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sunnymegatron · 1 year

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Authentic Kink & BDSM Community Lessons w/ Mollena Williams-Haas Ep 204 (Pt. 2)

How do you live your authentic kink life when your needs don't match up with the BDSM community status quo? In part 1 (ep 203) Mollena Williams-Haas told us how returning to the leather community after parting ways sparked an unexpected journey of healing and growth. In this discussion, Mollena shares practical advice for digging past the stereotypical BDSM “supposed to’s” in order to identify your needs and honor them. D/s relationships are about making life better for both doms and subs -- but how exactly do we go about that? Mollena has some helpful answers …

Mollena Williams-Haas Bio

Mollena is a writer, actress, BDSM Educator, Storyteller, sobriety fiend since March 2007, and Award-Winning Executive Pervert. Owned & collared by renowned contemporary composer Georg Friedrich Haas, she serves as his beloved slave, submissive, wife, servant, and Muse. February 2016 saw a groundbreaking piece about their relationship featured in the New York Times. They are also both the subject of the documentary The Artist and The Pervert.

As a two-time leather title holder and kink educator, Mollena's viewpoints on Kink-related issues are frequently sought after by sources like The New York Times, Newsweek, Essence, Ebony, etc. A frequent guest expert on Dan Savage’s “Savage Lovecast,” Tristan Taormino’s “Sex Out Loud”, and Margaret Cho’s “Monsters of Talk” podcast, she’s even spoken about Kink at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Mollena is also the co-author of the “Toybag Guide: Taboo Play” and “Playing Well With Others: Your Guide to Discovering, Exploring and Navigating the Kink, Leather and BDSM Communities”.

A professional stage performer since age 5, Mollena’s credits include The Wiz and co-starring with Danny Bonaduce in underground cult-classic America’s Deadliest Home Video. Her short film, IMPACT, won “Cinekink’s Best Experimental Film." Mollena’s latest performance piece and movie is Hyena, a collaboration with her husband. Mollena also appeared on Sex with Sunny Megatron on Showtime. Her latest endeavor is The Kink Doula. (Mollena's Full Bio: http://www.mollena.com/about/ )

Episode 204 Helpful Links & Resources

Part 1 of this discussion, Episode 203 https://sunnymegatron.com/mollena-williams-haas-bdsm-leather-community/

All That and Mo, Podcast hosted by Mollena Lee Williams Haas https://allthatandmo.com/

Kink Doula https://kinkdoula.com/

Mollena Lee Williams Haas Website http://www.mollena.com/

Mollena Lee Williams Haas Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mollena

Mollena Lee Williams Haas Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mollena_lee_williams_haas/

Mollena Lee Williams Haas Twitter https://twitter.com/mollena

Mollena Lee Williams Haas Patreon https://www.patreon.com/MollenaLeeWilliamsHaas

Mollena on RISK! Episode 442 “Slave” https://soundcloud.com/riskshow/slave-by-mollena-williams-from-episode-442-slave

Hyena Teaser Trailer https://youtu.be/UrAJji7qdwk

The Artist and the Pervert Trailer https://youtu.be/ko_6bGeADGU

The Artist and the Pervert Documentary on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Artist-Pervert-Georg-Friedrich-Haas/dp/B08NC5C1PK

The Restrict Act Bill S. 686 https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/686/text

ResistBot https://resist.bot/petitions

Find & Contact your Legislators https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/s686/comment

Chat GPT https://chat.openai.com/chat

Sunny’s Free Kink Negotiation & Scene Planning Mini-Workbook https://sunnymegatron.gumroad.com/l/negotiationwb

Sunny Megatron TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@sunnymegatron

American Sex Podcast Discord Community http://bit.ly/discordasp

American Sex Podcast Patreon http://patreon.com/americansex

Episode 204 Sponsors & Discount Codes

*by using our links & codes you can help support our work while saving a few bucks too—win/win!

40% off Beducated’s yearly pass https://beducate.me/pd2317-sunny and use code SUNNY

Get 20% off + free shipping at Manscaped.com with code SUNNY http://manscaped.com

Go to http://GreenChef.com/sunny60 and use code sunny60 to get 60% off plus free shipping

Pleasure Podcasts Network https://www.pleasurepodcasts.com/

Sunny’s On-Demand BDSM Classes & Coaching: https://sunnymegatron.gumroad.com/

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–To support American Sex Podcast/Sunny Megatron & help offset the cost of providing no-charge education: http://patreon.com/americansex

Check out our latest episode!

#sexpodcast sunnymegatron kinkpodcast BDSMpodcast kinkiscustomizable

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yurimother · 4 years

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LGBTQ Light Novel Review — I'm in Love with the Villainess

A stunningly profound, entertaining, and queer title that eclipses other isekai and Yuri series

There are few titles the general public seems to be as excited about as Inori and Hanagata's I'm in Love with the Villainess, as it has been sitting at or near the top of Amazon's LGBT Manga list for months and Twitter is consistently abuzz with the latest news on this isekai Yuri series. I was somewhat more skeptical, as I have had relatively poor experiences with isekai and fantasy Yuri. Still, my excitement went through the room, and I eagerly boarded the "hype train" upon the cover reveal for the third volume. Yuri families, where two women raise children together, are one of my greatest desires and something I rarely see portrayed in the genre. However, I still had mostly low expectations for the series going into the first volume. I looked forward to some light meandering comedy and typical boring trope-filled isekai shenanigans. However, I'm in Love with the Villainess more than exceeded my expectations. No, even this statement is far too moderate to describe how utterly stunned and blown away I was by Inori's creation. I'm in Love with the Villainess is completely shattering and easily one of the greatest light novels I have ever read. Thus, I have no choice to award a perfect 10/10 score, my first ever for a light novel.

After waking up in the world of her favorite otome game, Revolution, protagonist Rae is ecstatic to be faced to face with Claire Francois, the game's villainous rival. However, Rae never played Revolution for the thrill of romancing any of the three attractive young princes. She was always in love with Claire. She attends the academy and studies magic in the fantasy world alongside Claire, the princes, and various other supporting characters. Using her skills from the modern world and her encyclopedic knowledge of Revolution, Rae manipulates the situation to be close to Claire, becoming her maid, and garnering status and money along the way. As an inevitable conflict looms closer, Rea begins to enact plans to protect herself and Claire, many of which are not fully understood or explained until the finale fantastically reveals the reasons for her actions. There is a natural and steady pace to the narrative that awards readers’ predictions and attention to detail.

I'm in Love with the Villainess has some excellent supporting characters, all of whom have unique personalities, histories, and abilities, some of which are revealed by Rae's exposition and others naturally throughout the novel. However, the stars of the show are the central couple, Rae and Claire. Claire is an elite aristocrat and extremely bratty. She often sneers at commoners and makes her disdain of Rae very clear from early on. On paper, she sounds like the perfect villain and someone all readers would despise. However, Rae's utter devotion and infatuation with Claire is so sincere that we cannot help but be pulled in and adore Claire and all her tantrums. Rae is a delight herself, continually flirting and poking fun at Claire, which gets her verbally berated, much to her masochistic pleasure. However, she is also exceptionally cunning and intelligent, and some of the light novel's greatest joys are listening to her analyze a situation or watching one of her plans fall into place.

“Ah, I’m… Well, it doesn’t matter. I mean, it’s irrelevant to cuteness—because, Miss Claire, you are cute.” “Huh?!” She pulled away. It was perfect—such a pure reaction. “Miss Claire, you hate me, right?” “Of course!” “That’s fine. Please keep teasing me. I love it.”

The beginning of the book does not immediately clue one into its brilliance. Sure, Claire and Rea get some great one-liners as they bully each other, and the scenarios are authentic and fun, but it is nothing shattering. I was feeling pretty relaxed and having a lot of fun with the characters, their relationship, and the various slice-of-life style scenarios they encountered until one section, I remember the exact page, 81, as it stopped me dead in my tracks. I was flabbergasted and briefly frozen before shooting up out of bed, shouting expletives as I ran to my office to immediately record what I had just experienced. It all begins with the line, "Hey, Rae. Are you what they call gay?" What followed was one of the most thoughtful, condensed, informative, and nuanced discussions of gay and queer identity (both terms used in this scene) I have ever seen in Yuri. Everything from representation in media, the perceptions of and prejudices against gay people, and the role gender plays in romance for bisexual and gay people are analyzed. Its commentary is succinct yet so respectful and forthright that it could have only come from genuine experience, thus selling the book and its characters so much more.

"Queer people were still overwhelmingly closeted in this world, which was rife with prejudice and nurtured little understanding. As I noted, the queer people depicted in the story were either the sex fiends Claire imagined or the free-loving sort Lene had in mind. Diversity and acceptance were a long way off.”

Thus, Inori's writing's beauty exposed itself, and the book opened itself up to a delightful cycle. The narrative masterfully integrates isekai slice-of-life hijinks, like running a cross-dressing café or battling a giant slime with nuanced and challenging moments that dissect complicated topics. The latter mainly consists of a growing rift between the aristocracy and common people, mirroring real-world wealth gap issues, but the novel also touch on matters such as unequal prison sentencing and segregation. Every scene helped further the complexity of the characters and their relationships or else built onto the world of Revolution. Speaking of which, I'm in Love with the Villainess has some of the best worldbuilding ever seen in a light novel.

Initially, brief exposition establishes much of the world, which is adequate if not exciting. I will mark up to a casualty of the light novel's serialized nature, as it must present readers its setting immediately. However, Inori does not stop here. Through the narrative, new elements are established, such as a magic system and the kingdom's politics. Rea notes and describes how the world, while clearly based on medieval Europe, has many modern Japanese attributes, as Japanese game developers created it. Her pointing out the intersection of the two is fascinating. Furthermore, A great deal of time is spent establishing characters and organizations all have their own wants, agendas, and methods, many of which are not even directly involved with the story. Instead, they act as a background and help further contextualize others. For example, the Church publicly appears to lean towards supporting the commoners in their efforts for equality but has its own agenda of superseding the nobility. While they play little role in Rea and Claire’s adventure, they are one of numerous factors contributing to the unrest of the lower class. All these additions are interesting, and it never feels like the story or characters suffer for their inclusion, quite the opposite.

“The Bauer Kingdom had started a step behind other countries when it came to magical research. They dominated the surrounding countries in military strength, and this had made them complacent, leading them to underestimate the value of new magic technology until the best researchers had all been enticed to other countries. Even after the king came up with his magic-focused meritocratic policy, Bauer lagged behind.”

I can only make complaints by scraping the very bottom of the barrel. Hanagata's beautiful art is too infrequent to add much to the light novel, and many scenes crying for illustrations are left to the readers' imagination. However, Inori so wonderful writes the story that one hardly cares and can easily picture every moment with delight. Besides, the manga adaption will nullify this issue. Where I cannot complain at all is the spectacular translation by Jenn Yamazaki and Nibedita Sen, one of Seven Seas best (which is high praise considering the competition). Sure, I was slightly disappointed at first to see the adaptation left off honorifics, but the more I thought about the setting, the more sense it made. I am sure people much smarter than I gave the issue much more consideration, and I am happy with their decisions.

I'm in Love with the Villainess left me reeling with how pleasurable and powerful it was. The story and characters are such a joy, and I cannot wait to see Rea and Claire bully each other again in the next volume. Astounding worldbuilding and powerful, thought-provoking politics surround their antics and the high stakes plot. Every moment of their journey will enthrall readers as they squeal with glee at its hilarious set pieces or are shocked by its commentary of society's most significant challenges. Inori has created one of the most delightful, heartfelt, complex, profound, and genuinely queer light novel series ever. If you only read one thing I recommend this year, let it be I'm in Love with the Villainess.

Ratings: Story — 9 Characters — 10 Art — 5 LGBTQ — 10 Sexual Content — 2 Final — 10

Review copy provided by Seven Seas Entertainment

Purchase I’m in Love with the Villainess in digitally (9/23) and in print (11/10) today: https://amzn.to/32NEyG1

Supports creators by purchasing official releases.

#yuri #lgbt #lgbtq #reviews #lgbtq+#i favor the villainess #i'm in love with the villainess #girls love #gay #queer #light novel #manga #gl #politics #feminism

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sugarmaplewings-fics · 4 years

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My Universe

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Request (from @kreampop1257): Hi! Could I request a fic where Bakugou and his fem!s/o go camping? it's ok if not!!

Pairing: Bakugou x reader

Warnings: None o.O? Ig y’all get a lil kissy kissy but it’s nothing crazy. Also you eat food

Author’s Note:

Sorry again for the long wait! Have some incredibly soft Bakugou (like literally almost ooc söft). Also this one ended up being gender-neutral (no pronouns) so yeah :D

Enjoy!

-Sugar

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“Where’d you say this thing was?” Your question was directed at the back of Bakugou’s head, his spiky blond hair seemingly flatter from how much he’d been sweating the past few hours.

“It’s not much farther,” he grunted.

You knew how annoying he found complaining to be, so you’d kept quiet on that front for most of your little adventure. But your bags only seemed to be getting heavier, and the sun already hung low in the sky.

Your boyfriend had suggested that he take you camping with him as a sort of romantic getaway. Granted, that wasn’t how he’d put it, but you were inclined to think so. It wasn’t every day you got to spend so much time alone with him. But now you were hot, tired, a little sweaty, and Bakugou had hardly said a word to you on your entire hike up the mountain. Figures.

Following him for a few more minutes, he led you to a small clearing between a circle of trees and unceremoniously dropped his bag. “Here,” he announced, already crouching down to pull out the tent.

You set your own backpack on the ground, taking a look around you. The trees stretched up and up above your head, a thin canopy of leaves just allowing you to see small patches of the darkening blue sky. “This is nice,” you said, twirling to see how large the site was. There was just enough space for your tent and a small fire.

“Don’t just stand there gawking,” Bakugou said. “Help me.”

You walked over to where he’d laid out the canvas of the tent, holding it up so he could put the rods in the support system and keeping it steady as he hammered in the stakes. By the time you were finished, the sky was already streaked with pink and orange hues.

“Clear that spot for the fire,” Bakugou instructed, pointing to a patch of dirt a few feet away from your tent. “I’ll go get some wood.”

And a few minutes later, you had a fire going. You leaned against your boyfriend as you both finally sat and rested on the ground, devouring sandwiches you’d packed earlier.

“Are you having fun?” Katsuki asked you, his eyes averted to his feet as he took another bite from his sandwich.

“Yeah, actually,” you answered, watching the fire dance in front of you. “I like being out here, and the hike up wasn’t too bad.” You laced your free hand with his, turning to face him. “And I like spending time with you. Even if you can be a little bossy.”

“I’m not bossy!” Bakugou said, finally looking at you with an indignant pout.

You giggled, lightly bumping your shoulder against his. “Are too.”

“I just—want things to be perfect for you,” he grumbled, looking away again. “It’s what you deserve.”

You let go of his hand to cup his face in your palm, turning his chin so your noses could brush together. “That’s sweet of you.” You kissed him gently, and you couldn’t help but notice the way he almost seemed to melt into your lips. You went back to your sandwiches a moment later after you’d pulled away, finishing them in silence.

“S’more time!” you announced, pulling the packet of marshmallows out of your bag. You passed it to Bakugou along with a skewer and began roasting them.

The blond hovered his over a glowing ember while you immediately shoved yours into the fire, watching the puffy treat burst into flame.

“You actual fiend,” Bakugou accused disapprovingly with a quirked brow as you raised the blackened flaming marshmallow high enough to blow out.

“The pot and the kettle,” you muttered, flicking off a piece of the scorched skin. “This is the quick way to do it. Besides, now it’s all nice and melty.”

“And burnt,” he quipped, turning his own so you could see the golden brown tone his had taken on.

You shrugged, pulling out a graham cracker and a square of chocolate. “Works for me.”

You tried your best to be neat while you took a bite out of your s’more, but the marshmallow had other plans. It refused to separate from itself, pulling apart in a single gooey string and sticking to your face.

Bakugou watched you out of the corner of his eye with a smirk as he finally pulled his perfectly toasted marshmallow out of the heat of the fire. He took a bite from it plain off the skewer, still amused with watching as you got specks of chocolate and marshmallow around your mouth.

“I’m struggling,” you admitted to him, still trying to figure out the best way to smush down your dessert so it would stay together.

He chuckled at your predicament, waiting until you finished. “You’ve got something on your face.”

“I’m aware.” You pulled a wet wipe out of your bag, grateful that you’d thought to bring one. Once you were finished wiping off your sticky fingers, you moved to swipe it over your face. But Katsuki stopped you before you could, taking your wrist in his hand and sliding closer to you.

Wordlessly, his lips met your face again, pecking away the sweet fragments of your s’more from your skin. You could feel his tongue swiping out, kitten licking at a crumb of chocolate in the corner of your mouth.

“Sweet,” he mumbled lowly in that gruff voice of his, almost making you shiver and causing your cheeks to heat even more than they already were. Finally he moved in even closer, kissing you fully on the lips once more for a long moment. You relaxed into him, fingers settling under his jawline to pull him in. His tongue swiped over your bottom lip as he pushed against you, exhales from his nose mingling with yours. Katsuki finally pulled away, his lips grazing over your cheekbone as he moved to whisper in your ear. “I want to show you something.”

You nodded and he stood, offering you his hand. You took it and straightened, allowing him to lead you off into the woods.

After a few minutes of walking, you noticed the trees begin to thin out. Soon, you were standing in some sort of meadow, wild grass growing up past your ankles.

“Look up there,” Katsuki whispered.

Your eyes flicked to the dark blue canvas of sky and widened as they took in the sight above you. Thousands of stars glittered in the distance, twinkling and bright in the clear atmosphere.

“I’ve never seen so many,” you whispered in awe, entranced by the bejeweled heavens.

“There’s no light pollution up here in the mountains,” Katsuki said, letting go of your hand so he could flop down on the ground. You followed, laying at his side and looking above the treeline, the grass tickling your cheek.

You laid there together in silence for some time; fingers newly entwined, eyes tracing clusters of stars, searching for familiar constellations. You stared up for so long, your eyes began to burn. You let them drift shut, allowing your other senses to take over.

You could hear the steady breaths of Katsuki beside you, accompanying the symphony of insects orchestrating music of their own design. The grass fluttered against every inch of your exposed skin, stirring ever so slightly on every draft of cool night air. You were quick to get lost in the earthly scents surrounding you, each one deeply penetrating your lungs and seeming to spin in your mind.

“Getting tired?”

Bakugou’s rough voice shook you out of your thoughts. You opened your eyes again, focusing on the heavenly view above. “This is so cool,” you mumbled, ignoring your boyfriend’s previous question. “Thanks for bringing me here.”

He tched. “Of course, dummy.” Bakugou squeezed your hand a final time before sitting up, stretching. “Come on, let’s head back before you fall asleep. It’s been a long day.”

Once you were at your campsite again, you pulled out the bedding and your pajamas. Bakugou doused the smoldering remains of your fire before helping you spread out the sleeping bags and blankets inside the tent, your actions lit only by a single lantern.

Settling in, Bakugou shut off the light, plunging everything around you into a thick darkness. You heard him turn over, and you realized with a hint of frustration that he was facing away from you. You knew your boyfriend wasn’t always interested in cuddling, and you respected that. He wanted his space from time to time, that was all. But did it have to be now? Tonight?

You internally grumbled to yourself, regretting not shoving your sleeping bag even closer to his. Your mind began to wander, but you quickly took notice that you weren’t as sleepy as you should be. Pouting to yourself at your horrendous luck, you turned over, frowning at the feeling of hard earth under your shoulder and hip. You’d literally spent the past several hours physically exerting yourself. The least your body could do for you was allow itself to get the sleep and rest it ached for. But your head was too noisy, the ground too hard, and it was slowly sinking in how cold the woods got at night.

You couldn’t take it anymore. Cringing at the loud shuffling sounds of your sleeping bag, you shimmied your way over to your boyfriend. To your dismay, you could tell by his breaths that he was already some level of asleep. Stealthily, you tried pressing your chest into his back. Already, warmth began to seep into your skin, and you finally sighed in contentment, draping your arm over his side.

And then his breathing changed. Man, he was too easy to wake up.

You heard him chuckle, low and breathy from his still-sleepy state. “You really can’t last long without me, huh?” he said, face invisible to you, still turned away in the dark. “What was that?” he went on. “Five seconds and you already want me again?”

You scowled at the vague outline of his hair, catching onto what he was getting at. “That was so not five seconds!” you protested. “You fell asleep! And besides, it’s cold out here.” Even though he couldn’t see you, you knew he’d be able to hear the pout in your voice.

Still chuckling to himself, he rolled over to face you. “Come ‘ere, Teddy Bear, you know I’m just messin’ with you.”

Your pout remained present on your face, but even so, you found yourself snuggling into his warm chest. It was infinitely softer than where you’d previously been laying, and the way his arms snaked around your body heated you like nothing else.

“How’s this, babe?” His hand smoothed over your back, pulling at your blankets so you could effectively be cocooned against him.

“Perfect,” you whispered, finally relaxing your face and letting your smile creep across your lips. Settling in, you gripped the soft fabric of his shirt between your fingers.

He pressed a kiss to the top of your head, inhaling the scent of your hair. “Was this a nice trip?” he asked, abandoning his initial teasing tone for a more vulnerable one.

“Yes,” you answered, and of course it was the truth. “Thanks for showing me the stars.”

“Knew you’d like them,” he snorted, playing with a strand of your hair.

“The world’s so big,” you quietly mused to yourself, lids finally growing heavy. “The sun. The earth. The moon. And all the stars. But you’re my everything, Katsuki.”

His breath suddenly caught in his throat, causing him to freeze for a moment before he looked down again at your dark form snuggled into his chest.

“My universe,” you mumbled, finally drifting off in his arms.

How could you know that he felt the same? How could he express what you did to him every time you laughed? How he wanted to be there for it all? How he wanted to hold you when you were sad and lift you up when you were happy? How could he say that you meant more to him than you’d ever know, that he’d move mountains just for you if he thought for a second that it would make you smile? How could you know that you were his universe too?

“Of course I am,” he muttered to your sleeping self, pressing a final kiss to your forehead. “Always will be.” And with that, his consciousness joined you among darkness and stars.

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Taglist: @aahilovetheatre @basicaegyo @hyunmin-1404 @iiminibattlehero @katsugay @nabo39 @pyrofanatic @rainy-skys-and-bright-stars @sendhelpimstupid @sxngwoos-ash-box @xoxopam4

#katsuki bakugou #bakugou katsuki #bakugou imagine #katsuki bakugou imagine #bakugou katsuki imagine #bakugou x reader #katsuki bakugou x reader #bakugou katsuki x reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #reader insert #request fulfilled!#sugar fics

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snowbellewells · 3 years

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Self Promo Sunday: “Kingdom Come”

This is another one of my early Captain Swan one shots, this one written during the hiatus between 3a and 3b. The idea entered my head when I first heard "Demons" by Imagine Dragons, which is where the title and the lyrics included come from. There was also some added inspiration from episode 3x06 "Ariel" and episode 3x07 "Dark Hollow". I don't think there is anything in here that goes against show canon; it's mostly imagined thoughts and missing scenes that go along with what has happened, and some guesses at what we may see when "Once" returns again in March.

As always, I have no claim to the show, the characters, or the song used. They belong to their creators and I'm merely celebrating their genius!

Also available on both AO3 and ff.net

“Kingdom Come”

by: @snowbellewells

He knew that he should have kept his distance. She was shining light in contrast to his dark shadow, and a villainous wretch was the last sort she needed to have dogging her steps. Yet from their first meeting – knife at his throat, fingers fisted in his hair, hard, dangerous eyes hiding tense, nervous fear – he hadn't been able to pull away. He had no choice but to follow her. Call it a compulsion, an addiction, but he was as drunk on her as he had ever been on his chosen rum, and he despaired from the moment she left him chained atop that bloody beanstalk to any time she had left his side since.

The words Cora had hissed at him in warning echoed back to him, "You chose her…and the consequences of that decision…" Whether it was good or bad for either of them didn't seem to matter to his black, barely-beating heart. It was true: he had chosen the Swan girl…

When the days are cold

and the cards all fold

and the saints we see

are all made of gold

When your dreams all fail

and the ones we hail

are the worst of all

and the blood's run stale

It had become even clearer to him after the Echo Caves. When he had bared his soul and the feelings he harbored for her to be met with only silence and Emma's panicked uncertainty, fearless pirate he might be, but Killian Jones knew he should take a step back. The incredible, unparalleled kiss they had shared in the Neverland jungle told him the Savior was as attracted as he, but she was not ready for him. Her sole focus was on her boy – as it should be – but beyond that, she was running scared from anyone else who might try to breach her emotional defenses.

He knew it had been too much, too soon, to unload the truth about feeling that he could love again upon meeting her, and if he had been free to proceed as himself – as Killian Jones wooing a lady properly – he would have never been so clumsily blunt, but instead he was a pirate captain desperate to prove his loyalty and worth, while stuck on Peter Pan's nightmare island. They had needed to get Neal back without further delay and return to seeking Henry, and so he'd had to make clear that he was correct in the way the infernal cave worked. It had not been easy to look into her beautiful, tormented eyes when he had offered his confession, hoping he hadn't driven a wedge which would push her even farther away. It had been even worse to see her run across the bridge formed for her of their painful admissions, right up to Baelfire without giving him a word of comfort, encouragement, or thanks. He felt his shoulders slump in defeat, hurting more than he had imagined, when the cage holding the Crocodile's son vanished at words from Emma which he could not hear, and she fell into the embrace of her first love.

Killian felt her slipping away – if she had ever been within his grasp at all. Bowing his head, he hid the pain in his eyes from Snow White and Prince Charming's curious, searching gazes. Burning fire within him seared away the tentative hope he had foolishly let kindle within. He was nothing but a pirate, as the Prince had reminded him not so long ago. Though he couldn't help wanting to hold her, it was probably for the best…

I wanna hide the truth

I wanna shelter you

But with the beast inside

there's nowhere we can hide

No matter what we breed,

we still are made of greed

This is my kingdom come,

This is my kingdom come

There was no longer any doubt. He was a fool – a sodding, pathetic fool. For him to let a glimmer of belief take root in his chest again was begging for misery, but Killian Jones had felt it growing all the same.

Venturing into the Dark Hollow had been a risky, desperate move at best, but after his face-off with Baelfire and discovering that Emma had not even deemed what had been brewing between them worth mention, self-preservation had not been so high atop his list. He had barely cared what happened to him in their suicide quest to capture Pan's shadow.

Of course, the fiend trying to rip his shadow from his body had jolted things into focus with frightening clarity; especially when he realized that Baelfire was facing the exact same fate, but it was his moniker of 'Hook!' that Emma cried out in horror. That she found the power to magically light their star map shadowcatcher just after her concern for him surfaced was not lost on Killian. No matter how much he cautioned himself not to dwell on it, he couldn't ignore the implications. Emma might not want to admit it, might not be free to show it, but when push came to shove, she cared more for him than she wished to admit.

He had not lied to her when he had promised no deviousness or trickery. If Emma Swan – the Enchanted Forest's lost princess – ever gave him the chance to truly win her heart, he would use no dishonorable means. He understood good form and had once dreamed of being a hero. He might be an orphan and a pirate, not some prince or man of noble blood, and his thirst for revenge had kept him lost in villainy for countless years, but he still had honor, could strive to show it valiantly once again. He knew deep down that she wanted him; what he did not know was if Swan would ever allow herself to acknowledge her desires. He could only vow that he would endeavor to deserve her if she came to him with such a golden opportunity.

Swan needed some joy and lightheartedness in her life. Though she looked fragile, she was hard as steel; she'd had to be for far too long. To him, her beauty was unrivalled, but it was clear that Emma did not see that in herself. He wanted to worship her as she deserved, unfit as he might be to do so. Killian Jones wanted to restore her lad to her, heal the wounds of her past, love her unconditionally, and never leave her side. He trembled to risk pulling her that close; his history proving over and over that anyone he dared to love had suffered a horrible fate. It was better his own heart be crushed than for her to suffer harm by nearness to him. Still, if he fought back the darkness he had sunk into, shouldn't he be allowed to step into the light?

When you feel my heat,

look into my eyes

It's where my demons hide

Don't get too close

It's dark inside

It's where my demons hide

She came to him at the helm of his ship once Henry was truly safe and resting peacefully with Regina watching over him. There had been a scare when Pan had tried to take Henry from them once again, but it appeared Rumplestiltskin's strength had indeed been greater than the ageless boy's, and their antagonist was now trapped safely in Pandora's Box. Sighing as she came to a stop just beyond arm's reach from him and leaned against the Jolly's hull, Emma didn't know if weariness or relief was winning within her at present. She was not sure that seeking out Hook when her emotions were such a mess was a good idea, but it was a need all the same. She was drawn to him like a magnet – impelled to speak to him, to thank him for helping them to get this far…to make sure that he was alright.

Emma knew he had been left hanging, knew he wanted more. What she didn't know was what she had to give. It had nothing to do with still doubting his motives or that he was a pirate; Hook had long since proven himself in her eyes. She simply wasn't sure her heart could let any man in the way he would want and deserve. She found it didn't matter though: she still ached to be near the Captain. He calmed her, despite the turmoil she had been in ever since this voyage started, and his constant support at her back, whatever the situation or whatever her decisions, had given her strength. She wanted to tell him so; if nothing else, he ought to know what it meant to have had him in her corner and that she would not soon forget it.

"Hook…" she began, then shook her head to cut herself off, knowing that wasn't right. Her corrected word came out breathy and more ragged than she had intended, "….Killian…"

He turned to face her when she spoke his name, though he had already known she was there. Just then, she could see everything he was feeling in those ocean blue eyes. Though their decadent depths often smirked, prodded, threatened, or demanded as the situation called for, at that moment they were raw, reflecting mirrors letting her see right into his exposed inner soul.

All the words she had intended to give him flew from her head, and Emma was left standing frozen, swallowing hard and wondering why she wanted to talk at all. With that in mind, she moved to stand before him, just within his reach, when one corner of his mouth tilted up in a tempting smirk as he beckoned her closer. Obviously pleased with himself, he took things a step farther, resting both hand and hook at either side of her waist, his thumb rubbing soothing circles that she could feel the warmth of through the waistband of her jeans, as if he were stilling a skittish animal so it didn't flee. "Was there something you wished to discuss with me, Love?"

"I…" her mouth went dry staring into his eyes and she struggled to focus on anything other than the desire for a second kiss from him, but she finally pieced together coherent words. "I just wanted to thank you…for everything. We couldn't have even followed Henry without your ship and your help. David would be dead by now. And I, well, I just…"

"Come, Lass, it's just me. There's no need to be so formal. I offered you my ship and my services, and I meant it." As he said these words, he was slowly, deliberately, pinning her in his gaze so she understood just how much it did mean to him. He placed the cool, smooth curve of his hook under her chin, tilting her face up to meet his.

"But – it's just – it's so much more than that," she floundered, and if she weren't so grateful and attracted and muddled all at once she would have been irritated that he could sound so composed and romantic while she struggled to get a sentence out. Emotional tears almost welled over her eyelids, but she blinked them back and stepped closer yet, almost begging him to hold her, causing their noses to nearly brush. Looking up at him, she hoped that just maybe her eyes could convey her affection, gratitude, and want without the words that seemed lost to her. Biting her lower lip in nervous anticipation, Emma raised her eyes, blinking, to his cerulean gaze and prayed he would simply read her scrambled mind.

Chuckling low in his throat, Killian seemed to do just that, and wrapped his muscled arms around to reel her in. "All you had to do was ask, Love," he teased, lightly ghosting his lips over her forehead, her nose, her cheeks, forestalling the inevitable and making her heart thud erratically even as she grew impatient for his lips to reach hers. Just as she had grabbed him and driven their first kiss – fast, desperate, bruising – he was taking over this second one, creating a slow, languorous, building simmer that Emma wasn't sure she would survive.

Killian's hand came up to cradle her head, hook resting along her neck on the other side, the one bit of cool relief to the fire in which he had engulfed her. His calloused fingers stroked along her jaw as if hoping to coax her nearer still. This kiss carried their feelings in it; there was still heat and passion, but below it thrummed something more, something deeper: it required a decision. Emma's breath caught at the realization that this kiss was something which might last.

Killian was thinking, hoping, the same thing, hardly daring to believe, but unable to stop it either. Greedy thief and pirate that he was, he wanted more of Emma; it would never be enough. Fool he might be, but he did not aim to stop until he had stolen her very heart. Not so long ago, he had been rudderless, with nothing in this world to keep him but his vengeance. Now, he prayed that he could change his course. At last, he had something to fight for, someone to hold dear. Killian Jones – Captain Hook – had despaired of being anything else but hell bound…until she crossed his path. Perhaps he might still find redemption in Emma. Heaven had to know his every effort and act for good has been due to her. It's all for her.

Don't wanna let you down

but I am hell bound

Though this is all for you,

don't wanna hide the truth…

This is my kingdom come

The door slams in his face – her door – and Killian lets himself slump against the wall, dejected. It all happened so quickly and now Emma is gone. She is beyond his grasp, as he had always known she was. He has waited so long to see her lovely face again, traveled so far, and though he tried to prepare himself for the very reaction he received, it didn't hurt any less when she gave him the blank look which told him his Swan no longer knew him.

Upon their forced return to the Enchanted Forest, he had tried to steer clear of everyone. Angry, wounded, and bitter, he had wanted nothing more than to hide himself below deck on the Roger and drink until he couldn't think of how being ripped from her just when she had given him a chance had hurt. He had not wanted to be near anyone and had made horrible, snarling company when someone forced the issue, but that had not stopped Snow and Charming. Emma's parents were a painful reminder of her, but no matter how he strove to avoid them and steer clear, they would not leave him alone.

It was exasperating how they kept trying to draw him into rebuilding the castle and their kingdom, tried to cheer him up, provided work for he and his crew as supplies were needed from other ports, and generally would not allow him to wallow in his misery as he had desired. They kept repeating that they had faith this separation would not last forever. For some unfathomable reason, he seemed to have found his way into their affection, and they would not let him despair either.

When Regina had finally put together a memory restorative potion, he had been willing to concede that these royal types and their unending hope were not so completely off base. The former evil queen had been almost pleasant and much more willing to help ever since meeting Robin Hood – apparently the man she had been destined to meet long ago. Some of the dangerous emptiness and hurt left her eyes when she was around the archer, and especially near his young son. Killian knew that she hoped Emma would find a way back and bring Henry if she could be made to remember. Regina also knew the rules of the second curse well though; she was to give up the thing she loved most. She couldn't be the one to go after them, couldn't force her hand. She would have to trust those whom she had spent so long fighting against.

Killian had been stunned however when David and Snow both championed his undertaking the quest. Something knowing flickered between the Prince and Princess' eyes, but he didn't waste time trying to figure it out. He was too grateful, touched, and ridiculously anxious to get going, whatever the mode of travel, to ask questions.

Now, faced with the harsh truth, he almost forgets the potion tucked into a pocket of his vest. He had to try True Love's Kiss, had to see for himself if it were possible. He shouldn't have even entertained the dream, and yet he couldn't help himself. He truly thought she loved him…but maybe she still does and has simply forgotten. He has come too far to turn back now without seeing his mission through. Any realm he tries to make his life in now will be empty without her regardless. He will wait for his moment, and he will try again…

They say it's what you make

I say it's up to Fate

It's woven in my soul

I need to let you go

Your eyes they shine so bright

I wanna save that light

I can't escape this now,

Unless you show me how…

Killian stands outside the large, several story building where Emma and Henry now reside, oblivious to the crush of people rushing around him on all sides, looking up to the window he knows is theirs, comforted by the fact that, though she may not remember him right now, they are once again in the same place and time. He can get to her, and he will succeed in bringing her back to her family…and to him.

That she wants him to keep his distance right now means little. He is sorry that she is at last safe with her son and free of the heavy weight of her destiny and he seeks to interrupt that. However, he thinks he knows Emma well enough to believe she would not wish for an illusion over truth; even if it pained her, she would rather face reality. He knows that much of his Swan.

Villain that he has been, that the world has always seen, the selfless action would be to let her go, but he cannot allow himself to admit defeat. Emma has never truly been loved – treasured – as she ought to have been, as he had planned to do. He fervently wishes to be the one to show her what it is to be wholly adored. He wants her to know that she is his whole world, and he needs the chance to see if she can love him in return, keep him striving to live again. The demons that still haunt him, that say her kingdom and his black soul are already lost, try to whisper that he will fail. Their voices hiss that he will never bring her back, that her knowledge and memories are lost forever. Killian pushes those insidious echoes from his mind. Soon, he will meet her haunting, storm-tossed eyes again, and he will make her see.

This is my kingdom come…

Tagging a few others who may enjoy: @searchingwardrobes @kmomof4 @jennjenn615 @laschatzi @whimsicallyenchantedrose @thislassishooked @resident-of-storybrooke @ilovemesomekillianjones @teamhook @revanmeetra87 @scientificapricot @tomeandflickcorner @lfh1226-linda @xsajx @stahlop @donteattheappleshook @hollyethecurious @winterbaby89 @darkcolinodonorgasm @elizabeethan @wefoundloveunderthelight @jonesfandomfanatic @spartanguard @tiganasummertree @optomisticgirl

#self promo sunday #cs ff #cs one shot #season 3a missing moments #ouat 3b spec fic #kingdom come

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vmficrecs · 4 years

Text

Every school has an obligatory psychotic jackass. He’s ours.

It has been one year since The Incident. In celebration of this beautiful, snarky, dynamic, passionate, beloved, smug, asshole, essential, etc., etc., character I have complied a lengthy (but by no means exhaustive) collection of some of my personal favorite fics focusing on Logan, or on his relationships, or fics that i just think do something neat in terms of Logan/his journey/his character. ❤️

Previously on vmficrecs:

dark_roast, “Fish Out of Water,” Mature, Post Season 1 AU

Logan opts to leave Neptune, and spend summer vacation with his grandparents.

Notes: This AU is essential reading if you love Logan. His characterization is nearly perfect, and the premise of the fic is endlessly engaging and smart.

wily_one24, “Sleep, Perchance...,” Mature, Pre-series AU

Logan thaws towards Veronica and sets out to save her.

Notes: I want to eat this fic. If you’ve never read it, read it-- it will linger endlessly inside of your brain in the best way possible. So many of the things Logan does or says in this fic exist in a very tangible and palpable manner for me, it’s that good. I think about it constantly.

ghostcat, “What We Have in Common,” Teen, Post Season 3 AU

Weevil Navarro, his incredibly poor choice of a research paper prepping locale and the close talking, finger waving jackass that interrupts and effectively hijacks his night. Set in 2010, three years after The Bitch is Back.

ghostcat, “A Trace of Meaning,” Teen, Pre-series

13 year-old Logan Echolls and 14 year-old Veronica Mars wait at the Kane Estate for their held-up sleepover hosts to show up.

theohara, “Rich Dirt,” Mature, Pre-series AU

And Logan wouldn’t let you have anything. He’d danced over to you and smirked in your face and twirled your plastic cup right out of your hand and cooed that just because your Daddy wasn’t sheriff anymore didn’t give you license to break the law, and he’d acted all shocked with his hand over his mouth and he’d laughed like breaking glass and nanced off with your drink.

anjou, “Into the Blue,” Mature, Post Season 1

It’s almost summer, and Logan is sinking into the blue.

flyingcarpet, “Mexicali Blues,” Mature, Post Season 3 AU

When he reaches the water he doesn’t hesitate, just keeps walking until he can duck his head under and start to swim away from shore, letting the salt and the waves wash away the residue that Neptune’s left on his skin.

absolutelyiris, “Truth for a Dream,” Teen, Future Fic (Pre-movie)

Fleet Week 2012. A reformed bad boy turned sailor and a former party girl turned career woman meet in a bar…

Notes: A LOGAN AND PARKER FRIENDSHIP FIC!!! pure fucking delight

absolutelyiris, “Come Around,” Mature, Future AU

A woman travels the world over in search of what she needs and returns home to find it.

Notes: I will talk about this fic until the day that I day, and then I will still talk about it. One of my absolute favorites. Pure gold Logan/Keith dynamic. I would 10/10 die for Razia. and, of course, the l/v is so damn good

TheLastGoodGolfish, “The Phenomenal Pixie, #1,” Teen, AU

Veronica is a masked avenger who stalks the streets of Neptune. Logan is the intrepid reporter who’s on the story.

Notes: PERFECT. PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT. also-- “That’s ridiculous. My favorite person is a sorority girl.” in my head, rent free, and i am forever indebted.

bryrosea, “Waste of Breath / A Quartz Contentment,” Mature, Post Season 2 to TDTL

Part one: Logan Echolls, the nine years, and the Navy. Part two: Veronica Mars, the nine years, and a new normal.

Notes: I am recommending specifically “Waste of Breath” for my boy, although Veronica’s piece is excellent as well.

always_winter, “Written Out,” Teen, Season 2 AU

Duncan has some residual guilt and Logan wants to be left out of the story.

always_winter, “White Combs and Sweet Honey,” Mature, Season 1

Even when Aaron is trying to be a good father, there’s still a lot he’s doing wrong.

Notes: This fic is so tender to me!!! A beautiful Logan and Aaron piece.

sadiekate, “Grand Canyon,” PG-13, Season 1 to Future AU

Three friends reminisce several years in the future, snarkily and pointlessly.

sinaddict, “Necrosis,” Explicit, Season 2 AU

Death in bits and pieces, denial as a religion… Or ‘normal’ in Neptune.

sowell, “Surviving the Wreck,” Explicit, Season 3 AU

Nothing’s ever simple with Veronica Mars. Weevil’s day at sea gets a little complicated.

Notes: THIS FUCKING FIC!!!! i love everything about it and especially at this moment in time, the part where logan gives weevil a blow job but weevil notes that somehow, in spite of this, logan retains the upper hand. this fic is world class and i am grateful everyday for it

theohara, “Broken Toys,” NC-17, Pre series AU

One glance across a street saves Lilly Kane’s life. It changes everything; it changes nothing.

Notes: This is the most heartbreaking Veronica Mars’ fanfic ever. I have such a deep love for it. It takes Lilly’s character and Logan/Veronica’s relationship to places I don’t ever think they would go and yet it works in this and it works so damn well. a truly devastating and beautiful au

fluffernutter8, “The Ninety Nine Percent,” Teen, Post Season 3 AU

Junior year of college, Logan gets some news that proves that no matter how hard he tries, life is just going to keep throwing him curve-balls. Post season 3, non movie canon compliant.

youcallitwinter, “gravity is gonna keep you tied down to this city,” Teen, Post Season 3 to TDTL

[your life in extended parenthesis] the lone neon nights and the ache of the ocean, and the fire that was starting to spark. From the love to the lightning and the lack of it.

Notes: please don't fall out of love with me, okay? don’t you dare give up on me. I DIE EVERY FUCKING TIME youcallitwinter is a force with all of her writings, but this one.......my god every single bit about it is fucking flawless

petpluto, “Of Scars & Consequences,” Teen, Post-series AU

Almost a decade in the future, Logan's still a little messed up. And Veronica's still a little closed off. They make it work.

julietbravo, “one brutal thing after another,” Teen, Pre-series to Season 1

These rich boys think they can get away with anything, don’t they.

querulousgawks, “there should be stars for great wars like ours,” Teen, AU

It’s gotta be some Alliance mind game, a holdover, the Operative’s last trick: Logan’s old secrets manifesting everywhere around them. Where are you, how are you doing this, he wants to scream, but he doesn’t know which ghost he’d be railing at.

SilverLining2k6, “Sometimes (You Can’t Make It On Your Own),” Teen, Season 1 AU

Silly Duncan stopped taking his meds. Now, one dead Fitzpatrick later, Logan and Veronica need to get him out of town. Too bad they hate each other.

SilverLining2k6, “Control,” Teen, Pre-series AU

Don’t you mess with a little girl’s dreams. ‘Cause she’s liable to grow up mean. Pre-series. Oneshot. - A twisted little tale of hate and revenge.

Notes: CONTROL!!!!! I love Control so much, it’s one of the first fics I ever read for the fandom and one of the finest. The Logan that exists in this is sooo good and his relationship with Veronica is deeply flawed & wonderful. M is in the process of writing a remix to Control (more in-depth emotion) and I for one am foaming at the fucking mouth every day about it.

nevertothethird, “Reunions,” Teen, Post Series AU

Sometimes it just takes a little longer to get things right. Two high school reunions and a birthday party should do the trick.

youcallitwinter, “you give love a bad name,” Teen, Season 2 AU

“Hey, did you guys know there was a sensitive poet-type hiding behind this hard exoskeleton of expensive alcohol and bitter cynicism?” In which Logan Echolls is, well, Logan Echolls.

scandalpants, “Something to Remember,” Mature, Post Series AU

Facing a separation, Logan and Veronica spend their last night together exchanging gifts.

Notes: I am always in a goddamn state about this fic. Logan jacking off in front of Veronica at her request? Yes, thank you please. thank you so much

leurocrystal, “Take Your Time,” Teen, Post Season 2

Keith doesn’t know how to look at or touch his daughter for the first time in his life.

petpluto, “We Are Nowhere, And It’s Now,” Mature, Series AU

“You know there is another way of looking at this, Logan. If you’d still been together, you might be dead too." Logan and Lilly both die on October 3rd. But for Veronica, it’s not like they’re gone. And she still works to solve their murders.

absolutelyiris, “Delay,” Teen, Post TTDL

Logan reflects on his first Christmas with Veronica after a ten year separation, as well as how his life has changed with her absence.

New to vmficrecs:

Christmas in Arkham Author: dark_roast Pairing: Logan Rating: Teen Genre: Hurt/Comfort, A Really Good Hug Setting: Season 2 Spoilers: 2.09, “My Mother, the Fiend” Chapters: 1 Word Count: 10128 Status: Complete Summary: Sequel to Fish Out of Water. Logan spends christmas with his grandparents. Notes: This is, full stop, my favorite Veronica Mars fanfiction ever. I am so protective of this fic that part of me doesn’t even want to give it a formal place on the blog, which is ridiculous because I’m sure plenty of people have already read it and obviously it’s so good that I want people to read it but....this belongs to me, somehow, like I feel like it’s mine that’s how much I love it. ANYWAY possessiveness aside-- Every word, every sentence, every punctuation mark in this fic is perfect, devastating insight into Logan’s character. Absolutely beautiful and wonderful and every other good thing.

The Teeth by the Shoulder Author: ghostcat Pairing: Fab Four, Logan/Lilly, Veronica/Duncan Rating: Teen Genre: Friendship, Angst Setting: Pre-series Spoilers: 1.01, “Pilot” Chapters: 3 Word Count: 17273 Status: Complete Summary: Two couples, two friendships. The Fab Four in three Octobers. Notes: WE’VE NEVER FUCKING RECOMMENDED THE TEETH BY THE SHOULDER BEFORE?????? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE OH MY GOD jesus this is one of the greatest fanfictions ever written. three pre-series explorations into the fab four friendship and it is impossibly good. i am especially in love with the logan/lilly in this fic (the first chapter!!!!) and as always special care is given to exploring the logan + veronica dynamic. the third chapter will break your fucking heart so bad in the best way

Seven Times Logan Echolls Went to Jail Author: sowell Pairing: Logan/Veronica, Veronica/Piz Rating: Teen Genre: Angst, Romance, Logan Echolls is a Little Shit Setting: (Post) Season 3 AU Spoilers: 3.12, “There’s Got to Be a Morning After Pill” and 3.16, “Un-American Graffiti” Chapters: 1 Word Count: 6701 Status: Complete Summary: Who thinks Logan behind bars is sexy? I do, I do! // Logan goes to jail and calls Veronica to bail him out. Again and again and again and again. Notes: WE HAVEN’T DONE THIS BEFORE EITHER???? oh my god!! I remember finding this one a few months before the movie came out and i would just lay in bed in the dark and re-read it endlessly. and then i left it alone for a few years and when i went back to it holy shit it undid me all over again. perfect logan and veronica relationship. p e r f e c t!!! i firmly believe this is exactly what shape their relationship would’ve taken if veronica hadn’t cut and run

Love is Just a Four-letter Word Author: bigboobedcanuck Pairing: Logan/Veronica, Keith, Weevil Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort Setting: Future AU Spoilers: 1.12, “Clash of the Tritons” Chapters: 1 Word Count: 1753 Status: Complete Summary: Set a few years down the road from high school. Logan hits rock bottom. Keith and Veronica help him back up. Notes: Lynn’s body turns up and it is fucking DEVASTATING. A short piece that’s told from Keith’s POV (anyone who knows me knows how much of a sucker I am for Keith + Logan interaction) and holy hell Logan is so good in it and I think about it all the fucking time

Serendipity Author: TheLastGoodGoldfish Pairing: Logan/Veronica, Veronica/Piz, Carrie, Gia, Stu Cobbler, Ensemble Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Detective-ing Setting: Post Season 3 Spoilers: 3.20, “The Bitch is Back” and The Movie Chapters: 4 (out of a planned 6, fingers crossed!!!) Word Count: 59763 Status: Complete Summary: During her sophomore year at Hearst, Veronica takes on your run-of-the-mill blackmail case: the clients hate her, the evidence is impossible to destroy, and her ex turns out to be a bit of a distraction, but Veronica is a sucker for a damsel-in-distress. Even if the damsel is an intoxicated, pissed off Carrie Bishop. Notes: I AM HIGH PITCHED SCREAMING. Transplanting the movie plot to this timeframe works tremendously and TLGG’s execution is fucking perfect. Carrie is a powerhouse in this fic and god, Logan is such a honey it in which is why it is being recc’d for him. Him practically letting Carrie move in with him and doing his damnedest to protect Carrie and Gia (much to Veronica’s chagrin) is so, so important to me and I love him so much.

The Phenomenal Pixie - Interlude #1 - “Bugs” Author: TheLastGoodGoldfish Pairing: Logan/Veronica, OC’s Genre: Humor, Fluff, Logan and Veronica Are Smarter Than You Setting: AU (Season 3) Spoilers: uhhh n/a Chapters: 1 Word Count: 5072 Status: Complete Summary: Dating a superhero poses a unique set of challenges. Notes: Tiny sequel to The Phenomenal Pixie which you absolutely must read first (and is recommended above) because it’s a fucking delight. Logan is incredible in this fic and I would die for him, like always. The part where Steve can sense Logan is thinking about punching him in the face-- a million chefs kisses.

The Medusa Jewel Author: TheLastGoodGoldfish Pairing: Logan/Veronica Genre: Established Relationship Bliss, Fluff Setting: MKAT Spoilers: MKAT Chapters: 1 Word Count: 5336 Status: Complete Summary: Logan and Veronica's new neighbor is a writer. Notes: is my TLGG obsession shining through? good because it fucking should be. The Logan/Veronica in this relationship is so sweet and perfect and is 100% my reality and i would like to bathe in this fic and live in it forever as is my right.

Drowning Together Author: bryrosea Pairing: Logan/Veronica Genre: Romance, Hurt/Comfort Setting: Season 3 Spoilers: 3.07, “Of Vice and Men” Chapters: 1 Word Count: 897 Status: Complete Summary: AU of the confrontation scene from 3x07: Of Vice and Men (Logan and Veronica both need a hug) Notes: Absolute wonderful insight and even some reconciliation into a canonical season three fight. Logan calming down while Veronica falls apart as they hug is so important to me.

Interrupt Us Author: bryrosea Pairing: Logan/Veronica Genre: Romance, Hijinks, They Want To Fuck So Bad Setting: Post TDTL Spoilers: through TDTL Chapters: 1 Word Count: 17223 Status: Complete Summary: Logan Echolls is home from deployment. Time to cue the sweeping movie montage, right? Notes: Logan and Veronica try to have sex everywhere and it is my life force. The car scene when they get pulled over and Logan instinctively hiding under Veronica’s desk....god i love everyone in this bar

Ready to Go Author: Amberina Pairing: Logan/Duncan; Veronica Genre: Friendship, Romance, Angst Setting: Post Season 1 Spoilers: not obvious but 1.22, “Leave it to Beaver” Chapters: 1 Word Count: 6346 Status: Complete Summary: "Let's leave. Let's go. What's left in Neptune for us anyway?" (AKA Duncan, Logan and Veronica have wacky adventures on the road! Also angst.) Notes: Logan getting hissy and storming off from the car while Duncan and Veronica just watch him and then calling a taxi once he’s out of their sight is PEAK logan. I love boyfriends, even if they’re angst-ing in this, and they big time are.

Nashville On My Mind Author: hjcallipygian Pairing: Logan, Veronica, Duncan Genre: Friendship, Hijinks Setting: Post Season 1 AU Spoilers: 1.22, “Leave it to Beaver” Chapters: 1 Word Count: 1659 Status: Complete Summary: Every year, they take a road trip together. This year, it's to Nashville, Tennessee. Notes: i just spent forty minutes trying to find this fic to the point where i was genuinely concerned i had hallucinated it. it’s so fucking good. a sequel/prequel of sorts to grand canyon by sadiekate (recc’d in the previously section). logan is a mess and by god do i love him

Six Times Logan Echolls Got Wet Author: bryrosea, CarolineShea, ghostcat, kmd0107, marshmallowtasha, SilverLining2k6 Pairing: Logan/Veronica Rating: Teen Genre: Romance, Friendship, Hijinks Setting: Everywhere Spoilers: All series to MKAT Chapters: 6 Word Count: 11568 Status: Complete Summary: aka: The Wet Henley ChroniclesSix stories in which we probably give Logan Echolls pneumonia, inspired by the movie's infamous wet henley. Set variously across the series and post-MKAT. Notes: each chapter is written by a different author, they’re all good but bryrosea’s chapter and silvery’s chapter are my favorites. set during the summer between season 1 & 2 and post season three respectively they do such a great job dealing with the fractious and tumultuous nature of Logan/Veronica’s relationship at the time and i love it so much

A Little Dysfunctionality Goes A Long Way Author: fluffernutter8 Pairing: Logan/Veronica Rating: Teen Genre: ANGST with a side of fucking ANGST, happy ending but jesus Setting: Post Season 3 AU Spoilers: 1.22, “Leave it to Beaver” Chapters: 1 Word Count: 2878 Status: Complete Summary: Despite their history, Logan and Veronica might be somewhere on the brink of normal. A few years post season 3. Notes: i just read this for the first time 07/13/20 at 9:08pm because when i asked shelby for her favorite logan fics she included this one. i am fucking dead now and-- there’s nothing else to say about it. i’m just fucking dead. for YEARS i have said that nobody with the username fluffernutter8 should be able to write shit this goddamn emotional and yet, time and time again, i find myself here fuckign wrecked and furious about it

these are just ghosts that broke my heart before i met you Author: theviolonist Pairing: Logan, Veronica, Carrie, Dick Rating: Teen Genre: Introspection, Angst, I Love Logan Setting: Pre Movie & Movie Spoilers: Movie Chapters: 1 Word Count: 1326 Status: Complete Summary: In the army they say, don't think of the target as a person, otherwise you won't have the guts to pull the trigger. Notes: fuck, you guys. this one is so beautiful. an exploration into logan’s grief and him trying to move on and it cuts like a damn knife because he can never really do it but fuck he wants to so bad and [lucas scott voice] that’s gotta mean something, right? truly so so wonderful

Fugue Author: vaeran Pairing: Logan/Veronica, Logan/Lilly, Dick Rating: Teen Genre: Angst, hopeful ending Setting: Post Season 1 Spoilers: 1.22, “Leave it to Beaver” Chapters: 1 Word Count: 4137 Status: Complete Summary: It's something he refuses to let go because it defines who he is and what he has become. Notes: deviates from the PCHer confrontation on the bridge, which means logan takes a little longer to come around to reconciliation with veronica. it’s perfect and i particularly love the logan/lilly in this, he’s hurt but still so impossibly and eternally in love with her

One Flew Over the Echolls Nest Author: Wynn Pairing: Logan/Veronica, Duncan Rating: Teen Genre: Angst, Friendship Setting: Post Season 1 AU Spoilers: 1.22, “Leave it to Beaver” Chapters: 1 Word Count: 1507 Status: Complete Summary: Open wide and see what's inside. A bridge and a bed and Veronica. Logan finds himself in a mental institution after the events of "Leave it to Beaver." Veronica, Duncan, and Logan's psychiatrist attempt to help. Notes: so sad and so good!!! the part where Logan’s psychiatrist asks him when the last time he was happy was fucking wrecks me everytime!!

Free at last Author: querulousgawks Pairing: Logan, Weevil, Aaron Rating: Teen Genre: Frenemies, They Are Boyfriends Setting: Season 2 Spoilers: 2.09, “My Mother, the Fiend” Chapters: 1 Word Count: 1242 Status: Complete Summary: Logan and Weevil and fire go a long way back. A flashback scene interrupts their Season 2 meeting in the Neptune Grand. Notes: I LOVE EVERY SINGLE THING ABOUT THIS SO GOD DAMN MUCH

The Right Shade of Red Author: ghostcat Pairing: Trina, Logan, Aaron Rating: Teen Genre: ANGST Setting: Pre-series Spoilers: 1.15, “Ruskie Business” Chapters: 1 Word Count: 883 Status: Complete Summary: Trina finds her jerky little brother hiding in her closet and does the unexpected thing. (Or, A time Logan trusted Trina) Notes: If you want 883 words to be able to make you feel like you’ve been hit by a truck this is the fic for you! I love the Echolls family dynamics so much, and this one is excellent.

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moonchildsaurora · 4 years

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Before the sun is rising up

✤ knight!Jongho x knight!reader ✤ genre: royal AU // angst, fluff (if you squint) ✤ t/w: sfw, non-descriptive battle fight, sad reacts only, rated PG ✤ count: 1.6k ✤ [ part 1 ] of Lacuna miniseries

a/n - o m f g it’s finally done. . .well overdue one shot for our precious maknae & the 1st of 8 parts for my new miniseries! Here I was thinking that it’ll be a more condensed piece, but yet again my mind decided to be loud. Perhaps I’ll be able to reign it in a bit more with the others (who am I kidding really tho). I hope I wrote well enough for Jongho’s character, even though it still feels slightly rushed. Thanks to @a-tiny-8iny for insightful convos which gave me the idea of considering the focus around platonic bonds too (which honestly gave me a plotline I was much happier with)! Also @hereisleo @monbae @s1ardusk @barsformars I remember yelling bout this series idea to you guys ages ago and here we are 💙

It was rare for a champion knight to be able to bask in serenity, especially on the eve of the final battle. The kingdoms of Rivaria and Nethilor have long been at war with one another, what once was a united empire now torn apart from betrayal and greed. There simply wasn’t room for two powers to rule, and so by the time the sun rises tomorrow, only one will be left standing triumphantly. How twisted fate must be, to have childhood friends who had endlessly supported one another since their gruelling training days when they were mere squires only to end up serving royalties of opposite sides.

The cooling night breeze played around with your hair as your legs dangled freely over the cliff’s edge where you sat waiting patiently for him. You leaned back on your arms, hands gently curling into the slightly damp but still soft grass and face tilted up towards the star-lit skies. The moon was out in full tonight, somehow knowing it may be the very last time it could greet you.

Your ears managed to pick up the familiar sound of steady footsteps from behind, without turning around and a grin already forming on your lips.

“And here I thought you’d best me in arriving first for once, Sir Choi” you said, trying to hold back a chuckle.

The sound of metal clinking against another indicated that he had let his sword, Shadowmist, rest against the tree next to your Windsong. Forged by the same swordsmith, intended to be wield together as a complementary pair.

“My deepest apologies, had to use the good ol’ distraction to sneak past the night guards of my own camp.”

“How rebellious of you.”

Jongho gave a playful shove to your shoulder as he sat down next to you, an immediate comforting warmth radiated off him. You noticed that he was in his casual tunic, the soft linen matching your own one. It’s almost a foreign sight to you considering how used you are seeing one another in the heavy metal of armour rather than something more care-free.

Just as you were about to ask how long he had before his troops would start noticing their own commander’s absence, a bundle was unceremoniously dropped on your lap.

“And pray tell, what is this?”

Your fingers fiddled with the thin leather cord that wrapped around the cloth, managing to unwrap the cover and your eyes crinkled with glee immediately upon seeing the contents inside.

“I made my squire swear not to tell the others that I was stealing extras for my supposed woodland friends,” a dramatic sigh escaped Jongho.

That caused you to burst out laughing, “You mean to say that the great leader of the Nethilorian army secretly befriends little creatures?”

“I always did say that your resemblance to that of a raccoon is uncanny.”

Now it was your turn to shove him, though you had to admit that his cover-up reasons were ridiculously endearing. “I wonder how your squire puts up with you at times, must be confusing for the poor lad.”

“What will it take for you to express your gratitude without mocking my pride?”

“Fortunately for you, I may be more inclined to accept certain incentives at times…” and picking up a Goldhorn biscuit, you held it towards Jongho, “Truce?”

Instead of taking the biscuit with his fingers he proceeded to bite down lightly, stealing it right out of your hold.

“You fiend!”

“Now we can have a truce.”

You purposely wiped your fingers on his tunic, earning a protest from him before tasting one of the sweet treats for yourself. These were the biscuits that you and Jongho used to eat regularly as children, the same honeyed taste bringing back fond memories. A fleeting image of your parents and home came to mind, the echoes of childish laughter and, “Watch where you’re running you two little rascals!”

“Remember that time you chased me with your mother’s rolling pin and it got us in so much trouble?”

You turned to look at Jongho, still to this day you haven’t quite figured out how he always seem to be on the same wavelength as you. Another biscuit was popped into your mouth before you replied, “Only because you not so accidentally spilled the rest of my potato stew.” That particular memory managed to coax a smile out of you, silently apologising to your parents for being the cause of their grey hairs.

A comfortable silence settled, the little fireflies were coming out to dance and the night breeze was still calm as before. From where the both of you sat on the cliff, the view of the valley was magnificent. It was a pleasant surprise that you discovered this hidden spot during the training camp and it became yours and Jongho’s meeting place ever since.

“I’m going to miss this.”

You could feel your heart clenching at his words, knowing full well what he meant. Setting the food down, you shuffled around a bit so you could retrieve something from your pocket. Dangling the two silver chains right in front of Jongho seem to break him out of whatever nostalgia trance he was in.

He blinked owlishly at the pendants, each holding an athesotile gem. You gave his one over and Jongho observed the iridescent glow it had under the moonlight.

“You sure know how to make a man feel special,” said Jongho as he teasingly held a hand over his heart .

“Had it been a confession token, sure. Unfortunately for you it’s only a lucky charm.”

“Trust you to still believe in that old tale,” he chuckled as he looped the pendant around his neck. This particular gem was sought after in the past for supposedly bringing great luck or so it has been old across generations by your elders. You had found these pendants as you were passing through the major town of Millbelle after a successful patrol.

“I’d trust in anything that will bring us hope at this point.”

The breeze picked up a little bit, rustling the trees around as if it became restless at your words. You really hadn’t mean to dampen the mood but reality was starting to sink heavily on your entire being. Anger and fear both seeped in, for being placed in such a predicament – you didn’t even get to bid your family a proper farewell with how fast war was declared. Your hands gripped the pendant tightly as you forced the choked sobs back down, though the corners of your eyes had tears already gathering.

“I’m terrified Jongho. I don’t want either of us to –“

“Hey now, are you forgetting something?” Even if he holds his gaze so strongly, you could still feel the slight trembles in his hands that interlocked with yours as he spoke.

“What do you mean?”

“You remember when I said I’ll be with you till the end?” His thumb caught a stray tear and wiped it gently from your face, “I intend to follow that through.”

A million and one thoughts ran through your head as you looked at him, endlessly thanking the gods above for blessing you with Choi Jongho. Though death lingered over yourselves, knowing that you wouldn’t have to face it alone eased your soul that little bit more.

With a wet laugh you leaned into his touch, “I won’t hold back if you don’t either.”

Jongho stood up from his previous seating spot, pulling you up with him. You watched as he made his way over to the swords and retrieved them both, quickly using the sleeves of your tunic to dry your eyes before Jongho held Windsong out towards you for the taking.

Tilting your head to the side with a silent question that you only got an answer to after Jongho unsheathed Shadowmist. He directed the blade to be pointing at you, no hostility behind the action, just a determined glint in his dark eyes and a solemn nod of his head.

With the moon as a witness, a final oath was made by the crossing of swords.

The thundering of hooves and roars of the cavalries were enough to shake the land, as the Rivarians fearlessly gave their war cry. The grip on your mount’s reins was painfully tight as you stood observing the enemy ranks across the battle field. Dawn was upon you, the rosy hues of red and orange matched the accents on your silver suit of armour. It was a harsh contrast to the striking black and gold that the Nethilorian army wore.

Another war horn sounded, this time from the other side and your jaw clenched with tension as you watched Jongho lead the charge down the hill.

“Leave the Commander to me, cover the flanks and keep your formations in order,” your voice resonated with finality as you addressed your elite guards.

“Archers! At the ready!”

A wave of a flag with a griffin, your kingdom’s emblem, embroidered on it signalled a rain of arrows to be let loose. You couldn’t tell how long you held your breath for as you watch the arrows land around Jongho’s charging form, his soldiers bringing up their sturdy shields as protection. Relief ran through you as the arrows took out the slower foot soldiers around him instead.

Shadowmist was raised high and proud, equally deafening war cries echoed in multitude getting closer and closer to your side. You drew out Windsong and walked your mount towards the front lines.

“We ride…for honour,” the visor of your helmet was flipped down, “…for the safety of our people….for our lives.” You kicked your mount into a gallop with your riders following your lead, raising their spears and swords.

“FOR RIVARIA!”

Ironically everything seemed to slow down as you faced head on towards Jongho. Even the noise have become muffled, all you could focus on was your breathing within the helmet. Your eyes never wavered from his figure and when his mount stormed faster ahead of the rest, you matched his change in pace as well.

“To thee I swear this oath, only by your blade will…”

As the first ray of light pierced over the horizon, the waking sun was greeted with the resounding clash of two blades; and the mourning for two loyal hearts.

“…we meet once again at the elysian fields, my dearest friend.”

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Best Serial Killer Movies of the ’90s Ranked

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Someone must have left the freezer door in the morgue open, because grisly reminders of the past are thawing before our eyes. You can see it this weekend with the release of John Lee Hancock’s The Little Things, a throwback to the days when movie stars hung out at crime scenes instead of in spandex, and it’ll be more apparent next month with the launch of Clarice, a television spinoff of 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs. All the evidence points to only one conclusion: the serial killer thrillers of the ‘90s are back!

Not that we’re complaining. For a macabre minute or two, every Hollywood name appeared eager to play either the detective or the killer—the hunter or the obsessed, which often proved interchangeable for both characters. Granted that means there can be something formulaic about many of these movies. Yet they can also be bleak, hard-edged, and ambiguous. From our modern gaze, where the dominant studio conventions prefer reassuring morality tales and sunny lighting, these movies’ preference for shadows and discomfort in the mainstream is kind of startling.

So grab your magnifying glass and fortify your stomach, because we’re about to revisit some of the best (and worst) of ‘90s serial killer thrillers. (Also this list is strictly for the decade when the genre was at its height and it excludes slasher movies like Scream, which may feature serial killers but were not exactly adult-oriented thrillers.)

12. Eye of the Beholder (1999)

Eye of the Beholder is a tonal oddity that only passingly flirts with the conventions of ‘90s serial killer thrillers, all while it tries to pay homage to (read: rip-off) Alfred Hitchcock. But any credit it deserves for deviation—including making Ashley Judd’s central femme fatale the killer—it loses in execution. As a muddied, impenetrable tale about an intelligence officer (Ewan McGregor) who spies on and falls in love with a serial killer, Eye of the Beholder is a scattershot of bad ideas that run the gamut from ludicrous to misogynistic.

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but this movie will close the lids over your pupils inside of 30 minutes.

11. Nightwatch (1997)

It feels a little mean to rag on Ewan McGregor back-to-back, but maybe serial killer movies just aren’t his genre? That could be at least one takeaway from an ill-advised double feature of Eye of the Beholder and Nightwatch, the latter of which is a remake of a 1994 Danish film that I’ve not seen… and probably won’t since both the original film and American remake are directed by the same man.

McGregor plays medical student Martin here, a kid who gets an after school job by becoming the night watch security at the local morgue. But as a series of grisly prostitute murders pile up, Martin realizes he needs to figure out who the killer is—that or continue to be framed by the necrophiliac fiend who keeps coming by the morgue for one last liaison. It’s exactly as skeevy as it sounds. Do yourself a favor and go your whole life without hearing Nick Nolte sing “This Old Man” while climbing onto a corpse.

10. Natural Born Killers (1994)

The movie that Quentin Tarantino disowned, Natural Born Killers is a seedy mess based on a Tarantino script that was heavily rewritten by Oliver Stone, David Veloz, and Richard Rutowski. The concept itself is a seemingly inevitable escalation of the “bad romance outlaws” archetype that’s been floating around Hollywood since at least 1950’s Gun Crazy, and which was then made iconic by Bonnie & Clyde (1967).

But whereas those films relied on bank robbers living fast, Natural Born Killers descends into a seeming final form with Mickey and Mallory (Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis) as giddy serial killers who are eventually out for maximum carnage. Technically the pair are supposed to be presented as victims of traumatic child abuse—and who are then wrongfully glorified by the media. But Stone’s sloppy and tanked vision lacks the discipline to achieve anything beyond its maliciousness. Early sequences imagining Mallory’s abusive childhood like it’s a television sitcom, and later psychedelic visions of Robert Downey Jr.’s opportunistic news reporter as the Devil, do little to divorce the film from its shallow self-satisfaction in close-ups of heads being shot.

The movie came under controversy in the years after its release for inspiring alleged copycat killers as well as school shooters. It feels irresponsible to blame media for actual violence, but it’s still quite an indictment that Stone’s attempt to criticize media glorification became a favorite for many a disturbed individual with a gun.

9. Kiss the Girls (1997)

When studying competent, middle of the road Hollywood thrillers, Kiss the Girls is a solid place to start. As a decently made bit of studio convention, the movie is anchored by strong elements like Morgan Freeman as James Paterson’s literary hero, Alex Cross, and Ashley Judd as Kate, the victim who survives a masked killer’s attempt to abduct her into his harem.

Moments like Kate’s escape sequence through the North Carolina wilderness are effectively filled with adrenaline, and Judd particularly gives the salacious piece conviction. However, it is salacious to a fault. Even if the movie toned down the source novel’s even more lurid misogyny, the film studies Kate and the other victims with a lascivious male gaze, blurring sex with violence, real world horror with leering entertainment. Right down to its title, the film can be rightly criticized as Hollywood glamourizing another story about violence against women. Whether that damns the whole movie depends on the viewer, but it certainly keeps it low on our list.

8. The Bone Collector (1999)

Marketed with a hell of a tagline about there being thousands of taxi cabs in New York City that’ll get you home—and one that won’t—The Bone Collector is almost comically slavish to the clichés of ‘90s moviemaking. The wrinkle here is that after a faux cab driver begins abducting his victims off the street, the crime psychologist who must stop him is entirely stuck by his bedside. Due to a tragic accident, Denzel Washington’s Lincoln Rhyme is paralyzed from the neck down. Yet he is still able to catch serial killers by communicating in the earpiece of police officer Amelia Donaghy (an entirely unconvincing Angelina Jolie).

Movies

Lost Girls Review: Netflix Takes on the Long Island Serial Killer

By Rosie Fletcher

Books

The Last Book on the Left Takes on the Grim History of Serial Killers

By Alec Bojalad

Together the pair stay one step behind the mystery killer’s tracks as he executes a series of increasingly gruesome and ridiculous murders. It’s preposterous, and in some ways a forerunner for Saw with the satisfaction it takes in absurd death traps, but Washington is effortlessly compelling, even when he never leaves his apartment. As a bit of absurd Hollywood fluff, right down to the ultimately lackluster unmasking of the killer, it can be entertaining, even if you’ll deny it afterward.

7. Copycat (1995)

More potent than I remembered, Copycat is a genuinely well-crafted Hollywood thriller that may not reinvent the wheel but takes it out for a damn good spin. In the driver’s seat is Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Helen Hudson, a criminal psychologist who is an expert on serial killers until one follows her into the bathroom after a guest lecture. He nearly hangs her from the ceiling. Following that white-knuckled opening, the film jumps years ahead and Helen has become agoraphobic and afraid to leave her home.

Yet when a local series of murders reveal the pattern of a predator imitating the methods of his favorite “celebrities”—one crime scene is like the Boston Strangler and another emulates the horrors of Jeffrey Dahmer—Helen is pulled out of retirement by a no-nonsense detective (Holly Hunter). The winning chemistry between Weaver and Hunter—who are refreshingly free from the studio-mandated romantic subplots in some of the other movies on this list—and the blunt force power of their performances aid this sincerely disquieting flick. A needlessly convoluted third act aside, the movie still works as a warning about the danger of fanboys a generation early.

6. Fallen (1998)

Denzel Washington appears again thanks to this clever supernatural spin on the serial killer genre. At the beginning of Fallen, Washington’s John Hobbes appears on top of the world. The serial killer he chased for years (Elias Koteas) is about to breathe deeply in the gas chamber. Yet after the lever is pulled, and with Koteas singing the Rolling Stones’ “Time is On My Side” until his last breath, a funny thing happens: the murders continue.

In fact, more than just the killings, strangers in the street sing “Time is On My Side” in Hobbes’ ear, and he soon realizes that he faces a devil of a killer whose been operating since the beginning—quite literally since the villain is a demon who was once an angel that fell with Lucifer. It’s a bizarre premise given strutting confidence thanks to Washington’s performance, as well as good supporting work by John Goodman and Donald Sutherland. Twenty years later and its ending still sticks with me.

5. The Exorcist III (1990)

If you haven’t seen The Exorcist III, we know what you’re thinking: “Really?!” Yes. In fact, this isn’t even an exorcist movie; it should’ve been titled Legion like the 1983 novel it’s based on. Alas writer-director William Peter Blatty was forced to use the title and do reshoots that added an exorcism in the climax. Still, this supernatural thriller which involves a serial killer back from the dead is far better than it has any right to be.

Following the character of Lt. Kinderman from the 1973 masterpiece, the middle-aged gumshoe is now played by George C. Scott instead of the late Lee J. Cobb, and he possesses Scott’s usual love for contrasts between the restrained whisper and a bombastic howl. He also makes a sympathetic, secular detective forced to face the horrors of Hell when a series of murders committed against Catholic priests appear to be the work of the Gemini Killer (Brad Dourif), a serial killer whom Kinderman sent to the chair more than 10 years ago.

Movies

The Exorcist III is a Classic and Better Than You Remember

By Jim Knipfel

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The Exorcist Is Still the Scariest Movie Ever Made

By David Crow

Somehow the fiend—plus Kinderman’s long dead pal Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller)—appear to now be living in the same body of a John Doe kept in a mental asylum. With an unrelenting atmosphere of dread, palpable tension, and more of Blatty’s intellectual struggle with concepts of faith and evil, the film is more high-minded than its hacky title suggests. It also features one of the best jump scares in movie history.

4. Summer of Sam (1999)

The only movie on this list directly based on an actual serial killer’s crimes, Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam is a serious-minded joint. However, it’s only partially about the murders perpetrated by David Berkowitz, aka the “.44 Caliber Killer,” aka the Son of Sam. Rather the film focuses on the effects a serial killer has on the culture of New York City during the sweltering summer of 1977, and how it affects young lives trying to make it in the big city.

Influenced by Lee and his co-writers Michael Imperioli and Victor Colicchio’s memories of growing up in 1970s New York, the pic is a love letter to a grim moment in history when the city was about to explode with murders, blackouts, crime, and disco. All of this is digested from the vantages of Vinny (John Leguizamo), a philandering hairdresser guilt-ridden for cheating on his wife (Mira Sorvino), and his childhood pal Ritchie (Adrien Brody), who’s left the old neighborhood behind to join the fledgling punk rock scene.

With a greater interest in how a serial killer affects the culture and institutions of a city on edge than being a traditional crime drama, Summer of Sam is a bit of a forerunner to David Fincher’s far more polished Zodiac from a few years later. With heavy-handed dialogue and a plot too big for Lee to fully get his arms around, even at 142 minutes, Summer of Sam can be uneven and messy. But it has the sweaty incorrigibility of a long night out, and of revelries half remembered like from a fever dream.

3. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

The rare serial killer movie told entirely from the perspective of the killer, Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley is disarmingly creepy. Despite its glossy awards bait sheen, there is a cold-blooded streak that runs deep to the heart of the piece, likely due to Patricia Highsmith’s source 1955 novel. Starring Matt Damon fresh off his Good Will Hunting golden boy sheen, the film uses its casting to disorient and ultimately disturb.

Like Highsmith’s book, the film is not structured like a traditional thriller. It instead favors a detached ambivalence about its seemingly nebbish hero as he agrees to become an errand boy for the rich by traveling to 1950s Italy in order to retrieve a silver spoon cad (Jude Law) for his father. But the more time Tom Ripley (Damon) spends with Law’s Dickie Greenleaf, the more he grows envious of Dickie’s lifestyle, his wealth and confidence, and maybe even his affection for socialite Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow). There is a subtle—too subtle due to ‘90s Hollywood conventions—homoerotic undercurrent throughout the film as Ripley slowly works up the courage to take his first life. It won’t be his last.

Movies

Knives Out: When Murder Makes You a Better Person

By Natalie Zutter

Movies

Seven: The Brilliance of David Fincher’s Chase Scene

By Ryan Lambie

Highsmith wound up publishing four subsequent sequels to The Talented Mr. Ripley, but unfortunately no more were made with Damon. Perhaps because this was too unsettling for an ongoing franchise.

2. Seven (1995)

While watching David Fincher’s masterful Seven, the thing that immediately stands out is the oppressive nihilism that permeates throughout. There were decades of neo noir before this detective yarn about the hunt for a serial killer, but none demonstrated such an overbearing sense of despair before the opening credits were even concluded. And perhaps what makes it unshakable is how welcoming the film is toward bleakness; it succumbs long before the gut-punch finale.

Telling the story of an old cop days from retirement (Morgan Freeman) and a hotheaded rookie detective (Brad Pitt), Andrew Kevin Walker’s script has an economy of pace that still impresses despite its cynicism. Very quickly one murder becomes two, then three, and soon four. Yet none of the atrocities are reveled in by Fincher’s blocking; they’re off-screen mutilations which leave psychic damage on his two leads and, eventually, us. The deaths also quickly establish a pattern that their serial killer is targeting seven souls, each intended to embody one of the seven deadly sins.

The movie is a classic now for its climax where the killer “John Doe” (a reptilian Kevin Spacey) turns himself in and leads the cops into the darkest pit, but it’s the entire package that makes this one linger more than 25 years later. At the end of the film, Somerset quotes Hemingway by saying, “‘The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.’ I agree with the second part.” I’m not convinced his film does.

1. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

As the film that kick-started the idea that serial killers could create their own film genre, The Silence of the Lambs still remains the best of its kind. Blessedly unaware that it was creating conventions for countless copycats, the film tells its psychological drama with simplicity and clarity. Whereas other films on this list bask in their bleakness, there is a dogged optimism and even perverse warmth to this Jonathan Demme adaptation of Thomas Harris’ Silence of the Lambs novel. And that’s of course largely attributable to the casting of Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster.

As Dr. Hannibal Lecter, Hopkins is of course monumental. It’s a performance that turned a quinquagenarian into an overnight movie star, and became Hopkins’ calling card as he returned to the not-so-good doctor’s well one too many times. Still, he’s undeniably enthralling as Hannibal, a cannibal psychologist with superhuman powers of observation and mental menace. Even so, Foster is often overlooked by critics for her own contributions as the FBI trainee who’s proverbially fed to the incarcerated Lecter—a pretty face to get the serial killer to consult pro bono on the crimes of another mass murderer. It’s just one more example of casual sexism faced by Clarice that gives Foster as much to play as Hopkins.

Culture

David Fincher’s Zodiac: The Movie That Never Ended

By Don Kaye

Movies

The Little Things Ending Explained

By David Crow

Surrounded by the slights and prejudices of men—be they in law enforcement or straight jackets—Clarice is constantly underestimated. She finds an intellectual rapport with Hannibal, but she pulls herself out of the darkest night, and the screaming of the lambs, without assistance. Her perseverance matched by Hannibal’s darkly seductive qualities is the juxtaposition that makes Silence of the Lambs one of the finest films of its decade.

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wolfmanmikie117 · 4 years

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Poema: Self Care

To clarify this will always be work in progress...

In this, I’m a hypocrite ,

I’ll explain through the pain..

I could analyze your dreams help decipher what they mean,

in daily conversation drop in factors and facts and graphed stats

at the drop of the hat.

I’d recommend you love yourself ,exercise, eat healthy, project your best, all that ...

then forget to follow through personally when feeling trapped

kinda shit is that !

typically I try to focus un-phased not so silently progressing

for any random sum of days to be triggered by something as simple as a specific song from Avril Lavigne....

REally seemingly randomly truly though a dead lover occasionally comes to me and the ocean of emotion proceeds,

but inevitably I continue to be and forever strive to stay happy

occasional bouts of shambling rambling woe is me,

feeling lonely, surrounded by trees stars life love beauty and possibility where sadness should be an improbability

yeah I’m silly while steady searching for inner peace .

Consistently trying to piece together my obnoxious dreams,

you would believe the moves made by shy ol’ me .

I can rebound off of beats ,jump in shuffling my feet

freakin front flip all over looney toon style walking on my hands down the street,

high kick about level with a height of roughly 6′0 FT, be poetic in my speech

dream up dreams that'd make dreamers wet their sheets and and slowly work on them daily,,,,

but hold on I remember what’s the realest I can be observant, humble, and open to possibility .

I honestly cant claim these qualities are always active qualities ,but I try geez

For instance I get anxiety butterfly's around any girl I consider pretty .

Or when I’m reading less positive vibes on surrounding faces combo’ d with a

mass of empathy for understanding and potential identification,

mixed with the ability to read between words so deep I can sometimes

comprehend things even the speaker doesn't consciously reach.

Yet only at request do I usually truly speak, why well I’m shy I’ve lost people the usual speech not always you know.

I cry, I grow, I try to teach ,and not typically trying to preach

clever, sometimes punny , still paranoid like a coke fiend holding money

honestly you wouldn't believe how many try and stab or rob me,

only god see’s please understand me I fully love yall but occasionally question

whether I’m putting enough effort into always loving me

Im someone with Ocd , depression , anxiety and ptsd probably other unknown ailments hang on to me at times but not always though sometimes legitimately feel these things choke me but please dont feel shitty we all bleed and its usually temporary and dont misread me I’m still a bonified beefy boss hog badass who going by Wolfmanmikie a soul soldier of peace a forever a kindred spirit to the world that is my family

honestly I wouldn't be happy if I'm not helping the people with me and I always fight for my family but I love everybody so YOU READING THIS ALSO COUNT AS FAMILY

AYEEOOOOOO THATS WolfManMikie,

forever growing and realizing the beast I’ve the potential to be,

with my massive amounts of empathy,

some self care remembering to breathe consistent perseverance in processing and projecting the ideals and feels that I am love I am free I am happy I am me, I am Wolfy

#poetry #poema #self care #love #loveyourself #keepgrinding #blacklivesmatter #beautiful #everyone #art #From The Heart #artist

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notyourfathersdungeonmaster · 4 years

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How to Make Powerful NPCs Interesting Again

We all know the trope: the powerful wizard hires the party to go run some minor errand, which inevitably leads to them stumbling onto the World-Ending Plot, which they have to solve, alone, with only the occasional advice from their wizened mentor. It's a trope as old as time; even Hercules got occasional boons from godly beings to help him on his quests. It's a great narrative device, until some player stops and asks, "If this wizard is able to stop time with a snap of his fingers, why doesn't he just stride into the field and shove a ninth-level fireball into the Lich's cranial cavity?"

This simple bit of cognitive dissonance can really ruin the fun and undermine the urgency of an otherwise great adventure. If the party knows that the only reason they're on this quest is because Randalf the Off-White can't be bothered to deal with the horde of undead outside his tower, it can make them feel like chumps or patsies, and undermine any sense of gratitude that comes later during the campaign's denouement.

There's a few simple ways to fix this, though: tricks that can help you, the DM, keep your high level NPCs while also explaining why the great powers of the world are relying on this band of scrappy adventurers to solve all their problems. Below are just a few.

The Balance of Powers

This principle is a great one, but is often sadly overlooked in many campaigns. Simply put, in the above example, the wizard mentor doesn't get involved not because he can't, but because doing so would bring in a whole host of other powerful beings that would complicate the conflict. Perhaps there's a council of archmages who have all agreed, for the sake of maintaining the fabric of reality, that they should keep their Ninth-level spells in their pockets unless they all agree it's necessary. Perhaps the BBEG has a patron on the Council, and the mentor can't interfere on his own without dragging his evil opposite into the campaign. This can actually make for a great part of the climactic battle: the mentor decides he can't stay on the sidelines anymore, and joins the fray, participating in an epic wizard's duel.

This can also be used with deities bestowing boons on the party: they can act indirectly by helping the party, perhaps because one of their rival deities is already helping the BBEG. Thus, the conflict of the campaign turns into a proxy war for a larger divine conflict that can't be fought, because it would annihilate all of existence. If you do take this path, make sure your NPC stresses to the party how essential it is that they solve this issue, because if the major players themselves join the fight, no one will survive.

The Protector of Reality

Similar to the Balance of Powers, this rationale places the Epic NPC in a conflict from which they cannot afford to divert their attention or resources, even for a moment. Perhaps there is a constant threat of otherworldly incursion for which they need all (or almost all) of their capabilities; after all, you don't want to be caught with your pants down and your spell slots expended when Tiamat bursts through the material plane like an alien parasite from a man's stomach. Even the threat of such an apocalyptic event would mean that, like a missile in a silo, an epic level NPC would have to sit dormant, never expending his magical capabilities because he never knows when they may be required. This is actually a great archetype to use for the Wizard in the Tower trope; they may have built themselves a convenient magical retreat at great cost because they couldn't afford the spell slot to cast Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion everyday, not while that same spell slot may be needed to banish an archduke of the Nine Hells. So, they sit in the tower, separated from the affairs of the world by necessity - but, still caring about the world and wanting to make sure it's not a shit place to live, they can find and recruit adventurers to handle the more mundane threats that don't shake the foundations of the universe. This is also a great twist finale to use on the party: perhaps the Wizard in the Tower joins them in the final boss battle, expending all his magical power -- only for, at that moment, the threat he's been guarding against for centuries to finally arrive, and now it's up to the party to stand against them where he cannot.

The Otherworldly Being

This works especially well with warlock patrons, but it can work similarly well with questgivers and friendly NPCs that have an otherworldly or spiritual bent. The key idea is that the force recruiting, motivating, and rewarding the players is not located on the material plane itself and is therefore unable to act on it; they need to find a local agent to handle the problem. There is plenty of inspiration throughout myth and folklore; dream visitations, whether by angels, fiends, fey, or Lovecraftian horrors, are particularly common as an impetus to get an uncooperative character to fall into line. There are more tangible methods of communication as well; perhaps they are a being of immense power that is trapped in every mirror in the world and needs an agent to eventually get them free, or perhaps they can only manifest through signs and omens that require interpretation. If you want to pull from Greek mythology, there's also the possibility of a dedicated oracle who acts as the voice of the gods, but gives only vague, ominous prophecies that won't reveal their true weight until later. In all cases, a clear distinction is established between the power of the questgiver and the limitations of their abilities to influence the mortal realm, making the party the ones with agency in the situation.

The Hidden BBEG

You'll want to be careful how you use this one, because you only get one shot to pull it off with a given group, and once the players suspect something it is really, really hard to recover from it. The basic premise is that the powerful NPC who recruited them, who sent them off to fight against the Big Bad Evil Guy, was secretly a villain themselves, trying to bring down their rival or clear the way for their own scheme. Think of Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars, sending the Jedi across the galaxy to deal with the Sith and the CIS, only to betray them all. Unfortunately this has become a major trope, and given how paranoid players typically are, it's very hard to pull off. There's a couple of tricks to making it work, and some of them may seem counterintuitive.

Do not make the Hidden BBEG perfect or flawless. Establish a set of motives for their actions, ones that may seem prosaic but also have a selfish bent. The high priest wants to rid the land of the evil king who is oppressing the population, but who is also stifling the priest's ability to build his church. The noble ruler wants to defeat the opposing empire that threatens the peace and stability of his lands, but also is motivated by revenge for the war crimes committed in the past. Create a pretext that puts them on the same side as the party, but a subtext that leaves the party slightly uneasy. If the party is concerned about their ally having selfish motives, they'll be expecting selfishness, even recklessness, but not duplicity and betrayal.

Do not reveal the full capabilities of the Hidden BBEG. If anything, they should appear to be about mid-level; capable, but not able to handle world-shaking threats. Most often they are hiding their capabilities until some final piece is brought into their grasp. One excellent example would be Fraz-Urb'luu, one of the demon princes of the Abyss, who is obsessed with recovering his staff of power; as a Hidden BBEG, he might pose as a friend to the party, waiting until they recover all the pieces and bring them to him before he strikes, showing his true might. Another excellent example is the Heirophant from the classic geek movie The Gamers: Dorkness Rising.

Show genuine conflict in the Hidden BBEG. Let them display passion and inner conflict, moments where they are troubled by the methods the party uses and the methods they and their followers are forced to use. There's an old adage that every villain is the hero of their own story; if you can make that ring true for your Hidden BBEG, to make the party invested in not just their cause but in maintaining their moral character, then the betrayal will hurt even more.

The Common Crowd

This might seem counterintuitive, but sometimes the best Epic NPC isn't epic at all, but just a collection of ordinary folk. If your campaign originates in a specific village or town, especially one full of colorful, memorable NPCs with personal ties to the party, then the collective needs and will of that settlement can become a questgiver NPC in its own right. The town is suffering from an unnatural drought? Send the party to seek out aid or a magical cure. The town is displaced following an invasion? Keeping the town safe and finding them a new home becomes a priority. This can also become a source of individualized side quests for the PCs; they're likely to be far more concerned about seeking out the rare medicine required to save the orphan girl who the rogue took under wing than they are about exploring a random tomb for loot drops. Plus, if the PCs invest their time and effort into protecting the town, it can make for an amazing final battle when the townsfolk come to support the party in battle, armed with everything they can get their hands on, ready to die for their heroes (a.k.a. The 'Mass Effect' Effect).

I hope these provide some good inspiration for your campaign! Let me know if there's any tricks you've used on your campaigns that worked particularly well, or any that you think should be added.

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sunnymegatron · 1 year

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Lessons from the BDSM Leather Community with Mollena Williams-Haas - Ep 203

Mollena Williams-Haas, a.k.a. The Kink Doula, is back to serve up a slice of community healing. As a BDSM Leather community veteran and legend, Mollena understands the challenges of living your truth when it falls outside of the alt-sex status quo. In this convo, she shares how her rocky relationship with a community she once loved transformed into an unexpected journey of healing and growth. And, in true Mollena fashion, the insights she gleaned from this transformative, powerful experience are life lessons we can all benefit from, no matter our chosen community or family. This is part one of our two-episode extended conversation.

Mollena Williams-Haas Bio

Mollena is an NYC-born and raised writer, actress, BDSM Educator, Storyteller, sobriety fiend since March 2007, and Award-Winning Executive Pervert. Owned and collared by renowned contemporary composer Georg Friedrich Haas since 2013, she serves as his beloved slave, submissive, wife, servant, and Muse. February 2016 saw a groundbreaking piece about their relationship featured in the New York Times.

Active in the Leather community since 1996 and teaching since 1998, Mollena's viewpoints on Kink-related issues are frequently sought after by sources like The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Newsweek, Essence, Ebony, etc. She is a frequent guest expert on Dan Savage’s “Savage Lovecast,” Tristan Taormino’s “Sex Out Loud”, and Margaret Cho’s “Monsters of Talk” podcast. She’s even spoken about Kink at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.

Molena is also a leather titleholder– International Ms Leather 2010 and Ms. San Francisco Leather 2009. She’s the co-author of the “Toybag Guide: Taboo Play.” and “Playing Well With Others: Your Guide to Discovering, Exploring and Navigating the Kink, Leather and BDSM Communities”.

A professional stage performer since the age of 5, Mollena’s credits include singing on the soundtrack for The Wiz and co-starring with Danny Bonaduce in underground cult-classic America’s Deadliest Home Video. Her short film, IMPACT, won the “Cinekink’s Best Experimental Film" Award. Mollena’s latest performance piece is Hyena, a collaboration with her husband. They are also both the subject of the documentary The Artist and The Pervert. Mollena also appeared on Sex with Sunny Megatron on Showtime. Her latest endeavor is The Kink Doula.

Mollena's Full Bio: http://www.mollena.com/about/

Episode 203 Helpful Links & Resources

All That and Mo, Podcast hosted by Mollena Lee Williams Haas https://allthatandmo.com/

Kink Doula https://kinkdoula.com/

Mollena Lee Williams Haas Website http://www.mollena.com/

Mollena Lee Williams Haas Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mollena

Mollena Lee Williams Haas Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mollena_lee_williams_haas/

Mollena Lee Williams Haas Twitter https://twitter.com/mollena

Mollena Lee Williams Haas Patreon https://www.patreon.com/MollenaLeeWilliamsHaas

Mollena on RISK! Episode 442 “Slave” https://soundcloud.com/riskshow/slave-by-mollena-williams-from-episode-442-slave

Hyena Teaser Trailer https://youtu.be/UrAJji7qdwk

The Artist and the Pervert Trailer https://youtu.be/ko_6bGeADGU

The Artist and the Pervert Documentary on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Artist-Pervert-Georg-Friedrich-Haas/dp/B08NC5C1PK

The Restrict Act Bill S. 686 https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/686/text

ResistBot https://resist.bot/petitions

Find & Contact your Legislators https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/s686/comment

Chat GPT https://chat.openai.com/chat

Sunny’s Free Kink Negotiation & Scene Planning Mini-Workbook https://sunnymegatron.gumroad.com/l/negotiationwb

Sunny Megatron TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@sunnymegatron

American Sex Podcast Discord Community http://bit.ly/discordasp

American Sex Podcast Patreon http://patreon.com/americansex

Episode 203 Sponsors & Discount Codes

*by using our links & codes you can help support our work while saving a few bucks too—win/win!

30-day free trial of Dipsea Stories when you use code SUNNY at http://dipseastories.com/sunny

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greenninjagal-blog · 5 years

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Chartreuse

okay but hear me out: Dee does cause the split between the lights and the others, fully intentional, 100% knowing what he’s doing.

aka: Self Preservation’s name is Dee. His color is light green. And he’ll do anything for the sake of Thomas. (So maybe that’s why he doesn’t stay chartreuse)

Quick Taglist: @chelsvans @faithfulcat111 @felicianoromano @holliberries @jemthebookworm @killerfangirl3 @silverflame-wc @stricken-with-clairvoyancy @treasureofpriam

Read on AO3 || My General Writing list

The end of the world starts when Thomas is twelve and only Dee seems to notice it.

The rules Thomas’s mother made suck balls. They don’t make sense and they stop him from doing the things he wants to do. Dee wants to push them, wants to break them, wants to see how far Thomas’s mother is willing to go in order to uphold these stupid dumb rules of hers

But if he keeps pushing, breaking, testing Thomas is going to get hurt.

He’s already hurt

Already sent to his room for the night, curled up under his blankets with stupid dumb angry tears on his face and he can’t get them to stop because its not fair that his brother gets to stay up later and go out more and Thomas has to stay here in the house when his friends are going play paintball or the movies or the arcade without him.

(And Dee knows the subconscious thoughts Thomas has been having about that. He’s kept them back so far, but there’s only oh so much he can do when Virgil starts grinning and flicks his tongue: what if they forget about you, while they're out have so much fun? What if they get into a car crash and they all die and leave you alone? What if they stop inviting you out---)

(Or when Remus’s eyes light up and he spouts out the first thing he can think of: Kiss Kaylee’s boyfriend! Jump from the moving car! Throw Mom’s plate on the floor!)

This is going to ruin Thomas, Dee thinks

as he watches the Mindscape fall apart, fall into tatters, shatter like glass on Thomas’s psyche.

He can see the cracks in the walls now, creeping upwards and outwards with a terrifying crrreeaaakk every few minutes. All the walls have them now, and Dee gets nervous standing in one place for too long once he saw the way the floor was.

Any moment, any second, any breath now

the walls that were holding Thomas together were going to break

and Dee wasn’t sure that all of the sides were going to make it when they did.

A plan, a plan. He needs a plan.

Its a bad plan.

But when he hears Virgil tell Logan where he can stuff his rules--

But when he sees Remus’s mace get lodged in the floor after narrowly missing Roman again--

But when he smells smoke in the kitchen again and again and again and Patton pretends he doesn’t--

But when he’s standing in the middle of the chaos feeling how much this is hurting Thomas, his host, his life, Dee knows this is the only plan they’ve got.

Like duck tape on a window, a temporary solution. That will get Thomas past his Thirteenth birthday and maybe long enough to see his twenties without going insane.

“Patton,” He says, rubbing an itch from his eye, “Thomas is going to be hurt if we keep this up.”

“Hmm?” Patton says with a strained smile, “Don’t be silly Dee! Everything is going completely fine!”

There’s a crack in the wall behind them. Its two inches longer now, stretching for the ceiling, for the light.

In the background Roman’s sword collides with Remus’s morning star with a sharp distressing trill. Logan’s voice keeps breaking embarrassingly and Virgil’s laughing nastily about it.

Its not fine.

“You know I’m right,” Dee says, “If they keep fighting-- if Virgil and Remus don’t stop antagonizing--”

Dee is Self Preservation. He knows this stuff.

But Patton isn’t looking at him, isn’t listening to him, isn’t doing anything. He’s just washing dishes, with a sink of soapy water and a sponge and a faucet running so hot Dee can see the steam. The kitchen smells like smoke again.

“Patton,” Dee says.

There’s a crash and a scream behind them. Dee doesn’t know who it is. He’s scared to find out.

“Patton! Listen to me! We have to do something about this!”

WE, We, we

Because if it was just him no one else would listen. The idea has to come from both of them. The idea has to be an agreement, a compromise, an equal bargain.

It has to be right and fair.

They are the leaders here: Morality who always did the right thing, and Self Preservation who always did what was in the best interest.

“Stop ignoring me!” Dee snaps at Patton, “You are hurting Thomas! Morality! Morality look at--”

--Me.

Because Patton is looking at him all of a sudden. His hands still in that burning boiling bubbling water, tears down his face, smile on his lips. He’s staring at Dee like its just the two of them left in the Mindscape, in the world, in the universe and it makes Dee’s skin blister and itch and scream.

“Yeah Dee?” Patton says softly. Dee shouldn’t be able to hear it with the screaming behind them, the crashing of the furniture, the breaking of the walls, the sound of the running water, but he does anyway. “I’m looking. I’m Looking and I don’t like what I’m seeing! I don’t know what you want me to do about this! What--what can we do about this?”

Patton’s smile is a knife.

Dee takes it and plunges it into himself anyway.

“We have to split the Mindscape.”

Dee’s voice is a death sentence.

Patton breathes through it, after it, for it.

Dee thinks just a bit traitorously, that Morality had had the thought first, and just been waiting for Dee to say it out loud.

“We’ll draw names,” Dee explains to the group “Three of us will go, the others will stay and become Thomas’s core.”

“What?” Virgil scoffs, “No way! What if you rig the vote? what if the ones that stay make it worse?”

“But that will be so much fun!” Remus counters!! “With Roman out of the way I’m free to bring all my creations to life!”

“Wh-Absolutely not, you fiend!” Roman screams, stamping his foot, “Patton tell him we can’t do this! He’ll ruin everything I’ve done for Thomas!”

But Patton doesn’t say anything.

“Logically speaking--”

“Shut up, Bore-ius!” Roman yells, like a child. “I don’t want to go! I don’t want to give up my place in Thomas! Its my place!”

“It’s not forever,” Dee placates.

“Shut up!” Roman yells, “It’s Thomas’s development years! Whoever goes away now will never, ever have a part of Thomas!”

“We’re already part of Thomas,” Logan cuts in smoothly. “Nothing can change that.”

Virgil snorts, “You really believe that?”

“Yes,” Logan says, “Why would I not believe sound logic? It would defy all...me.”

Virgil slinks around the room, like a cat, “Well....” He says, like he normally does right before he gives a barrage of anxiety to the rest of them. Dee doesn’t think he does it on purpose, but it is annoying when Dee is telling Thomas to help himself, lie, cheat and Virgil’s voice drowns him out with fight, run, freeze.

“Well, there’s talk about what happens in the subconscious.” Virgil says, “Those that go might come back... differently.”

“There’s nothing in the subconscious,” Dee counters, rubbing his eyes boredly. “But if there was, its not like you’d be alone. Remember this is for the good of Thomas.”

None of them look convinced. None of them look happy.

They write their names down anyway.

“Did everyone write their own name?” Patton asks, lightly. They each show off their piece of paper: Patton, Virgil, Remus, Logan, Dee, Remus.

“Roman,” Patton says.

The prince snarls at them. Remus just laughs.

“Nice try, Prince Charmless!” Remus tells him as they watch Roman fix the name.

“Go play in traffic.”

“That’s a bit of a dark thought for you, Roman! I’m so proud!”

Dee offers his hat to the rest of them. Patton and Logan’s go in easy. Remus laughs the whole way. Roman puts his in so heavily, Dee’s surprised that he didn’t drop the hat entirely. Virgil holds on to his for another moment, twisting it between his fingers.

“I’m not bad,” He says suddenly. “I -- I don’t try to be bad!”

“Put your name in the hat, Hissy fit.” Roman snaps.

Virgil and Dee’s go in last. Dee shakes the hat and tries not to feel guilty.

“So we’re all in agreement here,” Patton says as Dee shuffles the hat.

“The names that get pulled, will agree to separate from Thomas and be downsized to their primary functions until Thomas reaches age twenty five.”

Dee tries to think of the last time they all agreed on something.

He doesn’t think they ever have.

A door appears at the end of Patton’s words: a new door to a new place and it smells like ice. Its yellow and they all know that Thomas hates the color yellow. A step back from all of them.

The floor groans and creaks under their feet.

“For Thomas.” Dee says, with much more confidence than he feels.

The room is silent as his fingers twitch into the hat.

Dee’s thoughts are not.

He knows what he’s doing. He’s the light green side. He’s Self Preservation.

Remus.

“Awwww man!” Remus whines, throwing his head back. “This sucks more than Kaylee’s Boyfr--”

“We get it!” Roman interrupts him, “Now go away!”

“You’re going to miss me, dear brother!” Remus says.

“Fat chance.” But he doesn’t sound so sure.

Remus walks towards the yellow door laughing all the way. Dee doesn’t know if the other realize how terrified he sounds.

“See you suckers in 13 years!” Remus calls behind him.

“Wait- Remus--” Roman says.

But embodiment of Impulsive, intrusive, unwanted thoughts is already gone through the doorway into the swirling terrible darkness beyond it.

Roman swears.

“Thomas’s mother has told us not to repeat those words.” Logan says, just an octave too high. He turns back to the five of them remaining, “See, without me there would be no one to reign in the rest of you! I’m far too important!”

“You’re too important?” Virgil snaps, “What about me? About Pat?”

“Thomas needs me!” Logan insists desperately, “More than he needs silly emotions or unwelcome panic!”

“Lets not fight--”

“I’ll show you unwelcome panic--”

“No one side is more important than the others!” Patton yells. He’s sobbing, sobbing so heavily its making the cracks in the walls deepen.

“I don’t wanna do this!” Roman says, hugging himself. “I take it back! Give me my name back!”

And he lunges for the hat.

But Dee is Self Preservation. He’s light on his feet, agile, quick.

He’s stepping to the side and Roman’s stumbling past him, in his white and red. And Dee’s light green glove is grabbing the next name

(The only name, that name)

Virgil

“No! Nononono no!” The purple side yells. “I’m not Bad for Thomas!”

None of the other believe him. They haven’t for a long time.

“I’ll be better,” Virgil says brokenly. “please.”

Patton’s mouth is covered with his own hands, and his choking on his own wet sobs. Logan’s hugging himself.

Dee thinks he can almost hear Logan’s thoughts at least its not me, at least its not me at least its not me.

“Please!” Virgil screams at them. But the vote is binding: his feet are dragging on the floor, his jacket being sucked towards the open yellow door like its a black hole and Virgil is the only thing caught in the suction.

Virgil blinks at them, his eyeshadow leaky black tears, and he lunges forward for a side, any side to anchor him.

And Dee is the closest, and he should have moved but he didn’t.

His hat falls to the ground when Virgil jerks on his forearm and it showers tiny little slips of paper all around them: Remus, Virgil, Patton, Patton, Virgil, Patton, Remus, Virgil, Remus--

“Thats--” Roman scrambles back from the papers, from Dee and Virgil, from all of them.

Patton looks faint, Dee thinks, maybe a little hilariously.

He’s self preservation after all. The light green side. The side that always looks out of his own best interest.

“You rigged the vote,” Logan says, “Cheating.”

“It was for Thomas,” Dee says.

But its a lie.

Because Thomas would be fine no matter which three were left.

Dee is self preservation and he’s selfish and he doesn’t want to give up his own place either. He’s the light green side.

Virgil clings to him with razor nails biting into his skin. His feet slip off the ground now yanked and jerked towards the door and his fingers claw down Dee’s arm, stretching the fabric of his sleeve and then he’s--

“You son of a--” Virgil screams

And then he’s gone.

Through the door, in the dark swirling mist.

And all sounds of him are gone.

All signs of him are gone.

Roman’s sword appears out of the air and its pointed at Dee, freshly sharpened, freshly new, freshly waiting for the taste of blood.

“You’re a liar and a cheater, Dee!” Roman says, “You might as well be called Deceit!”

And doesn’t that just sting a little, doesn’t that just hurt a little! When Dee had never been planning to pick Roman’s name? When Dee had never put thoughtful creation on the line? When Dee had chosen to remove Roman’s biggest antagonist instead of him?

Oh Dee thinks that’s completely right and just.

not at all unfair and cruel.

His eye twitches, actually its been itching for a while now, and he just can’t seem to figure out what the issue with it is. His mouth opens.

Patton, Logan, Roman step back before he’s even said a word.

The Mindscape is shaking, Dee can see the cracks around them growing and yet there’s more horror in the three’s faces when they’re turned towards him. Roman’s sword tip dips as his eyes go wide.

He takes a step towards them, takes a step, takes a--

And the ground makes a horrible terrible cracking sounds, the walls of the room shudder and Dee sees it coming like an eel in the water:

the final crack

The largest yet

And it slices through the floor between the ground.

Dee is self preservation so he throws himself backwards, away from the growing gaping gorge. And he lands just a foot shy of the yellow door.

The other three are grouped tightly together, staring at him.

So far away, too far.

A leap and a bound and a life.

The Mindscape is dissolving.

This certainly isn’t going to hurt Thomas.

and Dee definitely doesn’t care about him at all.

That’s why he knows what needs to happen. That’s why his hand reaches up and grabs the door ruefully.

That’s why he notices his gloved fingers match the color of the door.

He’s not the light green side anymore.

The ground, the Mindscape, bulks and jerks and shakes

And Dee--

Well he’s not exactly Self Preservation anymore, is he?

He falls backwards right through that doorway into the subconscious.

But that’s okay. He said it himself hadn’t he?

There’s nothing in the subconscious. And he’s not alone down there.

He itches his eye again as he peers around the cool dark silence he’s been dropped in. There’s no sign of Virgil or Remus down here. No sign of the floor or walls or anything other than shadows that inch away from Dee’s own Chartreuse glow.

((its not going to stay chartreuse though. Even now he can see the more golden hues brightening))

(((And Thomas just loves gold)

So he itches his eye and keeps itching as he walks and he says he feels guilty

but that’s a lie

The end of the world starts when Thomas is twelve and Dee becomes the yellow side, the side of Deceit, after he splits the Mindscape in half.

#Sanders sides #theory time #I spent way too much time thinking about Dee's hat's ability to rig votes #deceit sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #roman sanders #remus sanders #mentions of suicide #Dee splits the mindscape au #pre aa virgil #they're all children whooops

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