go," Aeri reminded him.

"Wasn't there a rule last time about not going with Minho's first answer and letting the group decide?" Ankita recalled while the rolls for combat continued.

"Yeah, but it wasn't as fun," Aeri sighed. "I made an executive decision as DM to undo the rule."

"Honestly," Jamie spoke up, holding a steaming mug of tea between both hands, "it's his own fault for getting shot."

"It's Aeri's fault for rolling a 19!" Minho shouted, making Mari jump during her turn to roll, prematurely dropping the die on the table.

"Okay, okay," Chan stepped in to calm the group before they decided to gang up on his girlfriend, "let's remember this isn't the first time someone got shot -- and Elsie lived."

"Barely," she stated. "I literally met God, like, 3 times."

The bad thing about having a DM who only just recently got into D&D and only knew the bare minimum -- if that -- was that Aeri tended to just make things up as she went. She wasn't always sure when to roll Perception or Initiative or when to roll for one's literal life. So sometimes she just...made things up.

The good thing about having a DM like Aeri, though, was that things were always interesting. Sometimes she would throw things in as she went, even if they weren't pre-planned. Having her ex-boyfriend, Taehyung be the original bad guy along with her mutual friends with him was something she had planned all along, but she decided to really focus on Jungkook out of nowhere when he refused to join the campaign when she offered that one time he came over for the Halloween party. She had always planned for Elsie to be a Fighter, but decided last minute to add on Werewolf Hunter when her and Seungmin went on The World's Shortest Break just to tease them. She made the decision while they were actively rolling for their Abilities to lower Minho, Hyunjin, and Jisung's Intelligence and Wisdom scores despite what they had rolled because she just couldn't have them being smart in any universe.

The die hit the table again. 1.

Aeri smirked at Minho, "Two losses. Good luck, champ."

"Two?!" Minho exclaimed angrily. "But I--"

"If you roll less than 10, it's one loss. If you roll a 1, it counts for two," Seungmin explained before rolling his eyes. "Don't you pay attention to the rules?"

"Not when Chan's girlfriend makes up half of them!" he shouted, gesturing toward the DM at the head of the table.

All she did was stare back at Minho, glance around the table, and shrug.

"Some of us died several times and aren't complaining," Elsie reminded him.

"Babe, can you just roll?" Ryu whined softly. "This is supposed to be fun."

"It's fun when I'm not about to die!" he exclaimed again before tossing the die across the table, landing on Hyunjin's character sheets.

The younger boy looked down in front of him before looking up at Minho to tell him, "19."

Minho tossed his head back and loudly groaned before shouting, "Motherfucker!"

The rest of the table, however, was having a fantastic time watching Minho struggle. He was so close to an instant win, and they couldn't help but laugh at his failure.

"If you die, you can always have Yoongi bring you back to life," Minseo shrugged. "I don't see the problem."

"That was only because Yoongi showed up for one game night and he wanted to do something cool," Aeri stated. "If he's not here, he can't help you."

"That's a stupid rule and you know it," Minho huffed, rolling his eyes until they glared at Aeri.

"Not stupid. Intentionally mean," Hyunjin corrected.

Aeri just grinned, "If it wasn't so funny seeing Minho get this mad at a game, maybe the rules would be different."

"Monopoly may end friendships but DnD completely burns all bridges of friendship," Ankita said quietly as she stared down at the table, too afraid to look up in case she caught Minho's intense stare.

Minho blew on the die, mumbling, "C'mon, c'mon..."

Finally, with a deep breath that was slowly let out, Minho tossed the die onto the table. Everyone leaned over to see what the outcome was, some standing up from their seats to see. And...

Ryu cried out Minho's name, one hand reaching out for him as she squirmed to get away, but Jungkook just tightened his grip. Some of the pack stayed frozen, trying to process what had happened as Minho blood pooled on the floor around where he lay seemingly lifeless. Others fell to their knees, sobs wracking their bodies.

Chan was one of the few that hadn't yet processed what exactly had happened as he stared at Minho's body. But as he stared, he realized...he was still breathing. Was it possible that maybe, somehow, Jungkook hadn't used a silver bullet? Maybe he didn't have access to that after running away? Maybe there was a chance for Minho to live.

But they would have to act quickly.

"I try to distract Jungkook to get his attention off of Minho and avoid a finishing blow, and so Changbin can sneak around and attack," Chan stated for his turn.

Aeri nodded for him to roll the dice.

Slowly, the alpha put up his hands in surrender. Jungkook's gaze and gun immediately pointed to him, but Chan didn't even flinch.

"It doesn't have to end like this," he said slowly and calmly as he tentatively took a small step forward, testing the waters. Jungkok was shaking and had clearly lost all rational thought, but this was still a risk Chan was willing to take for his brother. "You don't want to hurt Ryujin -- I know you don't. You care about her. You just want your family back and for things to go back to normal. Trust me, I understand that. But...this isn't how you should go about it."

Changbin tried to pull himself together, sniffling as he wiped stray tears from his cheeks. His reddened eyes stay trained on Jungkook as he slowly and cautiously took a step to the side. He just wanted to get out of the rogue hunter's line of sight. But currently, Jungkook seemed to have tunnel-visioned onto Chan.

"You still have a chance to stop yourself from hurting her and making it worse," Chan assured Jungkook. His eyes were sincere, even if they were still blood red. "If you walk away now and let Minho go--"

"This isn't realistic literally at all," Elsie was the one to interrupt this time with a huff and a roll of her eyes.

Aeri froze, eyes wide in annoyance and staring at her sheet. She slowly moved her gaze to the older girl toward the other end of the table, "What now?"

"You really think Kookie wouldn't notice that absolute unit side-stepping away?" she snorted.

Jisung sighed, "Fine, I'll roll for distract--"

"No," Seungmin stated. "Every time you roll for speed when you're driving in serious situations, you end up going, like, 5 under."

"Fine, then you do it," Jisung told him in a sassy, high-pitched voice.

"For Minho? No."

"Your character would, though," Hyunjin reminded him.

Seungmin let out the loudest and most drawn-out groan before picking up his die and rolling it in his hand. He threw it on the table and immediately was beaming.

"15!"

However, his smile fell when he saw the way Aeri was looking at him, "What?"

Seungmin took a step forward to start running and immediately shifted, roaring at Jungkook as he lunged toward him. Jungkook's arm moved at lightening speed, and all Chan could do was cry out, "No!"

Jungkook shot Seungmin in the chest, but the distraction was still enough for Changbin to sneak up on the hunter and wrap one arm around his neck before forcing the gun out of his grasp with his other hand. Chan rushed to Ryu's aid to get her away from her brother before handing her off to Felix, who escorted the girl out of the room while she was kicking and screaming for Minho.

"How do I get shot?!" Seungmin demanded.

"Shut it, you're still alive. It wasn't a vital shot. Get a higher number next time," she said dismissively before going back to the story.

Jisung and Jeongin rushed to help Changbin subdue Jungkook, while Hyunjin went to the alpha's side as he examined the hurt wolves. Chan had rolled Minho onto his back and saw his chest was still rising and falling, even if it was shallow. He knew a bullet that wasn't made out of silver wouldn't kill him, but it could still wound him pretty badly. For all he knew, he could have permanent brain damage. And Seungmin could face something similar.

"We need to get them out of here," Chan breathed, trying to stay calm. "We need to get them to Josh and Aya."

"How are they still alive?" Hyunjin questioned. "It shouldn't be possible, right?"

Chan had his suspicion the bullet wasn't silver, but he had to make sure. His eyes scanned the floor until he found the bullet from Minho. Without even thinking about it, he reached for it, hissing in pain as it immediately sizzled against his skin.

His eyes widened.

"Roll to kill Jungkook!" Changbin shouted out of turn.

Aeri immediately turned to him, "Can you wait your turn? It's technically Jeongin's anyway."

"Roll to kill Jungkook!" Jeongin cheered with a wide grin.

"Don't you have the lowest stats?" Jisung asked.

"No, I'm way smarter than you are."

"Are you sure?" Aeri asked, her tone serious as she looked across the table at the youngest. "If you don't roll high enough, it could end badly for you."

"What, another fake shot?" Minho scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"No."

All eyes went to Aeri. This was very crucial information to the campaign. She was warning them that this time, there would be a very real death for Jeongin's character. There would be no going back.

"I don't want to spoil anything, but...I know this run means a lot to you guys so far. So...just a warning," she told him with a shrug. "Are you sure?"

The group looked around between each other. The girls didn't really have much to do with the current predicament, so it was something the boys had to work out. But ultimately, they decided it was Jeongin's decision. Did he think he would be lucky enough to roll a number high enough to actually get rid of the biggest villain thus far in the campaign?

Jeongin stared at his d20. Did he think he could do it? Did he even want to risk it? But if he pulled it off, it would be so cool. And it would be such a big accomplishment within the campaign. They could move onto something new or even expand Ryu and Elsie's lore with this. Overall, the opportunities for Jeongin pulling this off would be great for the group.

But if he failed...

Jeongin lifted his hand, pausing like he was second-guessing if he should pick up the die. But then his hand moved forward again.

"You're killing me off?"

The majority of the group at the table jumped. Hyunjin even let out a gasp and almost fell into Mari's lap as he put a hand to his chest.

"What are you doing here?" Ryu whined, looking at her twin brother that had just walked into Jeongin's parents' dining room.

"Didn't you tell me to pick you guys up at 9?" Jungkook asked, checking his phone again to make sure he had the time right.

Jisung's eyes widened, "It's already 9?!"

"It's passed my bedtime..." Ankita mumbled.

"Oh, shit," Chan chuckled as he also checked the time on his phone. "Didn't realize it was already ending time."

"But it was just getting good!" Minseo whined.

"And I'm on death's door with chucklehead over there," Minho scowled, pointing his thumb over his shoulder to Seungmin. "We can't just leave it like this!"

"If you guys are killing me, shouldn't I fight for myself?" Jungkook asked.

Aeri scoffed, "No! You didn't want to join the campaign to begin with!"

"Yeah, but now my life is on the line," he countered. "Can't I join in at least for the boss battle?"

"We don't even know if Jeongin is gonna go for it," Jamie said.

"And we apparently won't know until next week," Aeri sighed as she slapped one of her books closed.

"Well," Jungkook began as everyone started collecting their belongings and standing up from their chairs to leave, "maybe I'll hang around next week to see what happens."

Aeri eyed the boy up and down, eyes narrowed. She had wanted him to join... Maybe letting him play his own boss battle -- if it happened -- would be interesting. Even if Jeongin didn't go through with it, just watching the group play might convince Jungkook to join.

She grabbed Jungkook's character sheets, and the notes from the campaign so far from her folder and slapped them into his chest, "Study up, buddy."

"Alright, dingdong," Elsie walked up behind her younger brother and reached up to mess up his hair, "let's roll."

Jungkook shot her a dirty look, "Can you not?"

"Bye, guys!" Ryujin called as she put a hand on her brother's back to guide him out behind Elsie.

"Can't believe we're leaving it on a cliffhanger..." Changbin mumbled, clearly unsatisfied with the current ending.

Aeri just shrugged with a sweet smile, "Isn't that what this campaign does best?"

-

tag list (italics are unable to tag): @honeyylin @brattybunfornct @henloiamaweirdobye @anissanightyoung @mythicalamphitrite @nokachiki @liendoesja @smollquokka @hosh1kwon @cyberpunksunwoo @jadeblackwoll @jaspriv @sankyg @animefreak2112 @stay-berry @shuabby1994 @sarcasticsweetlara @bee-the-loser [if you’d like to be added to the tag list, please fill out this form!!!]  

[rs-hawk]

What is your headcanon With Adam parents?Since the prologue is vague there are a lot of options:both dead,abandoned him to the servants cause “yeah he’s like our plan Z In case we need him as new ruler”,abandoned him when he became a beast (didn’t hesitate to point a gun at him) or whatever “this kid was the results of my husband/wife cheating”

I assume they’re dead and Adam is a Prince in the way that Prince Harry’s son is a Prince- far down the line and will never take the throne. That explains why no one in the Royal family would come looking for him. Even given the collective amnesia of the village, the Royal Family of any Kingdom would keep extensive records. I’m not sure about France, but in England and Spain, there’s even instances of children born out of wedlock being recorded as they were favored by their parents, their other parent was still a high ranking noble, etc.

A Prince that was meant to rule the Kingdom one day wouldn’t slip through the cracks like that. Even if forgotten, record keepers would show him. There would be evidence of previous announcements and celebrations that would be hard for the Royal Family to ignore. However, if he’s so far back in the line of succession that there’s basically a snowball’s chance in Hell he’ll get the throne (say he’s the son of the 6th Prince, and all other 5 Princes have two kids, okay so he’s still 17th in line), then it makes sense that no one came to find him, or at least double check records to make sure he didn’t exist.

Also, someone would have at least come to maintain the castle if he was an heir to the throne. He would have learned to read much younger than 10. It just doesn’t make sense that his parents would be alive and he would be so undereducated and in such a state imo.

[searsage]

Your assignment was to initiate a snowball fight in the square, not attempt first degree murder…"

The warmind pointed out cooly as Felwinter examined the ingloriously hard chunk of snow coverd ice, with intent optics.

"What? You think I'd throw this at someone? I've no interest in harming civilians…how resilient are titans you say?" The exo inquired darkly as he stared at the Vzdokhnut's store front.

"Felwinter, if you cannot initiate your assigned objective, I will not hesitate to-"

"Im on it..I'm just working out how to do this…" Felwinter grit out as the Exo awkwarldy grabbed a fistful of snow, the cold white material was wet and squishy, it weighed noticably more then earth's snow, yet much more easily merged together…

For a long moment he stared at the snow melting slowly in his hands, and as he studied the pristine frail microscopic crystals for some incredulously inane reason, Felwinter was griped by the sudden urge to taste the fluffy white substance, however Rasputin put a stop to the Exo's reckless train of thought as if he was still linked to the Felwinter's mind..

"Eroupa is comprised of 84% ice, and 16% organic matter, of that 84% at least 22% of that is comprised of nonindigenous bacterial pathogens, while 19% of the remaining 62% is contaminated by naturally occuring radiation…I am confident your inorganic organs may no doubt flush the poisoning easily from your system, however, there could be possible harm inflected on your lesser organs before any potentially harmful contaminants are efficiently purged, It would be unfortunate to have to replace them Siddhartha."

While the snow did look tantalizingly pure, the Exo dropped the scandalous melting snowball, he wouldn't test Resputin's readiness to replace his organics with superior upgrades, almost constantly he wondered why they colonize such a hell hole, the sheer idiocy was beyond Felwinter..

"Spring won't like this, she loves the damn snow, now all we have is this crap.." The Exo sneered as he envisioned Spring's dismay at not being able to play in the snow.

"I have scheduled an appointment, to have the two of you inoculated, however it has been post poned, until further notice you are not to let her engage with the snow of Europa"

"You dont have to tell me that, ill keep her safe."

"I dont doubt you would, now if you would, pick up the snow ball and hurl it at the closest target, think of it as…target practice, these are intruders and they are on my lawn, erradicate them" the warmimd commands way too comfortable with the malice that radiates from his reverse russian words.

Felwinter's optics nerrowed in on a group of innocent bystanders, two babbling warlocks refilling the festive sidewalk urns with solar energy as they bicker back and fourth with a hunter, who was warming their hands beside them.

Their public generosity did little to spare them, they were figuratively on his lawn and that wouldn't do…not at all.

"Rodger.." The Exo breathed as he grabbed a fist full of snow to form a renewed snowball, he wielded it as if it were a void garnade, and for a while his victims were none the wiser, at least not until the hunter perceptive as ever, took note of his approach and visably stiffened, not that it mattered because by the time his hand raised, they did a very hunter thing, dodging out of the way and to safety, leaving behind the two confused warlocks as oblivious sitting ducks.

Felwinter's artificial heart would have bled for them and the betrayal they faced, he would have considered sparing them if only he gave a damn.

Unfortunately they were not spring, Elsie or Osiris.

So no, he didn't give a single damn about hurling the snowy garnade into the face of one of his victims, they screeched on their way down as if shot by a double barrel shot gun…with really good range…their anguish..it felt liberating…

the other warlock had fallen over in the alarm, staring in horror at their obliterated fallen comrade, the terror in there eyes did not move the Exo as he slowly advanced on them, they scrabbled back begging for mercy but for all it was worth, it was pointless after he grabbed another handful.

But just as he was about to land the killing blow on his prey, Felwinter felt a impact followed closely by a shock of cold against his neck, his scarlet eyes slid to the side to fix the sly coward of a hunter with a leer that would scare the gun ammo off a cabal.

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

I have a few more winter prompt ideas for the NFL AU! Take your pick or do all of them if you want! 😄 1) This is for any of the snow ones (first snowfall/building snow people or sculptures/snow angels/snow down the back of the neck/catching snowflakes on your tongue/taking pictures in the snow): It's film review day at the practice facility and it starts snowing really heavily. Someone on the team notices and runs out to the practice field to make a snow angel/snowman & they convince the rest of the team to come out and play in the snow. Fluff & shenanigans ensue. Maybe also the team's social media team manages to grab some candid footage of the whole thing, posts it, and something Jake & Ronnie do in the background gets the fans speculating as to their relationship. 2) Building a gingerbread house - Ronnie convinces Jake to invite the team (or at least the rest of the offense/other TEs) over to his place for a gingerbread house decorating party.

3) Secret Santa or other gift exchange/White Elephant gift exchange - A team gift exchange of some kind? Maybe Jake gets Ronnie for secret Santa? Or Ronnie gets Jake?

I love every single one of these, get ready for some classic annie bullet points

okay so with the one with the playing in the snow on the practice field

it's definitely mickey that goes out into the snow first

mickey is baby in every universe, and no one can say no to him

so when he runs out and starts yelling at everyone to join, they roll their eyes affectionately and go out onto the practice field with him

and i think pretty much every snow activity would be taking place lol

snowball fights, making snowmen, snow angels, EVERYTHING and it's glorious cause it's just a bunch of huge beefy dudes playing in the snow like a bunch of kids and I'm simply obsessed with the visuals of that lolllll

and YES to the social media team getting a few vids and Jake and Ronnie being freaking adorable in the background

maybe they're making a snowman together, or Jake wraps her up in a hug cause she's cold

the fans are SPECULATING. someone zoomed in on them and posted screenshots on twitter. it turns into a whole thing.

can you imagine a gingerbread house making party with an entire offensive line?

they turn it into a competition obvs

Ronnie is the judge since she is an unobjective third party (though really she's just there for the gingerbread and probably eats the majority of someone's roof entirely on accident)

and they all try....SO HARD. like it's honestly hilarious.

In the end though, I think Reuben would win. He just looks like a dude who knows how to put a mean gingerbread house together and ronnie cannot deny that his is the cleanest.

no matter how much jake whines about it when everyone else finally decides to go home lol

and for a team gift exchange, i think jake should get ronnie. girl is under enough stress as is and i will have mercy on her in this one regard lol

he gets her one of those battery-powered massage things, not a massage gun but just like a small thing she can carry in her bag

cause she keeps talking about how her legs hurt all the time, and she's constantly massaging them herself

it's a very practical, but thoughtful gift and it makes her damn heart flutter when she asks the group who her secret santa was and jake shyly raises his hand

it's just so sweet and kind and she uses it for the rest of the party lol

Thank you so much for sending this in Indy 💖💖

[harunaneko44]

You are free to ignore this but I have to share this as I think it's important to share.

Winndy, like me, was a member of that server since it's very start. The server thrived as a community based off, clearly, the main thing it was about/created for, but also because a lot of creative people joined at the time. We had memes, we had art, we had even sitting down muted in vc with silly songs.

It truly felt like a cozy safe space, at least at the start.

However it wasn't always perfect. That place had individuals that would shake the safe space, individuals that did FAR worse things that what Winndy is being cornered over. I am talking about someone in vc ignoring trigger warnings despite constant reminder, being actively rude to the point of making others cry, directly being rude to someone for their pronouns (to the point I had to come forward to defend them because no one else was doing it) and even a person constantly harrassing others with very lewd types of conversations.

Yet none of them were treated as roughly and straight up "exposed" them to others after they left. I am not here to point out who or what did worse, it is genuinely something I don't care enough to start playing judge here. But this is definitely not the way they could've solved things and this feels like trying to make someone look like they've completely "broken" a "safe space" when it has, genuinely, stopped being that a long time ago, and it wasn't for something like this.

People are adults there. People can decide what to pour their time, love and attention to. Winndy isn't pointing a gun at anyone for them to pay attention to their creativity/art. This is a snowball that spiraled into what turned in today.

I wish the best for everyone, but mostly, I hope people understand where Winndy is coming from and why this was just the last straw.

I did not wish to make this, I do not wish to bring bad light to others, so I am doing everything I can in this statement to keep it as vague as possible to grant others the same privacy I should have. But because my privacy was not respected I have no choice but to come forward with this.

If you know what I am talking about, then this is my side of things. If you don't know what I am talking about, then please move on.

(Also to note, I realize what day I am posting this on. This is absolutely NOT a joke.)

To preface this. My dad died suddenly Feb 26th. I cannot begin to detail what it feels like to lose him, after I've lost many others, to try and handle my emotions and grief while also handling the logistics of his belongings and estate, all this while having to write this on top of it. If I come across as intense, this is why. 

I was in a discord server when it first opened. I dedicated a lot of time, energy, art and passion to it. I was even a mod at one point but stepped down due to my own reasons. 

While there, we had an anonymous survey posted to gather information from the community about the server, what we could do to improve, what was liked and so on. Instead, some used it as a means to anonymously complain about members. I was a target of these complaints. 

A quick note. This server was made within a community that has suffered MANY hardships due to anons. Keep this in mind.

One of the rules is that if you have a personal grievance with another member, to try to resolve it through DMs before coming to a mod or to even send in a ticket.

I must be clear; I was NEVER DMed by anyone how I made them uncomfortable. Not once. Nor were these complaints directly messaged to the mods. This was all through the survey (I will touch up more on this later).

I and other staff/mods that used to be on the team suggested we remove the anonymity. It's too risky for it to be abused, because as noted earlier, this community has suffered a lot through abuse from anons. This suggestion was ignored.

Now, I suppose I should say what the complaints were about. I was told I made others uncomfortable due to, and I am paraphrasing here; "talking over others, redirecting conversations back to myself and my ocs, and making too many jokes and insults about characters."

I will also say. I am autistic. What was mentioned are signs of someone with autism. My dad was autistic. I do not bring this up to deflect or excuse anything, merely to give further context.

I want to explain a bit of my process when I interact with others, in this case especially pertaining to an online space.

When I am talking with someone, anyone, I try to be as inclusive and welcoming as I can be. Saying hello, how they’re doing, that sort of thing. But a conversation is a two way street. If I don’t get a reply or any sort of means to keep the conversation going, I move on. That’s just… how talking goes. I can get very passionate in talking to folks, especially friends and things in line with my interests. It’s hard for me to notice if folks are uncomfortable in person, online it is impossible to tell. I need people to tell me directly if I am doing something uncomfortable and what it is, and if I can fix it.

My process for ocs is this: I see someone talking about their oc, they say something that reminds me of one of mine, then I share my oc. This is not to direct the conversation to me, but to share in it, it is in conjunction. I want to learn more of yours and I do that best by sharing mine. I cannot know if this isn't what you want if I am not told. And I wasn't.

I like to make jokes about characters, analyze them, critique them. I try to do this in a way that makes it clear this isn't an insult to those who like the character(s). But again, I need to be told directly by someone if I need to stop or tone it down. I would only be told sparingly by folks, and when I would, of course I'd stop, do my best to tone it down. But again, I was rarely told directly by people.

What is being described as my crimes are simply the experience of being autistic.

I cannot control it. I cannot stop it. I try to be as inclusive, warm and welcoming to all I come across. You do not HAVE to like me. But if you don't, just ignore me. You HAVE to learn to ignore people who you just… don't like. You have to learn to ignore pet peeves or to reasonably talk to the person. That's life.

So, when I received the above message, I was furious. I was at my dad’s apartment, cleaning out his stuff, and dealing with some harrowing emotions when I got this. I responded that getting this was extremely poor timing and yes, I was angry. But the one who sent this KNEW my dad died. They had seen me post about it, they acknowledged it, and still decided to message me. Who wouldn’t be angry?

Because of what I had been messaged, and the timing, I had decided to go to the owner of the server. I did not feel like it was appropriate for a mod, any mod, to message me about something that is a personal issue that folks should have messaged me themselves (and again, it is listed in the rules that things SHOULD be talked out privately between members before a mod gets involved), in a time that has been hell on earth for me.

I explained to the server owner what all happened with my feelings on the matter. I said that regardless, I would leave the server, because this was something that no one, absolutely no one, should experience. I requested for anything I contributed to the server to be removed, for I no longer felt comfortable for folks to use my art who could be the very same ones pettily using an anonymous survey to speak ill of me. So I sent my message, waited, and got a response.

I do not have anything against the server owner, but there are a few things that I must address with their response as well, because some are factually incorrect. There is full admittance to the complaints received through the anonymous survey, most recently at that. This goes counter to the rules stated that members should resolve private disputes amongst themselves first. (Again please note the screenshots of the rules.)

While perhaps not all of the mods knew of my dad’s passing, but enough DID that they should have known better. I posted briefly in the server in a slow thread so it could be better seen by people, including the mods. I had posted on tumblr as well. But the claim is no one saw it. 

Again. This is just not true. Look to the above screenshots.

I do not have a screenshot of when I had sent the message initially in the server of my dad’s passing (I apologize for this), but the point being is that people knew. Another member messaged me in DMs to give their condolences. While I am and have been open about his passing, I also tried my best to not talk too much about it in the server as to bring down the mood, and I sought out the server and talked there as a source of comfort. Saying this was not clear to anyone, is false.

Now, I am sorry that I made people uncomfortable, it was never my intention to, and I will take fault in that. That isn’t what I mean to address in all this. The issue is; if people were uncomfortable, they needed to follow the rules and come to me DIRECTLY stating such, NOT give these complaints through an anonymous survey. And that I should NOT have been told during such an awful period. How can I take this at face value when I am not offered the same?

I wish to point out as well, why I kept bringing up the anonymous survey, and to bring back a note I made earlier.

There is a great deal of falsehood in using an anonymous survey to gather information, when this community has experienced a lot of hardship from anons. I have seen many people torn down and even chased out of this community and others because of people hiding behind anon. Creators, fans, and yes members, mods and even the server owner have all been victim to negativity from anons. 

Now, I also must bring attention to this.

This is a screenshot I was sent of another mod posting, after I left. This is ABSOLUTELY NOT OKAY. This is why I feel the need to make this statement. Giving details like this is completely unnecessary, and with this said after I left is unacceptable.

I am sorry to be redundant, but I truly am sorry if I ever did make people uncomfortable. All I wanted to do was to make friends and share in the joy in creating art and characters with others. To share space in a community with something I truly found enjoyable. It’s why I’d get enthusiastic whenever OC’s were brought up and I’d share mine. I also wanted to share joy in the topic of the server, and yes some of that for me IS making jokes about characters or even giving critique.

I am not saying any of this to bad mouth or slander anyone. I say all of this to express my side of things. Someone who is grieving the loss of their dad, and so many others who came before him that are making me remember now because of his passing.

[hailsatanacab]

fic title: "The dead play with the street children and the children protect the dead."

The dead play with the street children and the children protect the dead

Oooh okay, first of all, I love this sentiment so much and I have far too many ideas for it, but we're sticking with one which got way too far out of hand!!! Sorry!

Danny Phantom, Maddie's pov

It's summer and it's roasting. It's the kind of heat that you can taste, and Maddie Fenton is braving the outside so she can surprise everyone with some much needed ice cream.

The arms of her jumpsuit are tied around her waist and her tanktop is already soaked in sweat, but it'll be worth it when she sees her family happy.

Or rather, when she sees Jack happy. She's sure she'll see Jazz happy, too, but Danny... Lately, it seems to be a coin toss whether she'll see him at all.

At least with the heat, ghost attacks have slowed down to almost nothing and she can try and get some proper mother-son bonding time in.

Part of her wonders if there's a reason for it - if high temperatures affect the structure of ectoplasm in such a way as to render a ghost incapable of functioning at their full capacity (ghosts and colder temperatures have always been linked, surely the inverse would make sense) and whether that can be translated into weaponry. A concentrated heat blast to melt a ghost?

But, she thinks with a sigh, that can wait for another day. It's far too hot to be thinking of concentrated heat blasts. Distantly, she can hear the children laughing and shouting in the park, no doubt splashing in the fountains to cool off.

Once upon a time, Danny and Jazz used to laugh and scream together while playing in there as well, but they're too grown up for it now.

Too grown up to do anything with their parents it seems, but that's fine! All teenagers go through it, as she keeps reminding herself, it's just a phase. They'll grow out of it.

In the meantime, there's always ice cream to help smooth over the cracks.

She turns the corner towards where she knows the ice cream truck awaits and she glances towards the fountain with a soft smile at the children's antics already on her face - and freezes, terrified and angry, at the sight there.

What the hell is it doing here? That... that thing? It's not noticed her yet, too busy accosting the children to pay her any attention, throwing balls of snow into the air with a sharp, twisting cackle.

Maddie's blood runs cold as he dives into the fountain, the water around him growing thick with ice - does he mean to trap the children under the surface? How is no one stopping this?

Why are their parents not fighting to get them out, to save them? She looks around at all the smiling faces and she wants to scream, how can they call themselves parents?

When the ghost boy picks up a child and floats them in the air, their ankles kicking up the slushy water, Maddie sees red. She whips out her ankle blaster (why wasn't she wearing her jumpsuit properly, this is what she gets for letting her guard down!) with a wordless cry that's drowned out by the playful screams of the children.

The ecto-blast gets everyone's attention soon enough.

The effect is instantaneous - parents scramble to get their children out of the fountain safely (better late than never), the ghost boy puts down the child, who stumbles forward when Phantom pushes him to move quicker.

Despicable, really, how he's still trying to hurt the poor boy even when she's pointing a gun right at his core. Maddie's proud that her aim doesn't falter even as rage grips her heart.

How dare he try to hurt children? How dare he?

She opens her mouth to give the ecto-scum a piece of her mind but before she can say anything, before she can even squeeze the trigger, a snowball hits her square in the face and her shot goes wide.

Another ghost?

She squints, her cheek burning with cold, and finds... little Sally from down the street, her dress soaked, and cheeks red with anger as she shouts, "Don't you hurt my friend!"

It's simple to cartwheel back and dodge her next throw, but she's not so lucky when another snowball hits her on the back, followed by the little boy from the fountain shouting "Yeah, leave him alone!"

She curses as another one hits her knee, turning wildly with her gun still raised, trying to get a clean sight on Phantom, but of course the spook has already vanished.

The only thing he left behind is a rapidly depleting stack of snowballs and children screaming for a different, fun new game.

[jonathanssweatercollection]

stranger things s4 volume 2 thoughts. profanity warning lol

* i’m sick to fuckin death of yuri. when is he dying

* steve talking about having a big family is like. obviously fan service but i love it and also i’ll be using it for stoncy fuel bc fuck you

* i need nancy to break jason’s nose

* i also need el to brutally eviscerate brenner in ever horrific way she can manage

* argyle nolastname is my best fucking friend. like what IF nina was a small woman. let’s hear him out

* why the fuck wasn’t jonathan included in the byers-hopper sibs hug. i’m mad. i’m gonna fucking bite someone

* why the fuck are the duffers so against jonathan being hugged by his family. i’m gonna kill

* MAN I THOUGHT THEY WERE GONNA RUN BRENNER OVER. MISSED OPPORTUNITY (though at least the cunt is dead)

* robin didn’t have to go out of her way to get that fruity little beret but i’m so glad that she did

* i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again. max mayfield i would kill for you

* “take your hands off me, potatohead” okay i still want him dead but that was funny as fuck of yuri

* I THOUGHT THAT I SAW HOPPER’S ASS. POINTED AT THE SCREEN AND YELLED “BUM”

* TWAS HIS FUCKING ARMPIT

* yay hopper kiss <3 good for them :)

* robin helping nancy up the rope <33 that’s so cute

* omg omg theyre playing the score from previous seasons

* god i feel so fucking unwell. i’m so anxious and jittery what the fuck

* EL’S LITTLE DRAWING OF MAX ON THE VAN WINDOW 😭 I’M GONNA COMBUST THAT’S SO FUCKING CUTE 😭 THE LITTLE CURLS AND THE LITTLE SMILE

* argyle voice: my dude is a gender neutral term of endearment

* JONATHAN SAID MY DUDE. HE’S BRIBING PEOPLE WITH WEED. HE’S HOLDING A BLUNT IN A WAY THAT NO ONE HAS EVER SMOKED WEED HAS EVER HELD A BLUNT. THIS IS THE LOVE OF MY LIFE

* robin rly runs like a weirdo i love her

* st@ncybaitgate: *happening ig* // my mother: “don’t” // me: “don’t” // my mother: “don’t” // me: “don’t do do it” my mother: “don’t” // me: “don’t i’m begging you” like a fucking greek chorus

* ugh my family are so fucking mean about the characters’ looks. it’s even worse when theyre making fun of the kids’ appearances

* lumax are making me so emotional i’m gonna throw up

* el being a pineapple on pizza truther. makes so much sense

* her and argyle teaming up to feed mike pizza nd chanting “try before you deny” <33

* BYERS BROS BYERS BROS BYERS BROS BYERS BROS

* MY BOYS. MY BOYS ARE SO GOOD

* i love el’s socks

* oh man she’s gonna have wet jeans. has she not had a bad enough day already

* max praying for bad things to happen to b*lly and him dying. so true same bestie like me too exactly

* max and el being foils particularly in regards to the abuse theyve suffered and in turn the deaths of their abusers. so fucking true

* sadie is giving an award worthy performance to a light. she is one of the greatest young actresses of our generation i mean this wholeheartedly

* ELMAX RIGHT ELMAX RIGHTS LET’S FUCKING GO ELMAX RIGHTS HELL YEAH

* omg are we finally gonna learn why max had to move to hawkins. pls i wanna know

* FUCKING HELL THAT PIECE OF SHIT IN JASON’S GANG FUCKING TACKLED ERICA. THAT’S AN ELEVEN YEAR OLD YOU CUNT. SHE BETTER SUE HIS ASS

* omg the snowball my beloved <3

* i can’t tell if theyre doing an aliens homage. if so fuck yea

* steve’s little dancing jumps 🥹 hopscotch king

* ROBIN HOLDING NANCY’S HAND BC SHE’S NERVOUS AWW

* “a memory inside a memory” my guy argyle is gonna fucking love inception

* “i’m not having another funeral” yes this is a kinda funny line on surface level but also my fucking god that’s such a tragic thing to say. joyce byers you deserve the world

* the hawkins group spent like at LEAST over a hundred dollars on all of their ammo and shit and dustin nd eddie are fighting for their lives with sticks, little bitch knives and bin lids

* steve handing nancy her gun. yes bitchman that is true malewife behaviour <3

* i’m surprised by the restrained amount of swearing this season. like this is all very s2 in the way that nobody has said fuck but everybody has said asshole at least thrice

* basically i want max to call vecna a cunt

* i fucking knew eddie was gonna sacrifice himself. this fucking himbo

* oh fuck the sound design is so moody and cool i love it

* SINCLAIR SIBLINGS BEATING THE SHIT OUT OF PPL IN QUICK CUTS. YES

* MAX VOICE: MY GIRLFRIEND’S BACK AND YOURE GONNA GET IN TROUBLE HEY YAAAAA HEY YAAAAAAAA MY GIRLFRIEND’S BACK

* the steve and lucas parallel of getting their heads smashed with cutlery. kings

* “I PIGGYBACKED FROM A PIZZA DOUGH FREEZER” “what” POTENTIALLY A CONTENDER FOR THE BEST EXCHANGE OF THE SEASON

* “IF YOU TOUCH HER AGAIN I WILL KILL YOU. AGAIN” EL I WILL FUCKING DIE FOR YOU SHE’S SUCH A GOOD GF

* ELMAX AS FOILS IN REGARDS TO THE ABUSIVE BROTHER FIGURES AND DESPERATELY SEARCHING FOR PROTECTION IN THE PPL THEY LOVE BUT RUNNING AWAY AND CLOSING THEMSELVES OFF BC THEYRE AFRAID OF FEELING VULNERABLE AND GETTING HURT AGAIN

* YES this mindflayer shit is lovecraftian. this greatly appeals to the horror fanatic in me

* mike’s proclamation of love literally sounds like wedding vows this is so fuckign precious i love them so much

* MAX’S ARMS

* NO NO NO NO THEURE NOT DOING THISGHEYRE NOT

* THANK FUCKING GOD MAX IS ALIVE

* murray saving hopper parallels steve saving jancy in 1x08. bc i say so

* everything is about polyamory. fuck you

* why the FUCK is there a sword. so conveniently placed next to hopper. like i know why but. i’m???

* i mean i’m not complaining bc it’s cool tbh

* YES RUNNING UP THAT HILL SYNTHWAVE STRANGER THINGS REMIX LETS GO

* nancy shooting the living fuck out of vecna is the hottest thing i’ve ever seen. i’m proposing

* the jopper hug im so fucking emotional

* omg is vecna michael myers-ing them

* “I THINK ITS MY YEAR HENDERSON. FINALLY MY YEAR. I LOVE YOU” FUCKING GOD ARE YOU KIDDING ME

* THE RETURN OF THE MOBY SONG

* MAX BETTER BE OKAY

* I’LL KILL KUSELF OLEASE FONT DONT DIE PLEASE MAC PLEASE LELADE MAX LLADEAD PLEASE MAC OLEASE PLEASE I’lL LILL MUSELF PLEASE I’M GONNA FUCKING FIR PLEASE PLEASE I’m GONNA DIE PLEASE MAX NO PLEASE PLEASE GOD FUCKING DAMN IT

* the gate opening up through jason made me fucking laugh tho

* OH FUCK THIS IS EPIC

* fucking elmax rights yet again

* BRING HER BACK BRING HER BACK OKEASE BRING HER BACK

* TWO DAYS FUCKING LATER ???????????

* omg the leaving hawkins sign my beloved

* none of the cali gang have changed their clothes in like a week. that van will reek

* “quaint town of hawkins” bitch how many murders have happened here over the past four years

* THE FUCKING LIBRARY NO. THAT’S MY HOUSE

* NANCY’S MR RABBIT. I LOVE WHEN SHE HAS STUFFED ANIMALS

* IT PARALLELS JONATHAN BEIBG FORCED TO HUNT A RABBIT WHEN HE WAS A CHILD BY HIS DAD. BC RABBITS ARE CLEARLY A SIGNIFICANT PART OF HOW THEY REMEMBER THEIR CHILDHOODS. FUCK I HAVE TO MAKE A GIFSET

* STONCY STINCY STINCY OLEAEE I STONCY STIBCY OLEASE STONCY STONCY PEASE STIVFY stONCY OLEPASE

* FUCKING YES MAX ISALIVE

* YES HE’S READING HER STEPHEN KING FUCK UEAH FUCK YEAH

* el’s little ET hoodie bless

* love all the little parallels of calling things miracles this season

* let’s give a hoot and a hurray for neurotic lesbian representation

* EDDIE’S UNCLE IS GONNA MAKE ME CRY. WHAT THE FUCK

* they need don’t mess around with jim playing the background of them cleaning up the cabin

* jonathan still looks at nancy with these shy lovestruck puppy eyes after all these years. someone kill me

* “OTHERWISE WHO WOULD BE IN CHATGE??? STEVE??” STONATHAN CRUMBS LETS GO

* okay fuck its the coca cola bottle el and max played with in s3. im sad

* max better fucking be okay. i’m so fucking worried for her even now

* JESUS GOD THE EL AND HOPPER REUNION IS MAKING ME FUCKING CRY

* “what do you think?” // “bitchin” I’M GONNA KERPLODE

* YES YES HUGS ALL AROUND FOR EVERYONE YES EVERYONE HUG

* argyle is still hunting for mushrooms while dimensions are colliding isn’t he

* can dustin please have a cane. please my poor guy just give him a cane to help him out please

* the fucking score RULES

* my mother after watching this episode “so the upside down is in the downside up”

* hell FUCKING yea siouxsie and the banshees to close up the season this rules

* seeing the monkey massacre logo always fills me with joy. god fucking bless and goodnight

[darkclouds-rainsounds]

Please don't mind me, I'm only saying this outside the tags because I hit the limit 😅. This is going under a readmore since I talk in paragraphs.

Anyway, I think Tonis taking the place of Hoppered being a possibility does have credibility in regards to how Tristamp as a story is being told in comparison to how Trimax was. In Trimax (well‚ the og Trigun manga)‚ the manga opens with Lost July. Speaking with the perspective of a reader going in blind‚ you have no idea what the true significance of this scene is. It's a giant zero-context scene dropped on you right at the start. A whole lot of "who‚ what‚ when‚ why‚ how?" since 'where' is already answered, albeit not very obviously— but you're left figuring it out as the pieces are slowly handed to you and forming the more defined picture of what happened.

The showing of Hoppered's past and why he's a Gung-Ho Gun bent on trying to get vengeance on Vash is something that only works with how the Trigun manga itself starts off. Because we're slowly getting more and more information about this major event that permanently and drastically altered the events of the world and its characters. Hoppered's backstory is another piece of information about that tragedy; another piece of information that lets us learn even more about Vash, and it makes him memorable and very important as a character himself within the setting of the story.

It's this steady revealing of information using Lost July as the starting point that makes Hoppered as a character hold so much weight.

With Tristamp taking place before the destruction of Julai, Hoppered no longer 'works' as a character because we see what Julai was like before it was lost and from what we saw, there were hardly any people there to make the city actually feel like it had such a largely proclaimed populace before its destruction.

Yes, the plot was snowballing and there wasn't really an opportune time to cut away and show Hoppered's backstory during the time Vash was in Julai— like an episode or half of one dedicated to the peoples and ways of life in Julai which could have shown Hoppered for a bit to set him up as someone from Julai who managed to be one of the few survivors and has a reason why he wants to kill Vash— but not doing something at least akin to that will later dampen his impact as a character (if he does actually show up in Tristamp).

Because the Julai we see is one that we are just informed has a lot of people. It's already been mentioned by others just how empty Julai looks and feels, that it makes the destruction of it not have as much impact as it does in Trimax (and again! In Trimax we don't see what a lot of what July was like before it was destroyed outside of Vash's memories which are in themselves part of what makes July's destruction so impactful).

So Hoppered not being shown at what would have been the perfect time in terms of storytelling to establish him as a character kind of weakens the impact he will have if he does appear. Because like... showing Julai full of life and people well after we saw it when it still existed would be kind of immersion breaking (especially since it very much didn't look all that full of life during the episodes that took place there. Like, bro where was everyone?? What are you talking about?) and imo‚ kinda bad.

But Tonis... with how he's been established, he fills the same role that Hoppered has almost perfectly.

It's like duncanor said:

"There's also folks speculating on Tonis becoming a Gun by replacing Hoppered.. Which is a possibility. He lost an arm, he lost his town and with Rosa heavily depressive state, he might also lose his family, effectively becoming an orphan with no home to go to. Perfect candidate for the Guns. Especially he has all the reasons to hate the Humanoid Typhoon after this."

Tonis growing up to hate Vash and want vengeance for the destruction of his home, Jeneora Rock, fills the same role Hoppered has of wanting vengeance for the destruction of July.

That Tonis could desire vengeance for what he deems as Vash being at fault for the destruction of Jeneora Rock just like how Vash destroying July in Trimax was both an accident on his part and predominantly the fault of Knives. Knives destroyed Jeneora Rock in Tristamp as collateral for Vash just so happening to be there (it's not his fault‚ but it's the in-universe reason we are given if I remember correctly, and thus likely what Tonis could be lead to hypothetically believe).

With there being no set up for Hoppered during the time Vash was in Julai— which was the only time we got to see what Julai was like when it was full of life and outside of just Vash's memories— he feels like he comes out of nowhere. This isn't the case for Trimax since we start off at Lost July and can only see what comes after. In Tristamp we see events from before, so it wouldn't make much sense from a storytelling standpoint to not introduce— even in the background— a character tied to such an important event, as doing so would have the effect of making the story feel more cohesive and stronger overall once that seemingly innocuous character shows up later with a vengeance.

But Tonis being someone whose home we see bustling with life before being destroyed, and said destruction being tied with Vash‚ it does the exact thing I was talking about above. Him being at least a Gun (rather a Chekhov's Gunman) is highly likely given his interest in bugs as stated, and it being subtly implied that the reason why the Guns and Knives attacked Jeneora Rock to take the Plants right when Vash just so happened to be there, was because of the worm in that box he had.

If Tonis does end up becoming a Gung-Ho Gun, it would be a perfect parallel to Rollo who was also a child Vash cared about and wanted to save, only for him to become resentful and want to kill Vash when he failed to uphold his promise and what had become of him as a result of that being the near-complete loss of his humanity.

And well... we saw what happened to Rollo in the end.

Tbh, I've wondered each time I've rewatched if Tonis's arm is the only major loss in Rosa's family with the whole Knives fiasco. I don't know enough about pregnancy orhealth in general to have more than a vague idea, but the Nebraska garbage, E.G. the Mine, and then Knives going down can't be good for that baby

(I also hope, someday, when they're all less immediately traumatized, both Meryl and Vash get to meet up with the two again because I think both Tonis and Rosa would be thankful that their lives were saved when, you know. Not in the immediate, horrifying aftermath. And both Meryl and Vash could use hearing that)

[wackysideblog]

A Short Story

Hi guys, since it’s been pretty much dead on this blog (Okay, I might have gotten distracted by my main blog.) So, I decided to kick my lazy butt into gear and actually show my face around here.

Starting off with this quick protective vore short.

Side Note: This is NOT STARKER. So don’t even think about seeing this as such because if you do, I’ll hunt you down.

---

Tony didn’t know how the mission went downhill faster than a snowball tumbling down a steep hill.

It was supposed to be simple, they'd go in, get the job done and bolt for it. Of course, something had to go wrong.

Tony couldn't say he was surprised, it wasn't the first mission he went on that things quickly spiraled out of control.

However, it was the kid's first mission and that's what made it worse. God, why did he let those puppy dog eyes sway him? Why didn't he say no?

Bringing the kid was a bad idea and now Tony was paying for it.

"Kid, jump!" Out from the corner of his eye, Tony watched as the kid flipped upwards from the man behind him while also barely avoiding his own attacker.

Tony spun around, dodging a punch before blasting the soldier in the face. His body was thrown backwards, crumpling in a heap halfway across the floor.

He didn’t stir.

He whirled around just in time to see Peter web the last one to the wall. Or at least he thought that was the last of them.

The kid's head jerked up, and Tony watched as the lenses on the mask narrowed. "I hear more coming."

Awesome. Just what they need and yup, Tony decided that this mission was talons up way too fast for his liking. "Okay, now we're ditching this popsicle stand, Underoos. Let's get out of here."

He wrapped his arm around the kid's arm while raising his hand towards the ceiling. The repulsor beam barely didn't anything against the roof, and Tony switched to the laser but they didn't even work. Great.

Whatever metal they used to build this place, it wasn't normal steel. Probably vibranium then.

Tony felt himself falter. "Kid-"

A wracking explosion echoed across the base and they both stumbled, looking up with wide eyes.

"Fri, what was that?" Tony fumbled for the kid's arm again. His Al didn't have time to respond three more soldiers rounded the corner but Peter was faster already raising his hands before they had the chance to hold up their guns.

However, Peter's web gave a pathetic psshhoo before it sputtered out at only a measly foot and fell to the floor.

Tony stared. He was pretty sure everyone else was too. Peter gave a nervous chuckle next to him. "Oops."

'Oops' indeed because now the kid was defenseless too. Sure, Peter could still do hand-hand combat but these guys had guns and over Tony's dead body he'd let the kid fight them without his webs.

Not saying anything else, Tony quickly raised his palm and blasted the three into the wall. They didn't get back up.

Tony swore his heart rate doubled when there was the sound of footsteps and a slamming door. Peter looked at him and he knew what the kid was thinking.

There was one way out: They'd have to force their way through until they got to the entrance. Tony wouldn't be able to through the roof's metal in time.

The only issue was that his suit was bulletproof but Peter's was not. He couldn't risk the kid's life like that with no protection, where he was the only one with the protective armor. He couldn't take that chance a second time.

Maybe he could give a quick run down, or at least reassure the kid—

There were more footsteps. Lots of them and Tony's heart stuttered a beat.

Sorry kid.

Tony spun around. "Alright kid, no time to explain but you have to trust me. This is gonna feel weird but you're gonna be safe."

"Wha-" Tony ignored whatever question Peter had and held out a steadying hand to place on the kid's shoulder trying his best to ignore the confused look he was given.

The confusion quickly gave way and Tony watched as Peter's eyes widened as he shrank under his hand. He knelt down as Peter became shorter, following him all the way until he was smaller than one of his fingers.

He didn't give the kid time to recover, just scooping him up in his hand and ignoring Peter's yelp of surprise. Tony looked anywhere but at the kid's face because he knew if he looked at it he'd hesitate.

Now wasn't the time for that.

Raising Peter up and opening his mouth, Tony tipped his hand so the kid would have no choice to slide in. Apparently, he took him by surprise because Peter didn't try to stick to him.

There was startled 'Mr. Stark!' before Tony closed his mouth again. He threw his head back, grimacing when Peter cried out as he slid on his tongue and swallowed when the small weight reached the back of his throat.

Tony grunted as Peter struggled, trying to fight against him, and swallowed again to speed him along, letting out a relieved breath when he felt the kid pass his collarbone.

"Don't move!" A voice behind him called.

Tony's faceplate slammed down and he spun around, raising his hand towards the small group of soldiers pointing their guns at him. Just as Peter finished squeezing through his chest and tumbled into his stomach, the gauntlet whirled to life.

A repulsor beam cut through the air, and the officers dove to get out of the way. A few brave ones had tried to shoot him, but the bullets barely dented the armor encasing him.

He flew up, wincing as Peter collided with the front of his stomach and scrambled around in barely restrained panic.

Pushing back his slight nausea, Tony kept at it, firing blast after blast at the soldiers. Some dodged but most didn't and then in one fluid movement, Tony did a rapid-fire of shots.

When the smoke cleared, it revealed the small group of men piled atop one another, their limbs all in a tangle.

Tony breathed in relief but he didn’t allow himself to get too comfortable. He thought he was safe, or relatively safe, before. It was a trap he wouldn’t fall for but he could talk to Peter.

"Kid, kid!" Tony laid his hand on the stomach of his suit, cringing at the clang it made and the way Peter jumped, pawing at his stomach. "Mr. Stark! Please let me out! I don't wanna— I don't-!"

"Easy, kid." Tony soothed trying to calm him, rubbing at the metal that Peter probably couldn't even feel. He tried ignoring the way his chest tightened from hearing the pure undiluted fear in Peter's voice that was directed at him of all people.

Distantly he could hear Friday buzzing in his ear about more people coming. "Pete, you're safe. It's okay."

"I'm safe?" Peter stilled, sounding so hopeful it made Tony's heart twist.

He nodded. "Yeah, kid. You're safe." I'll always make sure you are.

---

And that's a wrap! Ugh, I hate action scenes. They're my worst nightmare. Also this is just something I whipped out in my notes, so I know it's not great but I hope you still managed to somehow enjoy this.

Please do tell me of what you thought of this :)

[onlyfreds]

Hugs and Kisses | F.W.

Title: Hugs and Kisses

Requested: Yes/No

Summary: Y/N is not a big fan of physical contact and Fred finds out why.

Warning/s: mentions of abuse, violence, mentions of physical abuse in the past, mention of a gun, bruises

Flashbacks are in italics.

Like everyone else, I have a pet peeve.

Mine was physical contact. Not that I didn’t like touching others, I was fine if someone rested their elbow on my shoulder, but hugging, holding hands, putting an arm around someone’s shoulder/waist. No thanks.

I was walking out of the library with Angelina when I suddenly felt an elbow rest on my right shoulder.

I breathed in the familiar scent of cinnamon and firework powder.

“Hey Freddie.” I said, turning to ginger by my side.

“Hey Princess.” He said, keeping his elbow on my shoulder as George appeared next to Angelina and the four of us started to head towards the common room.

Butterflies flew around in my stomach at the nickname, hopefully the blush on my cheeks wasn’t that visible.

“You guys remember the first time Fred attempted to put an arm around Y/N?” George asked, out of the blue, causing Angelina, Fred and I to laugh.

“Oh yeah.” Angelina said, “That was so hilarious.”

Snow lightly dropped down from the heavens. Painting the ground white and letting out a small chill into the air.

The twins and I were building a snowman outside, very innocent and calm from the usual chaos and havoc we caused, but who doesn’t enjoy building a snowman?

But that peaceful atmosphere was soon destroyed when George threw a snowball at Fred. Thus, the peaceful activity of building a snowman soon transitioned into a huge chaotic snowball fight.

“Oi!” I scolded as a poorly aimed snowball from Fred hit my shoulder.

I scooped up some snow, it was time to join the fun.

--

“Okay! Okay! I give up!” George said, both hands up in mock surrender as he came out from behind the tree he was hiding.

A smirk grew on Fred’s lips, “See? You can’t beat the dream team.” He teased as he put an arm around my shoulder.

Out of instinct, I immediately pulled away, looking up to see Fred and George both taken aback.

“Sorry.” Fred immediately apologized, “Did I make you uncomfortable or anything?”

I shook my head, “No. You could never make me uncomfortable. It’s just, I’m not a huge fan of physical contact.”

The twins looked at each other, probably using their twin telepathy to communicate.

“Any type of physical contact?” George asked.

I shrugged, “Not all. I suppose that there are exceptions.”

Fred then stepped forward, cautiously resting his elbow on my shoulder, “Is this okay?”

I nodded, giving him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay.”

“Fred’s face was absolutely priceless.” George said, aiming a teasing smile at his twin, “He looked he’d been given an electric shock.”

“Maybe he couldn’t believe that the prettiest girl he ever laid eyes on would react like that.” Angelina added.

I rolled my eyes at the both of them, “Piss off you two before I smother you two with the nearest deadly object I find.”

Angelina scoffed, “What? Don’t tell me you don’t agree.”

I tried to stop the blush that was rising up to my cheeks, “Oh for Merlin’s sake, give me a break Angie.”

--

I sat on the couch by the common room fire, the clock had struck one a few minutes ago but I can’t seem to put down the book I was holding.

The quiet rustling of the page being turned mixed in perfectly with the soft cackling of the fireplace.

Just as the climax was put in motion, the tension between the two lovers was growing with each passing moment, and just as if Merlin had a grudge against me, the book was suddenly snatched out of my hands.

“Hey!” I complained, looking up at the culprit to see the grinning face of a certain Weasley.

“Fred!” I whined, crossing my arms over my chest, “Why?”

He chuckled, taking a seat next to me as he took the bookmark from my hands and placed it on the page I was reading before closing the book and placing on the table next to the couch, “It’s already one in the morning and you’re still reading.”

“So?” I huffed, “Just because you have never read a book in a day of your life doesn’t mean I can’t.”

He laughed, “Shouldn’t you be sleeping instead of waiting for the two lovers to just suck it up and kiss at the ungodly hours of the morning?”

I smiled, “That’s because I need answers. Besides, I could ask you the same thing, shouldn’t you be sleeping instead of bothering me?”

Fred laughed, playing with my hair, “When did I bother you?”

I shrugged teasingly, “I don’t know. Perhaps now.”

The two of us laughed before falling into comfortable silence, his hands still playing with my hair.

“Darling, can I ask you a question?” Fred suddenly said, breaking through the silence.

I looked up at him, “Sure.”

He combed his hand through his hair, “This might be kinda sensitive. But why aren’t you a big fan of physical contact?”

I bit my lip, avoiding his gaze, contemplating whether I should tell Fred the truth or not.

The smashing of glass that came from the kitchen could be heard even from the closed door of my bedroom.

The yelling from another one of my parents’ argument echoed through the walls of the house.

Then there was a thud, causing me to wince. He must’ve hit her again; it’s being going on for years. He made her promise not tell, he swore that if she did, he would kill me.

So, she never told anyone. She covered every single evidence up with makeup and kept a smile on her lips at every family gathering we attended. No matter how many times she told me that it was okay, I knew that she wasn’t.

I took in a shaky breath as I heard nothing but silence. I slowly opened the door of my bedroom, the creak probably being the loudest sound in the house.

I was about to head to the kitchen when I was that the door to my parents’ bedroom was opened ajar, I took a peek to see my mum stuffing her clothes into a gym bag.

Her shirt was riding up a bit, exposing the almost-black bruises that was littered across her back and, as far as I knew, the rest of her body.

“Mummy?” I said, the fear inside me growing with every passing minute.

She turned to face me, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Hey sweetie.” She said, her voice a little hoarse as she stooped down to my height, “I want you to pack every important belonging you have. Okay honey? Just like we practiced.”

I nodded, running back to my room as I took the small gym bag I hid under my bed and stuffed every essential thing I could.

My mum held my hand tightly as we tiptoed through the living room, our freedom from this nightmare was just around the corner.

I looked around the living room, it looked like a storm had just passed by. Shards of glass was shattered everywhere, random things that have been thrown laid on the floor. Picture frames that once hang on the walls rested on the cement floor, shattered, broken, just like their promise of forever.

What once was a place of comfort and safety, a home, turned into a place of fear and pain, turned into hell.

Mum was just about to reach for the door handle, the only thing separating us from freedom.

“Where do you two think you’re going?” A cold, furious voice asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Mum asked, turning to face my father as she clutched my hand tighter, “We’re leaving.”

My father gave a humorless chuckle, “Acting all tough now huh? What if I don’t let you.”

Mum stepped in front of me protectively, shielding me from my father, “I don’t give a damn on what you think anymore! I had enough and we’re leaving whether you like it or not!”

Before mum could reach the handle, my father pulled her away by the back of her shirt then smacked her across the face. The force had been enough to knock her over to the coffee table.

I stood there, frozen in fear, thinking for a moment that the force was enough to kill her. Once I realized that she was alright, I immediately ran to her side.

I shot my father a death glare, and did what I thought was pretty brave (or stupid) for a toddler, I ran towards him and tried to push him away. Which, obviously, had no effect.

He looked down at me with burning rage, pulling me by the hair as tears started to stream down my cheeks. Next thing I knew, a gun was pointed to my temple.

“I dare you. Walk out that door.” He threatened, tightening his grip on me, “I promise you that your daughter won’t ever be able to see another light of day.”

“Darling?” Fred’s voice pulled me out of my flashback, “Are you okay?”

I looked back at him, not realizing the tears that were dripping down my cheeks.

Without a word, he was about to put his arm around me when he stopped in his tracks. He looked at me for a moment, silently asking me for permission.

I nodded, scooting closer to him as I rested my head on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.

I hated physical contact. But Fred was an exemption to that rule, or at least for now.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked softly.

I sniffed, wiping away the remaining tears from my eyes, “My dad used to physically abuse my mum. Whenever she made a mistake or talked back to him, he would hit her brutally. He made her swore not to tell anyone or else he’ll kill me. One day, my mum had enough so the two of us were supposed to escape but he caught us. He hit my mum then pointed a gun at my head. I really thought that I was going to die. Luckily for us, our neighbor suspected that something was wrong and called the police. They arrested him then my mum and I lived at my grandma’s house. Since that day, I knew that I hated physical contact.”

Fred rubbed my back comfortingly, stunned with my confession, “I’m your best friend and I didn’t know that you went through all that.”

I sniffed, “No one did.”

“But,” Fred continued, “Not every physical contact would hurt you. If you want, I can show you.”

I gave him a hesitant smile, “I don’t know Freddie.”

“Look, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. But, if you want, let’s try it for a week. If it still makes you uneasy, then just say the word and we’ll stop.” He offered.

I licked my lips, “Okay. Let’s try it.”

--

It was a Saturday morning, Angelina, Alicia and I were eating breakfast while discussing Alicia’s recent date with Ravenclaw keeper, Roger Davies.

“He is just absolutely amazing.” Alicia said, obviously swooning over the guy.

“I call dibs on the maid of honor!” Angelina suddenly said.

“Hey!” I complained, taking a sip of pumpkin juice, “You already called dibs on maid of honor for my wedding you can’t call dibs on Alicia’s wedding too!”

I then pointed a finger at Alicia, “I call dibs on maid of honor.”

“What���s all this talk about weddings?” George asked with a teasing grin as he sat down next to Angelina.

“Oh nothing.” I said as the older twin took a seat next to me, “We were just planning Alicia’s future wedding.”

“Wedding huh?” Fred teased, putting an arm around my shoulder, causing me to tense up at first before relaxing into his touch, “Didn’t think of you three as wedding planners.”

No answer or retort came as George, Angelina and Alicia stared at Fred’s arm that was around my shoulder, their mouths slightly agape.

“Fred.” George tried to say, thinking his twin had done it accidentally.

“Don’t you remember?” Angelina and Alicia said at the same time.

He gave them a small, reassuring smile, “Don’t worry guys. Y/N and I talked last night and she willing to give this whole thing a try.”

I nodded, “I told him the reason why I wasn’t a big fan of physical contact and he offered to show how good it is.”

“So, what’s the reason?” Alicia asked.

Fred and I exchanged a look, then he said, “I think that would be a secret between Y/N and I for now.”

His answer was met with the overlapping chatter of the group.

“What?”

“That’s no fair.”

“Why does Fred get to know but we don’t?”

Fred put both his hands up, palms facing outwards, commanding silence, “Look, I’m sure that she’ll tell you the whole story once she’s ready. But for now, we should respect her decision.”

The group nodded in agreement.

Fred clapped his hands together with a small smile, “Great! Now going back to Alicia’s wedding planning, who’s the groom?”

--

Fred and I were hanging out by the courtyard, watching the sunset, his arm resting across my waist.

For the rest of the day since breakfast, Fred would frequently put an arm around my shoulder or waist.

At first, it felt a bit weird to feel his arm around me but by the afternoon I was used to it.

I had to admit, it felt nice.

“You okay?” He asked.

I nodded, giving him a small smile, “Yeah.”

“Are you sure your fine with this arrangement? Because if your uncomfortable we can stop.” He said.

I giggled, “Honestly Freddie, I’m fine. It actually feels better than I expected.”

He grinned, “Oh darling, just wait until I spoil you with hugs.”

His tone then turned serious, “Thank you for trusting me with your secret.”

I smiled up at him, “I’d trust you with my life Freddie.”

--

Over the next few weeks, Fred every physical contact as possible.

He was right, not every touch would hurt me.

I enjoyed every single one of his hugs, whenever he would place his arm around my shoulders or waist. He always seemed to find an excuse just to hold me close to him. I had to admit, there was something comforting about being so close to him, that I regretted not trying this out sooner.

“Penny for your thoughts darling?” Fred asked, wrapping his arms around my waist.

I turned around to face him, “Nothing much.”

“So, how does you feel about physical contact now?” He asked with a sly smile.

“I’m loving it.” I said returning the smile, “Thank you so much for showing me how good it is.”

He laughed, “Well I think that there is another form of physical contact you might like.”

I raised a brow at him, “Oh yeah? What is it?”

He slowly leaned forward and connected our lips together in a hungry and desperate kiss, all those years of pent-up feelings being poured into that kiss.

His hands rested on my waist as I cupped his cheeks in my hands.

Even if it was happening right in the moment, I still couldn’t believe that my best friend, my crush ever since first year was kissing me.

We pulled away for a minute before he reconnected our lips together again, this time it was slow and sloppy but full with passion.

Once we pulled away, Fred rested his forehand against mine, both of us breathless and cheeks painted a deep shade of red.

“I liked you for such a long time.” He whispered, “I have never met anyone so cute, so stunning, so intelligent, so funny and so damn hot and sexy. I have never been so in love and wanted anyone more than you. So, will you be my girlfriend?”

I smiled, “Please tell me that I’m not dreaming.”

He chuckled, tracing a finger over my arm, watching the goosebumps erupt from it, “I’m positive that you’re not dreaming.”

I giggled, “Then I would absolutely love to be yours. I would love to be able to hug you, hold your hand and kiss you. Thank you for showing me how it feels to be loved by someone so perfect.”

𝚃𝚊𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝:

@lumosandnoxwriting​​ @gostupid-godumb​​ @fandomhideout @nova-darling @gaycatlord-stuff​​  @pandaxnienke @escapingrealitybyreading​​ @catching-the-train-to-hogwarts​​​ (Send a Message/Ask or fill out my taglist form if you want to be added!)

[psychiatristreturning]

four times steve harrington knew he loved you and the one time he told you (steve harrington x henderson!reader)

a/n: for anon. this is my longest fic so far. i worked real hard on this. i really like it.  word count: 2.6k warnings: violence, language

5. 1975

Steve didn’t know what love was. All he knew is that his parents didn’t have it. Crushes were a different story, but Steve wanted to know what love was. 

You knew what love was, it was your mom making you your favorite meal after a big test. It was your brother smiling at you, even though he was toothless. Love was your cat purring when you pet her. But you never knew romantic love, not with your parents or yourself. 

Moving to Hawkins had changed your life. You had some friends back home, but this place? No one wanted to be friends with you. Nine-year-olds were brutal. Though at school there was one boy, who, even at nine, had established himself as quite the ladies man. But he seemed sweet, no matter how much of a jerk he could be sometimes. 

At recess one day it all changed, for both of you. 

The swing set creaked in the wind, it’s cold metal seat under you, bending under your weight. A group of rowdy boys ran past you, and one, ran directly into you. Tumbling face forward into the concrete you yelped in surprise, your face stinging. Blinking back tears you suddenly become aware of the boy behind you, who wanted to help. 

“Are you okay?” his oddly timid voice sounded.

“Yeah, I’m good.” you turned to him, “Is it bad?” you questioned as he grimaced. 

“Um, I think you’ll be okay. But I’ll take you to go get some band-aids.” he kicked a loose rock on the concrete, “I’m sorry.” 

“No worries.” you stood up, realizing your knees were cut too. 

Steve quickly stuck his arm out and wrapped his hand around your bicep, helping keep you steady. A teacher who was wondering haphazardly around called over, “Mr. Harrington! Where are you taking  Ms. Henderson?” 

The young boy looked at the teacher, dumbfounded, “To get some band-aids.” Couldn’t he see all the blood? 

“No, she can do it herself. It’s not a man's job to care.” all Steve heard was his dad, and he didn’t have the courage to stand up to his dad, but he did to his teacher. He knew what was right. 

“She needs help.” he stated, flat out. Steve didn’t understand what was wrong with helping you. 

Now, you were uncomfortable in this stare off with the teacher, Steve’s grip becoming tighter. The teacher locked eyes with Steve, “You help her I’ll give you detention.” 

Steve gulped knowing his dad would yell at him, but you, a person, needed help. Leaning over you whispered, “Go,” to him. He shouldn’t get in trouble for helping you. 

“No.” he said firmly, helping you walk inside, the teacher screaming about his detention or whatever. The boy seemed unbothered, you admired it. 

“Okay, well thank you.” you squeaked out. You knew he was probably only helping you because he bumped into you, but part of you wanted it to be different, and maybe it was. 

He helped you into the school and into an empty bathroom, Steve was not the smartest per se, but he knew to clean the cuts. Which there were a lot of. “Steve,” he looked down at you from where he was cleaning a cut on your forehead, “Why did you do this?” 

Steve looked adorably confused at you, “Do what?” 

“Help me. Was it because you bumped me?” 

He took a deep breath, thinking, “No, you deserve to be helped, you’re nice Y/N. And, yes, I hit you, but, you shouldn’t have to help your self up.” 

You stared ahead, feeling something, feeling loved. 

Steve wondered what this was. Why did he help you? Maybe, just maybe, because he loved you. 

4. 1983

Who knew what was going on anymore? You had no idea where your brother was, and some reason you were with Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers, trying to summon his brother or something. Not that you would ever admit it, but you were truly terrified, lights flashing around you, yelling, fake bodies. You didn’t know what to do. The world was coming apart at its seams. Nancy, Jonathan, and you sat in the Byers house on the couch, shaking, worried about what would happen next. The weapons in your hands were clutched tightly, ready for action. 

No one dared speak, when a knock came at the door. Startling all of you out of your skin. Nancy jumped up pointing her gun at the door. The banging on the door continued, when you heard, “Jonathan, man! I’m sorry! And I feel terrible! I wanna help!” 

“Steve!” Nancy hissed quietly. 

Jonathan walked up and swung open the door to stop the incessant banging. Steve practically falling into the house, but he quickly straightened up, seeing Nancy point her gun squarely at him. Steve raised his hands quickly above his head, “Hey, Nance, I’m sorry! You don’t have to kill me-” 

“Steve get out.” 

“I’m just here to talk to Byers.” 

“Nancy, put the gun down!” you shouted at her. 

Steve’s head whipped to you, his eyes widened, “Y/N! What are you doing here? Holy shit!”

No matter what Steve said to you, you didn’t look at him, knowing you’d get distracted by his stupidly perfect hair and crooked grin. Instead, you continued to walk slowly toward Nancy, “Put the gun down.” she was shaking, conceivably using every muscle in her body to get Steve out. To help him. 

The lights started flashing irregularly, that’s when Jonathan started yelling. “Nancy! Stop it!” almost like she was in a trance, she snapped out, “He’s here.” 

Steve’s eyes widened, “Who’s here? What’s here? What’s going on?” 

At that moment it burst through the walls, the same thing you and Nancy saw in the Upside Down. They went to run to the back room, but you tripped, Nancy and Jonathan were already running, and Steve who was behind them stopped, and looked at you, and without hesitating, ran back to you. Grabbing your arms and lifting you up, helping you off the hard floor and clasping your hand, guiding you quickly into the back bedroom. 

He kept holding your hand in the dark, your backs pressed against the door. Once you realized you were holding his hand, you hastily let go. Looking across the room at the blank wall, you remembered years ago, Steve helping you up, selflessly. And once again he was ready to save you. 

Steve looked at you, shoulders pressed against each other, you looked amazing, and you were brave. But, Nancy, he had slept with Nancy, and they were something, hopefully. And at the moment, he realized there was something he felt for you that he didn’t feel when he thought of Nancy. But, now was not the time for that. If he told himself he loved Nancy, he would feel that eventually. So sure, he loved Nancy, he didn’t care about you. Never would. But part of Steve knew he was in deep shit.

3. 1984 

Oh boy, you were a part of this mess from the start. You should’ve known it wasn’t going to go well from the second Dustin said that he had found a ‘lizard’. But that wasn’t even the weirdest part of it all. It wasn’t Billy. It wasn’t Eleven suddenly showing up again. It was, at least for you, Steve Harrington. Not him, but the way he was acting. He was acting, sweet? Steve was attempting to give your brother shitty dating advice which you had to cut into, saying “Just don’t ignore her. I mean, girls like some attention.” 

Dustin looked back at you and questioned, “How many boyfriends have you had?” 

You slapped his shoulder, “Shut up.” you grumbled. 

Steve shrugged, “I mean, you are the girl here.” 

“Thank you for the acknowledgement.” 

“But are you?” 

“Dustin shut up!” Steve looked at you with a face that if anyone saw they could only categorize as lovingly. But as soon as he saw Dustin smirking at him, he turned away, flustered, tripping over a stick on the path. Steve was confronted with remembering  thinking, that he couldn’t care about you. Nancy was there. And while, yes, he grew to love Nancy, she didn’t love him. And that’s not her fault, but Nancy had broken his heart, and for the first time in quite sometime, his heart felt complete, and it was because of you. Not that he would tell you. Steve was content, for the first time in a long time, to sit back, and fall in love slowly. But, truly, deeply in love. Farther than he thought he could ever feel.

2. 1984

You had all recovered, somewhat, from what had happened. And life returned to a sense of normalcy. But that morning Dustin woke up, practically bouncing around the house, for the Snowball dance that night. You were chaperoning, so you had to look marginally good. But, what you weren’t prepared for was Steve Harrington coming over to help your brother get ready. 

Hiding in your room getting ready, you heard a knock at the door, Dustin racing downstairs, and the unmistakable voice of Steve. While it was definitely nice to hear Dustin this happy, you realized that Steve would see you like this and that was not ideal right now. 

You could hear the two of them walking upstairs and the voices getting closer, then a loud bang on your door, “Steve’s here! And we’ll have to go soon!” 

You could hear Steve say quietly behind him, “The dance is in an hour and a half.” 

“Okay and an hour and a half!” 

“Alright Dusty!”

You turned your attention back to the mirror, and you heard Steve say, “Dusty? I’m gonna use that one.” the smirk was evident in his voice. That was followed quickly by a loud “Ow!” guessing Dustin hit him. 

As you finished your makeup you couldn’t help but wonder why you had a new pit of anxiety in your stomach now that Steve was here. Why did that change the dance so much? What was it about him? 

~~~~

Sure enough, an hour and a half later, as promised, Dustin was banging on your door. You could hear Steve hyping Dustin up, telling him how great he looked, and how all the girls will dance with him. And taking one last deep breath, you opened your door and walked downstairs. Steve was absolutely in awe of you. Steve knew he was over Nancy Wheeler, you were so wonderful, smart, and beautiful. God, he thought you were the most heavenly creature, and he didn’t believe in God. You walked shakily on the godforsaken heels to Dustin where you smirked at him. “Nice hair.” 

“Thanks, it’s pretty cool.” he nodded slowly trying to be cool. 

Steve was still gaping at you, “Uh, you, um, ready to go?” 

Dustin giggled at Steve’s red face, and you answered, “Yeah, thanks by the way.” He just awkwardly nodded, shoving a free hand in his pocket, the other opening the door, you called out to your mom, “Mom we’re going!” 

“Alright kids, have fun!” she called back from the kitchen. 

You guys shuffled out of the house and began the awkward drive to the school. 

~~~~

Once you guys arrived you and Steve began the final pep talk for Dustin. “Alright, now remember, you want to care but not to much.” 

You stopped Steve, “But do care.”

“Not to much.” 

Leaning forward you retorted, “He’s not going to by her a house or something.” 

“I’m just saying!” he threw up his hands in defense, “All the girls are gonna love you, I mean,” he stopped for a minute, “you look great!” 

“Yeah! Looking great!” you attempted to back him up. 

“They won’t be able to resist me with these pearls.” he purred and both of you began a chorus of ‘No’ and ‘Don’t do that’.

He got out of the car and looked back at you, “Are you coming?” 

“I’ll be in a minute.” Steve’s eyes widened realizing he was in a car, alone, with you. “Thank you, Steve.” 

“Oh it’s no problem-”

You cut him off promptly, “I mean for everything. This year, last year, you’ve really changed. In a good way,” looking into his sweet, brown eyes, you smiled, “I really appreciate you.” 

“It’s the right thing to do, plus, I was an asshole. It was a real low bar.” 

You laughed softly, “I’m going to go, but I think you should come in and dance with me.” 

Steve’s stomach flipped when you said to dance with you. You wanted him to come. With you. “I wouldn’t want to-” 

“Please.” he couldn’t resist your pleading eyes. 

“Sure.” Steve was very busy trying to hide his smile while stepping out of the car. 

You slid out of the backseat the Dustin had forced you into, and as soon as you stepped out onto your heels you tripped and began to fall. But someone's arm wrapped around your waist and pulled you back up. Steve.

“Thank you.” you replied breathlessly, “I’ve gotta stop falling around you.” you made a lame attempt at a joke. 

He let go, and you walked in a little bit ahead of him, and under his breath he whispered, “I’ve already fallen for you.” no matter how cheesy he might sound. 

Steve Harrington loved you. 

1. 1985

All you wanted was ice cream. You didn’t want to end up taking care of two teenagers high on Russian truth serum. Trying to keep Robin and Steve collected when they’re not high is difficult enough. Robin was at the absolute goofiest you’ve ever seen her and Steve, oh, Steve. Over the past year you had harbored an extreme crush on the idiot. However, this was just sad. You were glad they were alive, but this was definitely the finale of any part of his old personality. You sat with Robin and Steve in the movie theater, Steve bopping your nose continuously. “Boop!” you grabbed his hand and moved it away from your face. 

“Shush.” 

He dropped his head onto your shoulder, and he looked up at you with his chocolate brown eyes, “You’re pretty,” he whispered, smiling like an idiot. 

“Thank you.” you whispered back, trying to act stern even as your stomach erupted in butterflies. All of a sudden Robin rushed out of the theater, mumbling something about water. You followed, Steve stumbling after you, he gripped your arm again and leaned into your side when he said to you;

“I’m in love with you.” 

You stopped in your tracks, Steve going on without you, a stupid smile on your face. Then it hit you, he’s high. It’s not him. You shook your head to rid the idea of Steve loving you. And you walked after him. Steve and Robin were drinking water manically when you got out of the theater. Both talking nonsense about Back to the Future. 

You stood, leaning against the wall. Looking lovingly at Steve. In their haze they stared nonsensically at the ceiling. Suddenly running to the bathroom, you ran after them. 

The two of them were curled over toilets, throwing up. You sat back, feeling horrible for what they had to endure. 

After what you can only describe as traumatic sickness, the three of you sat on the floor in stalls, Robin leaned her head onto your shoulder, and you spoke to Steve, knowing you couldn’t say it to his face. “Do you mean what you said, Steve?” 

Somehow in his mind, Steve knew what he admitted, “Yes.” he answered quietly. “Yes, I love you.” Robin smiled at you. And you felt hopeful, “Did I overstep?” 

“No,” Robin nodded her head quickly telling you to keep talking, “I, uh, I love you too.” 

Steve slid under the wall and next to you in the stall, “I would kiss you right now, but I just threw up.” 

“I got that.” 

“I’ll make it up to you soon enough.” 

“You two are disgusting,” Robin said, smiling at the display of two people obviously in love next to her.

[redhead-reporter]

Mary Jane Waston was not a girl who liked to hear NO very often. In fact it usually lit a fire underneath her when she did, determined to prove whoever was doubting her WRONG. But she wasn't a kamikaze either; she knew that a lithe reporter armed with a taser gun would be no match for grown men with machine guns, especially if she was as outnumbered as Spider-man was insisting she'd be. This story was important, but NO ONE would be telling it if she wound up dead. She'd honestly been BANKING on sneaking into the facility undetected, avoiding those men all together while she made her way to the main office. In and out without anyone knowing she'd been there, nice and simple.

The CAMERAS he'd spotted would make that plan much more difficult.

Her mind began RACING to formulate a backup plan while he continued listing the various reasons why she should do no such thing. It was probably meant to SCARE her, or at least intimidate her enough to give up on the whole idea of getting inside. But if anything? He was just confirming why she NEEDED to be here - there was no way they kept this place so highly staffed and armed every day. Something BIG was coming in that shipment today, something they wanted to protect with every gun in their arsenal.

Not a snowball's chance in HELL she was leaving without knowing what it was.

"Not everyone with a Bugle press badge is Jameson, you know. Some of us have ACTUAL brain cells." MJ pointed out with an amused smile, glancing down at her camera. The SPIDER-MAN strap popped against her tan leather jacket, the repeated design of his mask wrapping almost protectively around her neck like a good luck charm. "Tell you what - I'll COMPROMISE." she offered, squinting up at the tall building in front of them. "I can't leave here without knowing what they're up to ... so I'll let YOU be in charge of how I get in. You find me a safe path to their central computer system? I'll take it. No DETOURS, promise."

"You keep calling me that..." he mumbled, mostly to himself than to her but Peter was just glad she'd actually stopped and was willing to wait. To talk, sure, that was fine he could talk. Peter was chronically good at talking. This time it was just important talking so he had to try and think about what he said first. That wasn't always easy to do.

Peter hopped down again, closer to ground level. To eye level. If they were going to talk they were going to do it right, "Well...the first thing is there's a camera inside this door, you really don't want to go in through it and get spotted right away." he admitted, "I've been here since early trying to scope out the place and security is pretty tight around the first few floors." they were watching the hallways, not so much the windows as long as he'd been careful.

"I know on their radios they were expecting a shipment in another hour and they said it was for supplies, but it's not the kind that usually come for an office building. I think you at least suspect that much, and that something doesn't add up here or you wouldn't have showed up... I know it's a transport ring with a front and this is the main place they've been doing business for the past two months now. And I know that they're all heavily armed inside, every one of them. Like, every one of them." he'd scaled most of the building already and every person in there seemed to have a weapon of some kind. Guns, bigger guns, impressively sized knives. It was almost impressive.

"And...and I think you know that these guys are bad news, like really bad, and you report on bad people and the things they do. And you want them to get caught, and not for other people to get hurt. But you could get hurt, too. So please, please let me take care of this one and go somewhere safer?" Peter paused and tilted his head, "....hey was I supposed to say any of that was off the record? I've never actually talked with a reporter before. Especially from the Bugle, I kinda thought all of you guys hated me, to be honest."

[bellasweetwriting]

Rescue Romance

Spencer Reid x f.Reader

(not my gif)

MASTERLIST

plot: you’ve been kidnapped by an unsub who fell in love with you, and Spencer is the one who rescued you

notes: extreme confident!reader, nervous!spencer, this is just a brainstorm of a book idea I had and decided to make it a spencer fanfic u know normal stuff

warnings: kidnapping, mentions of torture, mentions of rape, drinking, age gap (22-29), blood, injuries, criminal minds typical stuff

category: mostly angst and a little bit of fluff

word count: 3,9k

    "Y/N Y/L/N, 22, kidnapped in a club near the college campus while partying with her friends. Last seen at 1 AM, reported missing by her roommates when she didn't appear in all-day three hours ago," informed Garcia to the team while they were revising the case on the jet. "The New Haven PD is waiting for you at the police station."

    "Thank you, Garcia," thanked Hotch, but Garcia continued to talk.

    "There's something else you need to see."

    "What is it?" Questioned Morgan.

    "One of her roommates, Sandy Melville, has a channel where she posts videos of her life in college and with roommates. And Y/N appears in all of them."

    "You think this could be the work of a stalker?" Asked JJ looking at Garcia. 

    "Someone could've watched Y/N in the background of the videos and developed a crush on her," said Emily.

    "Not in the background," corrected Garcia, "she's the protagonist of the videos. Sandy followers love her, and I don't blame them."

    Garcia proceeded to show the team one of the videos of Sandy walking through the snow of New Haven. The three friends were on the sidewalk, and the camera was focused on you as you kicked the snow off to the street as you laughed.

     "Y/N you are going to slip and fall!" Exclaimed your other roommate, Liz, pointing the ice that was on the border of the sidewalk. You continued to laugh.

     "Don't be such a drama queen, Liz, and enjoy the snow!" You yelled with a smile. "Kindness is like snow ─ it beautifies everything it covers."

    "Kahlil Gibran," interrupted Spencer, surprising the team who haven't heard him talk in the entire trip. "It's a writer, he said that."

    "Don't be so poetic, Y/N!" Exclaimed Sandy.

    "Kahlil Gibran said it, and I live for those words," you replied. The camera quickly turned to Liz.

    "She's crazy," said laughing before being hit with a snowball on the shoulder. "Y/N!"

    You simply laughed, and the video ended.

   "There are videos of their whole lives," commented Garcia. "Sandy recorded everything and posted online."

    Spencer was still staring at the frozen image of you laughing. Something about it had your complete attention.

    "Ok, JJ, I want you to make a press conference, and then, you and I will talk to the roommates and ask Sandy if she recorded something about the night of her disappearance. Morgan, Prentiss, go to the club, watch the security tapes, see if someone was looking at Y/N or talking to her. Reid, Dave, victimology, go to her apartment and learn everything you can about Y/N, including maybe what attracted the stalker to her. Garcia, check conversations, someone that has messaged her, that she blocked, calls, anything you can get, see if there is anything suspicious. We'll meet back at the station with everything we found."

    Spencer grabbed your picture from the file. It was your college ID photo, and you looked stunning. Your hair was curled, your eye makeup was bright, different from the one's he has seen. Yours made your eyes appear bigger and shinner, while your lipgloss made shine your pink lips. 

-----------------------------------------------------

    Rossi and Reid walked through your room, staring at the details of your walls, your awards, your photographs. You are intelligent, your bookshelves are filled with different literature books that could explain your knowledge.

    "She speaks French," announced Rossi as he grabbed your French edition of Candide by Voltaire. 

    "And Spanish," added Reid going through your notes in Spanish literature class. "She's smart."

    "She goes to an Ivy League School, we should've expected more than this," observed Rossi. "This is a clever, intelligent girl, she wouldn't leave with a stranger just like that, it doesn't make any sense."

    "Well, she was drunk," said Spencer. "She just finished finals, she's graduating with a Criminology Degree in two weeks and went to celebrate with her friends."

    "Finals are very stressful, and it was a college bar, so maybe she didn't have her defence mode on, she trusted the guy. Where is her dog?" Asked Rossi pointing the dog bed next in your corner.

    "With her roommate," Spencer replied. "It's not usually from a stalker to approach their object of desire without preparation, and a club is risky. Y/N had to know the guy and trusted him."

    "Or, she never saw him coming," whispered Rossi.

    "Do you think hhe attacked her from behind? It was a crowded club, someone must have seen it."

    "He could've put a knife on her back, asked her not to scream and walked her outside. She was drunk, so she was weak, she couldn't fight back. He had to know that. Y/N looks like a girl who can defend herself. Everything in this room screams confidence, her videos, her attitude, he had to kidnap her in her weakest moment."

    "For that, he had to know she would have her finals last week. What if we are not looking for someone who developt a crush through the internet videos, but rather someone who sees her every day?"

-----------------------------------------------------

    You slowly opened your eyes. The room was dark, with just one dash of light entering through a small window near the roof.

    You were in a basement.

    Your hands were tied over your head, your feet lifted from the ground only letting the tip of your tow to touch the cold dirt under you. You exhaled. Your eyes felt heavy to open. Blinking was hard because opening them again felt tiring. 

    Your underneath t-shirt was filled was no longer red, your pants and sweater were missing, for some reason, your stomach hurt like hell.

    With all your strength, you look at it, having an idea what was it but being scared of it. You slowly focused your eyes on the red stain in your clothing and the cuts in your legs.

    You heard someone crying and took you a few seconds to realize it was you. You haven't sobbed in a while, in years maybe. It scared you. You were scared. All alone.

-----------------------------------------------------

    Spencer and Rossi entered the police station and walked towards the table where the team was sitting. The whole board was filled with your information, your class schedule, your contacts, your credit card information, your grades, your family members, everything that Garcia could get from your computer.

    "What did you find?" Asked Hotch to Reid.

    "She's intelligent, she speaks three languages, and her whole life screams confidence, "look at me". It doesn't make sense she would leave the club with a guy and not tell her friends before in case something happens to her."

    "We think her stalker is not someone who watches the videos, but someone she knows. A classmate, a teacher, someone that knew her well to affirm that she finished her finals yesterday, and that will go to a particular bar to celebrate with her friends."

    "There are at least five different college bars that Y/N and her friends frequented," added JJ as she remembered what your roommates told her. "How did the unsub know she will go to that bar exactly?"

    "Maybe he heard her. If Reid's theory that the unsub is a classmate, she could've said it in class and he listened."

   "Ok," interrupted Garcia, "I found three blocked accounts in Y/N social media of guys trying to flirt with her but coming to strong that maybe worried her, but none of them is remotely near her, and I checked their entire background."

    "We checked the security cameras and the bar receipts," announced Morgan as he and Prentiss entered. "Neither she nor her friends bought any drinks that night."

    "They were sober?" Questioned Spencer.

    "No, someone bought them for them. Maybe our unsub."

    "My dear super friends," interrupted Garcia appearing on the screen. "I was checking Sandy's phone like you told me, and she did record last night at the bar."

    "I thought she said she didn't remember."

    "Well, turns out she did. Check this out."

    The video was clearly terrible quality. Sandy was moving and dancing around, making it impossible for the camera to focus. When she stopped, the team could clearly see your silhouette as you drank what it appeared not to be your first shot of tequila.

    "Y/N! Y/N! I'm dying to know," said Sandy drunkenly. "What is your plan after graduating?" 

    "Uhm," you whispered, trying to talk clearly. "The only thing I have available is the FBI."

    "Could you imagine," interrupted Liz between laughs, "Y/N with a gun?" 

    "I would look incredibly hot with a gun, what are you talking about?" You joked between laughs. "I don't know what it's outside for me. All my life, I've had everything planned. Study, get good grades, repeat. It can be scary doing something different."

    "Oh, please," said Liz as she was falling next to you. You were quick to catch her and put her arm over your shoulder, "you are Y/N Y/L/N, I bet everyone wants you."

    "I am a man who does not exist for others."

    "Ayn Rand," murmured Spencer.

    "You are a woman," said Sandy.

    "It's from Ayn Rand, you guys are so drunk," you laughed before turning around. "Where the hell is the guy who bought these for us?"

    You looked through the bar but didn't find him.

    "Hey, girls, I'll be back in a sec, I'm gonna pay for the drinks," you told your friends with a tiny smile.

    "Wait, Y/N, let's dance," interrupted Sandy, grabbing your hand and dragging you to the dance floor.

    "Morgan, who was the guy who bought the drinks for them?" Interrogated Hotch and Morgan quickly went through the receipts of last night. 

    "At least six people bought tequila shots last night. End of finals week."

    "Y/N felt the need to pay the drinks back," pointed out Spencer as he watched you danced on the screen. "Why would she do that?" 

    "She felt bad because he bought drinks for all her friends but wasn't hanging out with them?" Proposed JJ.

    "Or, something attracted her of him," whispered Spencer before clicking one of the videos in Sandy's vlog. "I was looking at this video earlier. Sandy asked Y/N how her ideal guy look like. Maybe the stalker watched it and tried to mimic it."

    "Why were you watching that video, Reid?" Asked Emily, and he shook his head nervously.

    "Research... for the case... yeah. Here it is."

    "My ideal guy," you murmured as you played with your little dog on your bed. "He has to be smart, but not cocky smart, he has to be humble. I hate mystery, so he has to be direct with me, with what he wants, I like that. Maybe tall, handsome, not afraid to talk to me. I don't know, Sandy, someone that can catch my attention without even trying."

    Reid paused the video just in time to see your smile to the camera. You were so pretty.

    He had to find you alive, he had to meet you.

    "We don't have time for a profile. Garcia, check the security video and look for a tall, good looking man that bought tequila shots between 10:30 and 11."

    Garcia was quick enough to show the security footage in the screen, pausing just in time to show a man buying the shots and telling the bartender to send them towards a table. Your table.

    "Who is that?" Questioned JJ, and Derek was quick enough to check.

    "Baby girl, look for William Klaus, Gale Andrews, Damien Ace and Ricardo Montero and tell me which one looks like the guy at the bar."

    "Neither of them," she said.

    "Can he have used another person's tab?" 

    "No, that would have involved other people to his concerns. He is meticulous, he doesn't leave a trail."

    "Did he pay in cash?" Asked JJ.

    "That many tequila shots? Who has that kind of money in hand? He had to use a credit card."

    "All of these kids go to private school. If he actually goes to college with them, he has money."

    "We are back to nothing. All of our eyewitnesses were drunk."

    "Except the bartender," pointed out Spencer. "He's gotta remember someone who paid in cash."

    "Ok, Morgan, Prentiss, go to the bar again and interview the bartender, ask for someone who paid for shots in cash. We will deliver the profile."

-----------------------------------------------------

    "The man we are looking for is white in his late teens and early twenties. Tall, and handsome, probably talks smartly and is nervous around people, traits that he learned by listening to Y/N description of an ideal man."

    "It is a student on campus. We denominate this unsub as a Love-Scorned stalker, he believes that Miss Y/L/N is madly in love with him. He has probably seen her sometimes giving him glances, or smiling, and thinking they were for him."

    "This type of unsub is extremely asocial, does not participate in scholar events, does not raise his hand in class, and is remarkably intelligent, enough to get into a private school."

    "This unsub is not a killer but will become one the second his fantasy seems interrupted. Maybe by the same Y/N who doesn't want to play along, there's no way to know how is he going to react with her. We trust that Y/N will realize that she needs to pretend to be in love with him to survive, but we can't be sure."

     "In case of his fantasy being blinded or interrupted, he can get really aggressive and possessive towards her. He's been dreaming to be with her for so long that her rejecting him is not an option."

     "Stalkers commonly killed their objective of desire. The time in which they do, variates in how the victim reacts to them."

    "That's why we need to find her as soon as possible. Ask her classmates, teachers, friends. Someone has to have listened to our unsub suspiciously talk about her, maybe in a way that made them uncomfortable. Our unsub can't manage what he says in public due to his weak social skills."

    "Thank you," finished Hotch, and the police department broke apart, going separate ways. "She's been missing 20 hours, let's find her as quick as possible." The team divided, but Hotch stopped Reid before he could walk away. "Reid, have Garcia found Y/N's parents?"

    "No, uhm, her mom died, and her dad abandoned them when she was little. Her aunt is on her way, though."

    "Ok, thank you."

-----------------------------------------------------

    "Dance," he ordered you, "I always loved your dancing. You danced for me a few weeks ago, remember."

    "It was a charity event for the school, Parker," you whispered. "I danced for everyone."

    "I'm not scared of you, ok? Do whatever you want. You want to kill me? Then do it, I'm tired."

    "I will never hurt you, Y/N."

    "Yes, you will. Stalkers always kill their object of desire, Parker, and you've been stalking me for a while, haven't you? You think I'm in love with you, don't you?"

    "Shut up," Parker whispered before you spit blood that you had in your mouth. "You are ruining this!"

    "What? Your fantasy? You aren't in love with me, Parker, you are in love with the idea of me. You don't know me."

    "I do... know you... I know you."

    "No, you don't. Just because you know at what time I leave for school, at what time I arrive home. Just because you know I walk my dog every afternoon and with who I hang out doesn't mean you know me. Parker, I'm more than a schedule, an object that you see walking through your binoculars. Just because you raped me and broke my arm doesn't mean you know my body. You can't love, Parker..."

    "Stop!"

    "... it's chemically impossible," you continued, "you don't feel love. You are missing one of the most beautiful feelings in the world, and it's not even your fault! You are a sociopath, and no matter how much you try, you will never know how the adrenaline of seeing someone across the room that you love feels like, you'll try to replicate it. You'll kill just to feel something, even if you don't want to."

    "Shut up! Shut your mouth!"

    "Kill me," you didn't even realize how you stuttered while saying those words. "It's the only way you are actually going to feel something. Kill me, because when you get in a mental home, the feeling of my blood running through your hands and skin is the only thing you are going to have, and you are never going to get it again. It's a drug that it's only going to work the first time. After you stab me with that knife, you are going to feel something for three seconds for the first time in your life, just so then, not feeling nothing at all for the rest of it. You must want it to be unique, right? Your first kill, probably your only one. So, light some candles, end my suffering... I'm not even going to feel it with the pain of my arm so who cares."

    Parker was staring at you, not moving, not knowing what to do, while you just look at him. You already knew that if you didn't get medical attention soon, the blood you are loosing for the cuts in your legs, and the pain from your broken arm were going to do the job for him, so you had nothing to lose. And making him spend his entire life in jail for murder was your goal.

    "Do it... kill me..."

-----------------------------------------------------

    "Ok, so I did some research and found out that Y/N was part of this dance marathon for a charity event where an anonymous guy donated three thousand dollars just so she would keep dancing," informed Garcia. 

    "That's an enormous amount of money just for her to dance," observed Derek.

    "And that is not the creepiest part, I found the name of the donor, and it is Parker Edwards, he is an art and literature student, and please look at the last art assignment that he delivered for his final grade in finals week."

    Garcia showed them a gigantic portrait of you next to a creepy guy, not smiling, just staring deadly to the camera.

    "Well, that's definitely creepy," murmured Prentiss.

    "Do you have an address?" Asked Hotch.

    "House 365, 21st with Second Avenue."

    "Let's go."

-----------------------------------------------------

    "Y/N, I need you to open your eyes," you heard someone whisper to you, and you slowly did. "My name is Doctor Spencer Reid, I'm with the FBI."

     "He didn't kill me?" You questioned slowly. Your mouth was dry, and you couldn't feel your legs. 

    "No, he didn't. Y/N, I need you to open your eyes, please." You nodded. He proceeded to untie you, and you let fall in his arms. "I got you, I got you," he mumbled. "Can you walk?" You glanced at him, for then to show him how you couldn't even put your feet straight.  "Sorry, stupid question, put your arm around me."

    "Not that arm, he broke it when he carried me in here." Spencer listened and changed sides, helping you to get out.

    As soon as you were outside, the smell was different. You were used to the smell of dirt and your own blood, that when the spring breeze of New Haven hit you, you couldn't help but to smile.

     "Would you join me in the ambulance?" You questioned, and he nodded. The paramedics got you inside and started plugging cables and hydrating you, but your eyes were just in Spencer. "You look young to be a doctor."

     "If I had a penny for every time I hear that," you chuckled. "How are you feeling?"

     "Like writing this in the experience box for my FBI academy application," you mumbled, now making him laugh. "I know that I'm covered in dirt and blood, and shampoo hasn't touched my hair in a while... but I'm actually pretty." He raised his eyebrows, noticing that the painkillers were taking effect. "Probably my legs look like the legs of a training object for ninjas with all of those cuts, but I'm a terrific dancer."

    "I know. I saw the videos that Sandy filmed. Of you dancing at the bar."

    "That's drunk. But sober, let me tell you, John Travolta got his inspiration for Pulp Fiction by me, true facts." He laughed. "Thank you for saving me."

    "It's my job, and it's going to be yours too."

    You chuckled.

    "You are cute, doctor," you mumbled before closing your eyes and being able to sleep for the first time in hours.

-----------------------------------------------------

    October arrived. It's been months since the kidnapping and arrest of Parker, and it was your first day in Virginia for the academy. You were nervous, now more than ever. What if you didn't have what it takes?

     You were completely cured, and the doctor freed you completely, and the first person you wanted to tell was Spencer.

     You and the doctor had been talking for months now, and he was everything you dreamed of. He was smart, funny, he paid attention to you, and even though you guys were just friends, you liked him.

    You liked him a lot.

    "This pile paperwork gets bigger every time I look at it," whispered Morgan staring at the tower. "I had plans tonight."

    While Derek complained, Reid finished his and gave them to Hotch, and Morgan felt that as a personal attack."

     "Please, tell people that if you disappear, I'm the prime suspect."

    "Hey, isn't that Y/N from the New Haven stalking case?" Asked Emily to Spencer, making him look towards the door where you were standing, looking at him.

     "Be right back," said the doctor standing up and walking towards you.

     "What was that?" Asked Morgan to Prentiss, but she had no idea.

     As soon as he was closer, he hugged you, and you felt safe immediately. You've only had seen him a few times since the hospital, so every time you guys reconnected, it was like you both grew up even more.

     "Y/N, you look great."

     "I told you once that I was incredibly pretty."

     Last time he saw you, you still had cuts in your face and a cast on your arm. Now, you were like a different person. Like that girl, he once admired dancing in those videos months ago.

     "What are you doing here?"

     "Today is my first day in the academy," you let him know. "I wanted to tell you tonight, but I couldn't wait." He smiled. "Hey, so, I have a surprise."

     "Another one?" You chuckled.

     You took out from your pocket two tickets for a horror film festival the day before, and he glanced at them curiously.

     "We both love Halloween, so I thought it could be a great idea." He smiled.

     "I love it... Y/N, about us."

     "Don't say anything, you whispered, proceeding to kiss his cheek. "We will talk about it after. Bye, Spencer."

    "See you tomorrow," he said softly, making you smile before leaving.

    "Reid," Morgan called him, "care to explain?"

    "Don't you have paperwork to do?" Morgan laughed, watching him walk away with a big smile.

    "Pretty boy..." 

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Higurashi Sotsu Ep15 [FINALE]

For better or worse I think Ryukishi achieved exactly what he set out to do with this series, and I guess everyone’s just gonna be forced to reckon with how they feel about his own perspective on this franchise versus how they feel about it, lol.

Anyway, thoughts under the cut, plus Umineko spoilers.

I’m not entirely sure where to even start with this, but I guess the TL;DR is that I honestly think Gou/Sotsu was ultimately just fine despite it’s issues, and part me of can’t help but be like ‘I told you so, lol’ about how this really did end with this episode, and also committed pretty hard to the Umineko prequel elements.

It’s not like all of my theories were correct in the end, but I at least think I was pretty spot on in my prediction last week that this would end with the miracle of them side-stepping the sword issue entirely and choosing the third option of forgiveness and reconciliation. And also them ending it with an epilogue where we go back to the Matsuribayashi timeline and get a happy ending for Rika and Satoko that provides a ‘non-magical interpretation’ for the story while also giving us an idea of how Bern and Lambda formally split off into their own entities and start the relationship we see in Umineko.

I didn’t quite expect them to go down the route of having them agree to just spend a few years apart and accept that they don’t need to literally always be together, but I think that was a really good way to wrap things up between them. It’s pretty much the healthiest compromise to their conflict that doesn’t come across like it completely invalidates one of their dreams. I get why it feels too anti-climactic and convenient for people, but when you pull at that thread you get into wider topics of what the entire story is about, since this was always going to end with Satoko being redeemed and forgiven. People might not have taken him seriously, but Ryukishi was 100% genuine about his regrets about Matsuribayashi’s ending, and how part of why he came up with this new story was to create a better ending, while also doing more with Satoko as a character.

Basically I think a lot of the fandom negativity towards this boils down to people fundamentally disagreeing with the idea that Matsuribayashi was even ‘flawed’ in this sort of way to begin with, or that Satoko was badly written. It’s valid to disagree on this stuff, but at the very least we all have to grapple with how Ryukishi has his own specific relationship with this series.

People like to focus on how he’s a troll who likes to mess with people, but I feel like this is a bit of a wake-up call for people about how he’s actually extremely sincere, almost to a fault, and he likes to use his stories as a vehicle for expressing his personal philosophies and ideals. 

This whole story is also a good example of how he just sees this as ultimately being a fictional story about fictional characters, and not literally a matter of real people who need to be sentenced for their crimes or whatever. As early as the original VN he was almost being outright preachy about the message that nobody is irredeemable, and that philosophy carries through to this. But to be more specific, nobody *in this story* is irredeemable. He’s pretty open about the fact that in practice you can’t apply this sort of ideal to real life, but fictional stories are their own separate matter.

I think this whole issue of how he views this as a story first and foremost is also the central reason why this ended in a way that comes across as Satoko being let off too easy for her crimes. One way or another, Ryukishi’s made it clear that he sees this as being no different to how other characters had arcs where they committed crimes but still got forgiven, or how Takano is basically a straight up war criminal who also got forgiven for her crimes.

Anyway, this episode at least committed to the Umineko stuff, so that was satisfying. Sure there’s people that still want to deny it, but at this point I think a lot of people are just being stubborn, so it’s not like anything would have really convinced them, lol. I’m also genuinely not sure what people even would have expected them to do beyond what we saw her, aside from having the two of them literally put on their gothic lolita outfits and turn to the camera and go ‘we are literally Bernkastel and Lambdadelta from the video game series Umineko When They Cry’. I almost feel like there’s some kind of misunderstanding from people who aren’t familiar with Umineko when it comes to the idea of what it even means for this to be ‘an Umineko prequel’, or ‘a Bern/Lambda origin story’. I mean, this is quite literally exactly what I expected and hoped for in that regard. It’s not like I was expecting them to incorporate anything related to, like, Beatrice or the Ushiromiya family.

I think this is also one of those things where you just have to decide for yourself whether or not you want to earnestly engage with the story that’s being told, or if you want to assume that there’s some level of malice or trickery going on.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting them to literally have Rika and Satoko recite part of Bern and Lambda’s final conversation with each other word for word, lmao. Combined with the scene at the end where ‘Witch Satoko’ talks to herself about how she’s going to give her body back to Satoko while she goes chasing after Rika, it was literally just the exact origin story of their relationship as it’s depicted in Umineko.

I still feel like this would all only really be ‘worth it’ if we actually get something like a full on anime remake for Umineko, but at this point I can’t help but feel satisfied with this part of it all.

It’s not like I think Gou/Sotsu as a whole is perfect or anything, though. I don’t hate it as much as basically everyone else does, but I think Ryukishi’s the sort of VN writer who really struggles with the shift to writing for an anime. I think a big part of the frustration people have is just from how this is formatted as a weekly anime series spread across basically an entire year, instead of being something like a stand-alone VN chapter that you can read at whatever pace you want, even if it ultimately takes the same amount of time to read as it would to watch all of Gou/Sotsu.

There’s also the whole issue of this being a sort-of-remake, which snowballed into a whole list of structural problems. They absolutely tried too hard to have their cake and eat it too, and they should have just committed to it being made for old fans only, instead of trying to sincerely incorporate elements from the VN that old fans don’t care about anymore because they’ve gone over it already.

And as I’ve said several times before, it was a major issue for them to decide to put Nekodamashi in the middle of Gou and then spend like 20 episodes on flashback answer arcs until finally getting back to that cliffhanger. I’ve been waiting until this all ended to decide exactly how I feel about that, and now that it’s all over I still think it was a really bad idea. I don’t think it was an issue for them to reveal that Satoko’s the culprit that early, but having the gun cliffhanger specifically happen that early just gave people misguided expectations and tainted the answer arcs because people were just impatient to get back to the cliffhanger. And then the cliffhanger itself ended up being somewhat anti-climactic, which is what I’d been fearing would happen. It would have worked fine if they shuffled it around so that the cliffhanger happened right before Kagurashi and was followed up in the very next episode, or if this was a VN where you could binge your way through the flashback stuff, but spending like half of an entire real-life year to get back to that point only to have the resolution be ‘Satoko just shoots Rika and the death loops keep going’ just didn’t really work properly.

I’m a lot more generous towards the Akashi arcs than most people are, since I think they really over-estimate how much re-used content there is there, but they still suffer from the central issue of the show trying to be accessible for new fans. It could have been heavily condensed otherwise, without losing anything in terms of Satoko’s whole character arc.

On the other hand I think the first half of Kagurashi was awful specifically because it highlighted how bad of an idea it was to put Nekodamashi so early in the story. They still ended up having to go back to that arc and repeat it anyway, in the most 1:1 recap-y way in the whole show, but that wouldn’t have even been an issue in the first place if that was instead the first time that arc happened in the show.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I would rearrange the story to make it flow better while still following Ryukishi’s intentions, and I think they could have condensed it into a 2-cour season with this sort of structure if they did something like this:

-First arc where Rika gets thrown back into the loop and quickly figures out that somebody intentionally caused this to happen, and it’s not Takano because at least in this idea of mine she’d try and investigate her only to find out that this version of Takano regrets everything and is planning to flee the village with Tomitake.

Basically I think this could tie into the idea of Satoko initially wanting to just concoct an idea world for Rika so that she won’t want to leave this time, but sort of like what I think happens in Saikoroshi, Rika would still reject it, and this time around there’d be the additional layer of her knowing that somebody did this to her for an unknown reason. Maybe they could even initially market it as a new adaptation or a remake of Saikoroshi, and then reveal that it’s a sequel, to keep that whole element to the series. Either way I think this would end with everything going to shit when Rika rejects that fragment and wants to go back to St. Lucia’s, and Satoko basically snaps and kills her, and that way the audience can find out about her being the culprit without Rika finding out about it yet.

Maybe there could even be some dramatic irony where Rika’s attempts to meddle with certain ‘trigger events’, and her displaying her looper side, inadvertently triggers people around her to get paranoid, and the whole fragment would start to spiral into tragedy from there. I think they could at least use the whole conflict in Tatariakashi about Teppei actually being good this time as a starting point for that sorta thing.

-Second arc, rounding out the first cour, which is basically just Satokowashi. I don’t think there’s much that you’d need to change here, but like I said above I like the idea of her initially trying to just invent a perfect world for Rika and her to live in, instead of jumping straight to murder. But maybe instead of her literally just watching Rika’s loops, she could instead just be stuck using her looping powers to try and figure out how to create that ‘perfect world’ in the first place, by personally investigating all of the different tragedies and how to prevent them.

-Staring the second cour, a third arc where we basically just get to see those loops Satoko goes through, and her whole process of solving the tragedies and ‘purifying’ characters like Teppei and Takano, until we eventually see her perspective on the first arc, and how she reacts to Rika ultimately rejecting the world she tried to make for her.

-A fourth and final arc which is basically just Nekodamashi + Kagurashi, where she just totally snaps and tries to just torture Rika into never wanting to leave the village again, and eventually Satoko gets exposed and they have their direct confrontation with each other.

With that sorta story structure, you’d keep all the relevant bits of Gou/Sotsu as it is now, while being more focused on Rika and Satoko instead of doing kinda half-assed reruns of the Rena and Shion arcs. It’d also push the big cliffhanger between them until near the end of the show, while still revealing to the audience relatively early on that Satoko’s the culprit.

I’d also like them to do more with Satoshi and Shion, so maybe like with how Teppei gets redeemed and Satoko almost gets to have a happy life with him in Tatariakashi, the central question arc of this hypothetical story could also involve Satoko making sure that Satoshi wakes up from his coma, and Shion also gets to have a good relationship with all of them. You could probably do something interesting with the idea of Satoshi and Shion being in the camp of not trusting Teppei and his whole redemption arc.

Honestly I could spend a long time talking about how I would have done things differently, lol. For one thing, I think the Akashi arcs would have been much better if they just changed it so that Satoko used psychological tactics to make people paranoid, and we completely cut out the whole syringe plot device. I get how it fits with Satoko’s whole certainty gimmick, but it made those arcs way too predictable. Even if we knew the outcome, it’d at least be entertaining to see exactly how Satoko might go out of her way to set up the different tragedies. We kinda got glimpses of that sorta plot point in Wataakashi when things seemed to go outside of her control, but they didn’t really do much with it.

Anyway, this is a whole lot of words to say that I think that in spite of the serious structural issues going on, I think Gou/Sotsu as a whole is fine, and was at least working with a lot of perfectly good ideas that could have been executed much better.

Also, on a side note, that one scene during their fist-fight at the start where the art-style changes a bit was kinda weird, but I really liked how it looked, and part of me almost wishes the whole show looked like that, lol. I like Akio Watanabe’s character designs, but I feel like that sort of stylized, almost TWEWY-ish art style would have been really fitting for this series, especially in the horror/action parts.

Oh, and the new rendition of You was so good it almost felt emotionally manipulative, lol.