#I am the one keeping this tag alive so I get to make the rules

[sailing-through-hawkins]

death says hello

✧ written for 'charm' ✧ word count: 548 ✧ rated: T ✧ cw: major character death (temporary) ✧ tags: supernatural vibes ✧ @steddiemicrofic (• ▽ •; )⁠✧

With a sigh, Death glides through the veils to meet their latest soul, gasping when they see -

“Steven! You keep coming by like this and a girl’s gonna get ideas.”

“And I thought you’d be happy to see me.” Steve bows with a smile.

Death sniffs, breaking out into a grin when Steve looks back up. “That charm of yours is going to get you in trouble someday.”

Steve sobers up at that. "Think we’re in trouble now," he rubs the back of his neck. "I don’t think I can keep them away from you this time.”

Death stills. Oh, the poor thing. “There is something impeding on the horizon,” they say, as kindly as they can. “This trouble seems to be the closest way to me than what you’ve all faced before.”

“Please,” Steve begs, eyes sunken in, skin pale, already becoming the apparition Death has allowed him to walk away from being so many times already. “Can’t you help us?”

“I’m afraid not,” says Death, stroking a hand through Steve’s hair. “You know I’ve been breaking the rules for you enough as is. That uniform of yours was far too convincing the last time.”

“The one thing Scoops was good for,” Steve grins, his eyes going soft. “Well, other than Robin of course.”

“Oh yes, you mentioned her before! How is she?”

“She’s good! She’s – she was scared. I didn’t – ha.” Steve shakes his head. “I was asleep this time, wasn’t I? The bat bites.”

“The venom went unchecked,” they pet his shoulder apologetically. “Too long, too much stress. I am sorry to always have to meet you in such painful circumstances.”

“What – what about Eddie?” Steve asks, out of nowhere. Death blinks, in as much as they can. “Have you – met him yet?”

“Eddie? I’m afraid I haven’t found anyone recently by that name.”

“You – you haven’t?!” And Steve’s eyes light up and his soul glows and oh, Death just knows they’ll let him out of their grasp once more. “How - that means – he’s still alive! We have to – we have to go back and save him!

“Please,” Steve begs them once again. “Let me go back and save them.”

“Steven,” Death sighs with a smile. “You know you never remember our little conversations when you go back.”

“Isn’t there anything you can do?” he pleads with his righteous eyes. “I have to – Eddie might get to meet you later instead. Maybe – maybe this time we’ll make it.”

Death takes Steve’s hand, cold as their own. They stare into his eyes and he looks back unwaveringly. With another sigh, they say, “You won’t remember this. But you’ll have a feeling. You’ll be desperate to save him, with no good reason why.”

“Never needed a good reason before,” he jokes and Death laughs. They press a kiss, in as much as they can, to his forehead, a little piece of themselves to keep an eye on him. His eyes flutter shut and he smiles. “Thank you.”

“You better be grey the next time, you hear?” Death glides him over back to the Life he had. They pat his back cheekily. “And bring this boyfriend of yours over.”

“I promise.” Steve says and breathes Life again.

⁠✧ dedicated to @unamusing-s because we were crying about this one together also thank you so much mickala for double checking this one for me⁠ ✧

[frickingnerd]

a second chance for life

pairing: luka couffaine / viperion x gn!reader

summary: you take a hit that was meant for viperion and bleed to death in his arms. but he's not giving up on you, even when things seem impossible…

tags: a lot of implied stuff, angst with a happy ending, reader dies, viperion rewinds time, mentions of blood, reader & luka know each other's identities, (best) friend!luka, reader crying

“l-luka…?” tears were rolling down your cheeks, as viperion cradled you in his arms. you were bleeding heavily and despite trying to stop the bleeding, nothing seemed to work. “it hurts… so bad.”

luka's heart broke seeing you like this.

“i wish i knew how to make it stop…” he whispered, gently wiping the tears off your cheek. “just hold on… please, keep fighting a little longer.”

“i'm so…” your eyelids began to flutter, your breathing getting more hectic. “…t-tired.”

“no, stay awake! don’t close your–” but it was already too late. you never heard the end of luka's words, as your eyes fell shut before he could finish and you stopped breathing.

luka softly held you in his arms, simply staring at your lifeless body. this didn't feel real yet. just an hour ago, the two of you were laughing together at his place, talking about what you'd do on the weekends. then suddenly, an akumatized villain showed up and when you shielded an attack meant for luka, you ended up getting killed.

“this isn't fair…” luka whispered, his grip around you tightening. “it should've been me. if i could rewind time, i'd–”

but he had already used his miraculous. he could only rewind time once, those were the rules. yet despite knowing better, luka's hand found its way to the bracelet, praying that if miracles truly existed, that he'd be blessed with one. just rewinding time once, to make sure you'd make it. with a trembling hand, he twisted the bracelet…

“viperion…?”

before he knew it, he stood right where the battle had begun moments earlier. and by his side were you, nervously smiling at him, as you noticed that your partner had been lost in thoughts.

“you–” luka didn't find the right words, simply wrapping his arms around you and pulling you into a hug so tight that it almost squeezed the life out of you. “you're… alive.”

“of course i am ali–” you laughed confused, before the weight of his words suddenly sunk in. “wait… did i…?”

luka pulled away from you, trying to avoid telling you about what he'd seen before he rewind time. but it was clear that the mere thought of it terrified you deeply.

“you'll be alright. i've seen the future and i know what i'll have to do to protect you.” luka stated firmly, gently squeezing your hand, in hopes to reassure you of his words. “i won't lose you another time, i promise.”

[steviewashere]

🪱🪱Worm Wednesday!!!!!🪱🪱

I was tagged by the lovely @hotluncheddie! Hello, I'm sorry for the rambling mess this is going to be. But I know I missed this like two weeks ago, so bear with me.

Okay, I'm going to try and be normal here. I have, honestly, so many worms in my brain. They're dancing and stomping and I'm just going fucking nuts with how much is in my brain at the moment. And also I took excedrin this morning for my migraine and that had caffeine in it and it's more caffeine than I would normally have—anyway.

Y'all already know one of my brain worms, the whole omega verse sensitive nips omega Steve thing. Which, I will plug the post here because I don't have the energy (yes, I do, but I don't want to echo myself) to share all the craziness about that in one post.

I'm also thinking about young Steve Harrington, which is kudos to this post and lots of people's tweets over on the twitter. I won't go into it, same reasons as the omega verse thing so just...again, bear with me.

But! But the actual brain worms I'm having currently, in this very moment, also have to do with another post I made on here. I want to go more in-depth with, though. So, some days ago, I came across an Instagram Reel that was a clip from the YouTube video interview between Jon Bernthal and Dungeon Master Deborah Ann Woll.

So, brief brief summary of this video is basically: Jon Bernthal says that he wants to play D&D, Deborah Ann Woll then gives him a scenario of walking through the woods and while he's walking he hears snap of twigs, and then she basically prompts him with "What do you do?" And he responds, now I can't remember exactly what he says, but I believe it had something to do with investigating the source of the snapped twigs.

Anyway, the video is excellent and you all should check it out. She basically explains D&D in a way that would make sense to anybody, in the matters of asking a player or a potential player what they'd do in certain scenarios, then bringing in the "rougher" elements such as the History checks or Perception checks in the game.

And I want to write something along the lines of Steve approaching Eddie about D&D. Maybe he wants to play because Dustin keeps bugging him about it, but he's too nervous to accept. Maybe he just wants to know what it's like. Maybe he even wants to be a substitute player one of these days just in case somebody can't show up. Something, y'know, where he's approaching Eddie. But he's really, really confused about where to even begin. He's got a character sheet, he's looking at the manuals loaned to him or he even bought himself, he's looking at all these stats and all these options and he just doesn't know where to begin.

Also, brief intervene here, I would be basing this off of 5e rules because that's what I play and frequently toy with. So...don't be mad at me if I get something "inaccurate for the time". I, first of all, honestly don't care. And second, I was not alive in like 1977 when the game first came out. And there's nobody in my life who played it then or possibly has played it ever outside of 5e. Moving on.

So, he tries to explain his character sheet to Eddie, obviously getting a bit overwhelmed in the process. But Eddie stops him. Says something like, "Hold on, okay? Let's just take a baby step here. I'm going to give you a scenario and then I want you to tell me what you'd do."

And he lays out that same, or even just something similar, to what Deborah Ann Woll gave. (I'm going to base this off of the video. Very original, I am.) So it's something like:

"Okay, you've got a small dagger attached to your belt, it's concealed within a hilt. And on your back, there's a bow and a quiver—or a pouch—of arrows. You're walking through the woods. It's dark, heavy clouds hanging overhead, moon obstructed, you can barely see your surroundings. There's leaves under your feet, gravel, sticks. But then, before you can step your foot down next, something crunches in the distance on your left. What do you do?"

There's a pause. A long moment where Steve is considering his options.

"It's a far away sound, right?" Steve checks and Eddie nods. There's a little hmph from Steve as he continues to think. "Can I tell how far away it is? Is there a way to distinct the length of it?"

Eddie maybe smirks, eyes already glowing. "Give a perception check." And at Steve's befuddled expression, leaning in and brows furrowed, Eddie continues on. "So, you're going to roll one of those dice that you always see the kids with. The D20, that's the one you'd use right now. 20 is the highest you can get"—

"The best I can get. And 1 is obviously the lowest, so the worst."

"Right! So...let's say you were to pick up a D20 right now and roll it. You get a...a fourteen. And your perception, one of those skills on the top of your paper"—and Eddie would grab Steve's character sheet, to point out the number he already placed there—"this one right here. And on your paper, it looks to be pretty high. A sixteen is what you have. So...I'm going to ask you to add three more to your dice roll."

Steve squints at the paper. He doesn't take long to do the math, muttering a little under his breath. "Okay...I'd have a seventeen for my perception check." And he looks up to Eddie for confirmation, in which he gets. "And if it's possible out of twenty...that means I can probably figure it out well, right?"

Eddie nods with a smug hum. "You're already a natural." He leans back a little from Steve. Eyes away in thought. Goes on, "So, I'll know right away, based on that number you give me that you're extremely perceptive. I tell you...okay, the sound you hear is roughly ten feet away on your left."

"That's really close," Steve murmurs. "I think I'll...I'll ready that bow on my back. Take it off, grab for one of my arrows. Poise it."

"Mmm...And as soon as you get your bow in the right position, you begin to make out what seems like a pair of eyes. From the darkness between the trees, those eyes emerge closer and closer, revealing the large figure of a sixteen foot owlbear. Its feathers are spread wide, splaying defensively. Eyes glowing, it seems, yellow and bright. The body girth of a bear, but the head and mannerisms of an owl. It trills and squawks in your face. What do you do?"

Anyway, it would go from there. Tried to figure out a monster that wasn't an owlbear because that's what was used in the video. But uh...my brain is not being original right now, so that's basically the whole example from the video. But I just adore that video so much, the simple, yet impactful way she taught the basics. And I think it could translate so well to Eddie and Steve messing with D&D together.

Sorry for a long ass post lmao

Tagging (no pressure): @puppy-steve @scoops-aboy86 @ataliagold @marvel-ous-m @pearynice

@wheneverfeasible @rogueddie @sidekick-hero

[undertale-fic-librarby]

Howdy! In honor of Let Papyrus Say Fuck Day, I've decided to put together a little collection of fics that should be more Papyrus focused!

What Are Friends For by IchikiWindGryphon (Teen And Up, Incomplete)

Undyne and Papyrus are the best of friends. But when Undyne learns Papyrus's greatest secret, it pushes their relationship to the brink. Things only get worse as she learns of the skeleton brothers' traumatic past, and the horrors of Dr. W.D. Gaster.

We Need to Talk by batter_sempai (General Audiences, Incomplete)

Something is bothering Frisk. Because of a deal they made in the past, a familiar voice keeps haunting them, telling them to murder those close to them and threatening to take over their body. For a while, only Flowey knows what is happening to them, but their struggle to keep in control is noticed by Papyrus, who offers to help them. All three of them soon find themselves isolated, as Papyrus attempts to communicate to the Fallen Child possessing Frisk, in order to protect his brother and to prevent another genocide run from occurring.

Flowey Is Not a Good Life Coach by unrestedjade (Mature, Complete)

Flowey gets bored and decides to change up one of his runs. Papyrus presents an interesting project, for the moment.

You Can't Make An Emotionally-Developed Papyrus Omelette Without Breaking A Few Limit-Eggs by KachiggaTHUNDER (Teen And Up, Complete)

Papyrus faces everything with a positive attitude, and never gives up once he's been asked to do something. As nice as that is in theory, it can lead to problems in practice. Problems such as strained friendships, personal doubts and damage to one's personal possessions. Still, no problem can make the Great Papyrus give up! ...Probably.

Two Sides of the Same Coin by AceFace98 (Teen And Up, Complete)

Papyrus lived his whole life in a single room, with only the “Mental Evaluation” days to look forward to (he called them “Long Boring Test” days, which was much more accurate). He never really minded his life, he didn’t know anything else. The doctors were all really nice to him, and he had everything he could possibly want. Expect, maybe, he wished he wasn’t so lonely. But when his wish comes true, everything else comes crashing down around him. Another skeleton child breaks into his room, carrying a backpack full of supplies and plans of escape. Papyrus tags along with him, mostly not to loose the closest thing he’s ever had to a friend, and he finds out quickly that he’s grossly unprepared for the outside world. But friends stick together, especially when they might be...brothers?

The Deep End Yessica (Teen And Up, Complete)

There must have been a mistake. He doesn’t belong here. Life is great. Monsters are free, the surface is wonderful and things couldn’t be better. So the fact that Papyrus still wants to die, isn’t really a problem, is it?

Blue Heart by Rogue_Mutt (Teen And Up, Incomplete)

In the Underfell Universe, Papyrus continues to uphold his duties as a member of the Royal Guard Militia alongside his brother Sans. When he accepts an assignment from Undyne to collect taxes from Snowdin, he is then ambushed before he can make the delivery. After being brutally attacked, he gains the respect from king Asgore Dreemurr himself, who offers Papyrus to become an official member of his grim guard. Papyrus will come to understand the rules of this Kill or be killed world as he comes to question exactly what he is willing to do to keep he and his brother alive and well.

Forgettable by Peepasaurus (Teen And Up, Complete)

After the world went dark, everyone lost a few memories. But some forgot more than others. Papyrus couldn't decipher what was real or an illusion. What was a nightmare or a memory. What it meant to keep hearing the words, 'I am here'.

Oh, Brother by peachyelixer (Teen And Up, Complete)

Papyrus had always seen himself as the stronger brother. Of course - why wouldn’t he when his lazy brother, Sans, spends 90% of the day sleeping in his room and the other 10% doing god-knows-what? But when the secrets of time-lines and what Sans has been keeping on his shoulders are revealed, Papyrus makes a promise both to himself and to his brother that Sans wouldn’t fight this battle on his own anymore. Papyrus was going to help his older brother, no matter what.

How To Be A Big Brother by kaliawai512 (General Audiences, Complete)

Frisk is upset. Papyrus doesn't know why. They're on the surface, everyone is safe and they all have a brand new life together. But Frisk has been sitting in the corner during the day and waking up screaming in the middle of the night. They are very, very upset, and Papyrus wants to help. He just doesn't know how. But he does know how someone helped him when he was young, and maybe, just maybe, he can do the same thing himself. Maybe he can be as great a big brother as his own was to him. (Secret Santa gift for Peanutable - happy holidays!!)

[tozettastone]

Gonna be real honest: the last exchange I participated in was text only, set a 999 wordcount max, was open to any fandom, deleted any unmatchable sign-ups, did not guarantee gifts, and ran for 14 days from assignments to creator reveals. It had 7 rules.

I don't think it was to everyone's taste. Obviously it wasn't maximally inclusive. But it was so so straightforward and simple. It was fun and made participation fast and easy — no check ins, no complex additional tag requirements, no talking to other participants (commenting aside, obviously), and absolutely none of the hand-wringing "am I doing this right?" or "can there be an exception for...?" stuff. Definitely no "follow our blog and our twitter and join our discord and make sure you keep an eye out for announcements! we need you to check in on this date and NO we will not tell you what time zone!"

If you were unmatchable, nobody would be contacting you or making an exception: your sign up would just be deleted. Don't worry about it. Bye. If your exchangee dropped out, the mod put it out to pinch hits, but if you didn't get one the show went on and you were SOL.

You can have no idea what a tremendous relief this was to me. I tried participating in a big bang once and nearly didn't make it out alive. This was... so simple. So streamlined. No mess. No fuss. Low stakes, no drama. 🙏

[alyssaforevermore]

Unearthed ↦ Daryl Dixon season one, part two

Synopsis: Based on the events of The Walking Dead television series, Y/N Grimes, younger sister of Rick Grimes, attempts to survive in a world now inhabited by walkers. Family has always meant everything to her, but in this new world, can she keep her family safe and together?

Show: The Walking Dead (S1-S11)

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x fem!Reader

Warnings: coarse language, violence, character deaths, drug and alcohol references, series spoilers and general The Walking Dead content warnings!

Tags: @1ivinqdeadqir1 @callmeyn @thegeorgiahuntsman @mellxander1993 @bigbaldheadname @cjmonsterwolf @abbi23323 @actuallyklee

Masterlist

Later that night, you sat around the campfire with your family and other members of the camp. Rick was recounting his journey here, but you couldn’t quite seem to focus on anything he was saying.

You couldn’t get that look on Shane’s face out of your head; the one when he saw your brother. No matter how hard you tried, you just couldn’t explain it away. That feeling twisting in your stomach, making you question what Shane had told you that night. Had he simply made a mistake or was there something more to the story?

It killed you to question him; he had saved your life, after all. He had saved the life of your entire family. Rick had been his best friend their entire lives and you had to believe Shane would never just lie about something like that.

“I felt like I’d been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else.” Rick spoke. “For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever.”

Carl’s response finally grabbed your full attention. “Mom said you died.”

You looked at Shane, his face white as a ghost as his eyes were fixed on your brother. 

Rick nodded, his voice soft. “She had every reason to believe that. Don’t you ever doubt that.” 

“When things started getting really bad, they told us at the hospital that they were going to medevac you and other patients to Atlanta, but it never happened.” Lori spoke up.

“Well, I’m not surprised after Atlanta fell.” Rick responded. “From the look of that hospital, it got overrun.”

“Yeah, looks don’t deceive.” Shane finally spoke up. “I barely got them out, you know?”

Rick looked at you, his lips curled downwards. “Were you there when-“

You shook your head. “I had a shift that evening, but I hadn’t stayed there that night.”

This was the first time since the fall that you wished you had been there. Rick was alive all this time; you kept thinking about how if you’d stayed, maybe you could have felt a pulse that Shane didn’t. Maybe you could have gotten your brother out of there. Maybe, just maybe, you would’ve never left to begin with.

Rick’s eyes shifted to Shane, a small smile forming across his face. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can’t begin to express it.”

Dale smiled, leaning back in his seat. “There go those words falling short again. Paltry things.”

The sound of a log being dropped into a nearby fire caught your attention. You glanced over at the Peletiers, Ed sitting back down in his seat. Every night since you’d all arrived here, he had insisted that his family have their own fire. He wanted to keep Carol and their daughter Sophia as far away from the rest of you as possible, and you knew why. It made your blood boil.

“Hey, Ed,” Shane spoke up. “You want to rethink that log?”

“It’s cold, man.” Ed responded.

“The cold don’t change the rules, does it?” Shane huffed. “Keep our fires low, just embers so we can’t be seen from a distance, right?”

“I said it’s cold. You should mind your own business for once.”

Clenching your fists, you went to stand up but stopped as Shane gave you a knowing look. Instead, he stood and walked over to Ed.

“Are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?” Shane asked, his eyes darting towards Carol and then back at Ed.

Ed thought for a moment, finally giving in. “Go on. Pull the damn thing out.”

Carol nodded, standing from her seat and quickly pulling the log from the fire. Shane shook his head, mumbling under his breath as he stomped the flames out. Finally, he knelt down in front of Carol and Sophia.

“How are y’all this evening?”

“We’re just fine.” Carol gave a small smile. “I’m sorry about the fire.”

Shane shook his head. “No apology needed. Y’all have a good night, okay?”

“Thank you.”

Shane stood back up. “I appreciate the cooperation.” He spoke to Ed before heading back over to his own seat.

Dale cleared his throat, everyone having clearly been watching the situation as intensely as you had. “Have you all given any more thought to Daryl Dixon? He won’t be happy to hear his brother was left behind.”

“I’ll tell him.” T-Dog announced. “I dropped the key. It’s on me.”

“I cuffed him.” Rick noted. “That makes it mine.”

“Guys, it’s not a competition.” Glenn spoke up. “I don’t mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy.”

T-Dog shook his head. “I did what I did. Hell if I’m gonna hide from it.”

“We could lie.” Amy suggested.

“We need to tell him the truth.” Andrea responded. “Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed. Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's.”

“Is that really going to help matters?” You asked. “We know Daryl isn’t going to be rational about this. It’s his brother. Hell, if I knew someone left Rick behind to die, nothing would stop me.”

You glanced at Shane out of the corner of your eye, him swallowing hard at your comment.

“I was scared and I ran. I’m not ashamed.” T-Dog said.

“We were all scared. We all ran. What’s your point?” Andrea asked.

“I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It’s not enough to break through that… Not that chain, not that padlock. My point is, Dixon’s still alive and he’s still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That’s on us.”

The camp went silent, everyone reflecting on the conversation. Nobody really wanted to tell Daryl anything; he was a loose cannon, but nowhere near as bad as Merle. You just hoped that nobody would get hurt.

…

The next morning had started off fairly slow, everyone partially looking over their shoulders, anxiously waiting for Daryl to return. You stood by as Dale and a few other men took apart the car that Glenn had come back in. He was clearly devastated by the scene, his arms folded across his chest.

You felt a hand on your shoulder, almost causing you to jump out of your skin. “Good morning.” Rick spoke, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Good morning.” You smiled, pulling yourself together. “How did you sleep?”

“Better than I have in days.” He chuckled.

Glenn let out a huff, his arms falling to his sides. “Look at ‘em. Vultures.” Dale looked back at him, shaking his head. “Yeah, go on, strip it clean.”

“Generators need every drop of fuel they can get. Got no power without it. Sorry, Glenn.” Dale responded, carrying on his work.

“I thought I’d get to drive it for at least a few more days.”

“Maybe we’ll get to steal another one someday.” Rick smiled, before turning to you. “Have you seen Lori?”

You nodded. “I think she was folding laundry. I should probably join her.”

You lead Rick towards where Lori was standing, taking clothes off of the clothes line and folding them before placing them in neat piles. 

“Morning officer.” Lori smiled, noticing her husband coming up behind you.

Rick smiled, kissing his wife on the cheek. “Good morning.”

“Did you sleep okay?”

You began to help Lori, zoning out in the process. You always found peace in household chores. Just sitting in your living room folding laundry was one of the only times you didn’t really need to think; your job already took up enough of your brain power. It was now an escape from the worries that constantly plagued your mind. 

“Are you asking me or telling me?” Lori spoke, her voice hushed but pointed enough to grab your attention once more.

Rick swallowed hard. “I’m asking you.”

Before Rick had been shot, you knew of his constant arguments with Lori. He had always been cautious not to speak to you about it, but you were sometimes present for those moments. When Rick had found you all again against all odds, you had really hoped the arguing was behind them.

“Well, I think it’s crazy.” Lori responded, folding her arms over her chest. “I think it’s just about the stupidest way to break your son’s-“

Screams echoed across camp, your ears locking onto Carl’s voice calling for his mother.

“Carl?” Lori asked, her eyes darting across camp to try and figure out where the screams had come from.

Everyone sprung into action, grabbing weapons and rushing into the woods. You had managed to grab a wrench from Dale’s tool kit.

It wasn’t too long before you came across Carol, Sophia and Carl. 

“Dad!” Carl called out, rushing into Lori’s arms.

Lori fell to her knees, caressing Carl’s face. “Nothing bit you? Nothing scratched you?”

Carl shook his head, letting go of her. “No, I’m okay.”

Rick, Shane, Glenn, Jim, Morales and Dale continued further into the woods, you trailing close behind with a wrench in hand. 

You reached a small clearing, seeing a man hunched over the body of a deer. The sound of snarling filled your ears, urging you to position your wrench to swing at any moment.

The men began to circle the scene before them, catching the attention of the walker. His snarling intensified as a piece of the deer’s meat fell from his hands.

Rick took the first swing, hitting the walker in the head with his shovel. When that wasn’t enough, everyone else joined in, hitting it with as much force as they could muster. Finally, Dale took a swing with his ax, taking the walker’s head clean off.

Everyone struggled to catch their breath, you knelt over with your hands on your knees. 

“That’s the first one we’ve had up here.” Dale commented. “They never come this far up the mountain.”

“They’re running out of food in the city.” Jim spoke, wiping sweat off of his forehead.

You let out a sigh. “What does this mean for us? Are we even safe up here anymore?”

“It’s just one, right?” Glenn asked. “Maybe this is a one off.”

“We should still have a bit more time before more make their way up here, at the very least.” Dale responded.

Shane nodded. “We should start thinking more about safety measures, getting traps and tripwire signals set up.”

A twig snapped behind you, earning everyone’s attention as they held their weapons high once again. After a few moments, a familiar face poked his head out from behind the brush. Daryl.

“Oh, Jesus.” Shane huffed, lowering his gun.

“Son of a bitch, that’s my deer!” The man snapped, walking towards it. “Look at it. All gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!” Daryl kicked the body of the walker with each word.

“Calm down, son.” Dale said. “That’s not helping.”

“What do you know about it, old man?” Daryl asked, getting into his face. “Why don’t you take that stupid hat and go back to On Golden Pond?” 

You shook your head. This was typical any time Daryl or Merle were around. You had begun to get used to the peace around camp without them here.

“I’ve been tracking this deer for miles.” Daryl bent down, grabbing his arrows from the deer. “Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?”

Shane shook his head. “I would not risk that, man.”

Daryl nodded. “That’s a damn shame. I got some squirrel—about a dozen or so. That’ll have to do for now.”

You looked back at the severed head of the walker, his teeth smashing together. Amy, who stood off to the side with Andrea, let out a gasp as she turned away.

“Come on, people. What the hell?” Daryl asked, loading up his crossbow and shooting the walker in the head. “It’s gotta be the brain. Don’t y’all know nothing?”

Daryl turned away, following Amy and Andrea back towards camp. You and Rick shared a knowing look, joining everyone in heading back there as well.

This was it.

“Merle!” Daryl called out, entering the main camp area. “Merle, get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrels, let’s stew them up.”

“Daryl, just slow up a bit.” Shane spoke, his voice calm. “I need to talk to you.”

Daryl turned to face him, his eyebrow arched. “About what?”

“About Merle. There was a—there was a problem in Atlanta.”

“Is he dead?”

“We’re not sure.”

Daryl shook his head. “He either is or he ain’t.”

Rick stepped forward, getting between Daryl and Shane. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just say it.”

“Who are you?”

“Rick Grimes.”

“Rick Grimes,” Daryl huffed. “You got something you want to tell me?”

“Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He’s still there.”

Hold on, let me process this.” Daryl stepped back, facing away from everyone as he wiped his eyes. It took a moment before he turned back to Rick. “You’re saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?”

“Yeah.” 

Without missing a beat, Daryl flung the rope of squirrels at Rick before rushing to tackle him. Shane jumped into action, body slamming him to the ground. Daryl then pulled out a knife, swinging it back and forth at the two men. Rick was able to sneak in a gut punch, allowing for Shane to get Daryl into a choke hold.

“You’d best let me go!” Daryl yelled, thrashing his body.

Shane shook his head. “I think it’s better if I don’t.”

“Choke hold’s illegal.” Daryl spoke through gasps.

“You can file a complaint.” Shane responded, Daryl continuing to thrash in his arms. “Come on, man. We can do this all day.”

Rick knelt in front of Daryl, looking him in the eyes. “I’d like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?”

Daryl thought for a moment, before choking out a quiet “Yeah.” Shane looked to Rick for reassurance before letting the man go.

“What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others.” Rick began.

“It’s not Rick’s fault.” T-Dog chimed in. “I had the key and I dropped it.”

“You couldn’t pick it up?”

“Well, I dropped it in a drain.”

Daryl shook his head. “If that’s supposed to make me feel better, it don’t.”

“Well, maybe this will.” You responded, earning the looks of your fellow camp members. “T-Dog chained the door to the roof, right? With a padlock.”

Rick nodded. “That's gotta count for something.” 

“To hell with all y’all!” Daryl snapped. “Just tell me where he is so I can go get him.”

“He’ll show you.” Lori spoke up, looking at her husband. “Isn’t that right?”

Rick stared at his wife for a moment before finally nodding. “I’m going back.”

“Like hell you are.” You snapped.

Lori shook her head, storming off towards the RV.

Rick stepped towards you. “I have to.”

You shook your head, stepping away from your brother. In this moment, you felt like you were losing him all over again.

----

AN: Thank you for reading this chapter, I really hope you all enjoyed it! I originally intended to end this one with them getting to Atlanta, but this chapter was way to long already. We will follow that rescue mission in chapter three! If you'd like to request to be tagged in future chapters, you can do so here. Please be sure to like and reblog <3

[sundrop-writes]

TMR Taglist!!

As I said in the last post regarding a taglist - I am still on hiatus, and I will be until ?? mid-July or the end of July. But during this time, I have been writing fics, and I want to make taglists and round up people for these taglists before it's time to post the fic. Also, if there is interest, I will put characters from TMR onto my list of characters that I write for on my Rules Page.

If you want to be put on my taglist for The Maze Runner, please let me know by replying to this post, liking this post, or interacting with this post in some way. Please make sure that you have your mentions turned on in settings - I will send you a single reminder message about this, and if you don't respond to my message, you will not be added to the taglist.

Please keep in mind: I do not do taglists for each individual character. Right now, the only fics I have cooking are for Gally x Reader, and a threesome with Newt x Reader x Gally, but I am hoping to do more Newt x Reader in the future and more fics for other characters. If you are signing up to this taglist, then you will be notified for fics about all of these characters.

Here are the fics you will be signing up to be tagged in when those fics are posted:

(Also - keep in mind that all my fics will be based strictly off the movie versions of the characters and the plot events.)

Some Kind of Disaster - Gally x Fem!Reader. Friends to Lovers/Lovers Reunited. Emotional Angst, Hurt and Comfort, Smut. Set during The Death Cure. 6.8k in counting, oneshot. Finished, needs to be edited. You can find a preview for this fic here. After seeing Gally take a spear through the center of his chest, you find out that he's alive and well, and it shocks you. When the shock clears, you and Gally reunite in the way that he's always wanted.

English Blood // American Heartache - Gally x Fem!Reader x Newt. Established Relationship bringing in a third person (Developing into Polyamory). Pining, Smut/PWP. Set post Death Cure/Safe Haven era. Newt Lives AU. (Will be a direct sequel to the above fic). Not yet finished - will be a oneshot. 14.8k so far, estimated to be 20k when finished. After everyone gets to the Safe Haven alive, it's time to relax and be thankful that there's no more death, no more running. Newt should be thankful for his life, right? He shouldn't be hung up on petty jealousy for a relationship between his two friends. (Turns out that jealousy is one of the best things that ever happened to him.)

[hauntedkidpersona]

Once upon a time// Chapter-6

Pairing- Polybts x reader

Summary-Choosing a husband is not easy, but bring in the seven princes and your in a lot of trouble.

Warnings: Duality of humans, Mistress, Y/N is a badass, Detachment issues, Cold behaviour, Strangers to enemies, Nudity, sexual jokes, talks of orgasm (nothing we don't know)

Overview: Life isn't like fairytale. You knew it the moment you reached a ripe age of nineteen. Which meant, your now a women who is in a hurry to be wed and bring prosperity and fame to your Kingdom. For this, you have readily accepted the self-groom event which requires you to select your husband out of all the potential Kings and Princes alike. But what happens when you select, not one. Not two but seven grooms? Chaos.

Masterlist-

A/n- Taglist is open for now.

Tags- @singukieee @shadowyjellyfishfest

@inlovewithallmusic @lachimolala22019

"Princess, I am not changing my decision. That's final." The King berates you with a stern look.

You nod, not wishing to push your luck. Irene is out and the King refuses to change the punishment. Your trapped, with no way out. It seems peculiar to pester him, it's a losing battle anyways. The King is adamant, and you do not wish to stroke the flames of fury that swirl in the black abyss of his irises.

You sigh, shoulders drooping ever so lightly. "Your Majesty, then kindly change our rooms cause I can't sleep and be alive at the same time."

He looks up at you with an amused look, while you give him a serious look. Your not joking. You don't want to go to bed with a thought that it could be your last.

Chuckling at your choice of words, he speaks. "Since the day Jin's mother was executed, he has blamed me and have always run away from his duties. Not only him, but the other Princes also blame me for the death of their mother."

Shock. That's what you feel, didn't their mothers lived faraway for reasons unknown. Dread fills you, with an involuntary shiver that slithers across your arms like an icy serenade demanding the words to be fake.

Keeping your composure, you speak, holding your tongue from giving away your obvious suspicions. "Please elaborate, Your Majesty."

The King stands up, erupting a screech from chair pushed behind. His pose is regal, screaming power and wisdom from the greyish white hair that cascades down. Escaping the heavy crown that stands poised on his head.

"Their mothers were just vile creatures opting for power, even daring to execute the King so that they can share the power that comes with throne." His words pierce your mind, like a sword stabbing the body of flesh and bones. He turns to you, with a cold look.

"So I killed them all."

You close your eyes, as beads of tension swirls across the lines of your forehead. Frowning, you keep the questions at bay. Each Kingdom has its past, perhaps this one too has a dark one. A Palace being the centre of conspiracy- greed, lust, betrayal. It has all. Living in a lion's den and not expecting an attack is a delusional attempt on your side.

You take a step forward, "And Irene?" Pausing your words, you scrutinize his face for any reaction.

"Jin claims to love Irene cause she was there with him from the beginning but she is just a vile women. She manipulated him with her sweet words, urging him to become King and change the rules so that she can become the Queen. She hid her greed by reminding him of his responsibility. I am not the King of such a big Kingdom for no reason. With great power, comes greater responsibilities. It's not the stranger that you should fear, but the people close to you for they can cause far greater damage."

His words are making sense now. And as soon as you connect the dots, reality grips your heart like a snake slithering for its prey. Pawn, that's what you can deem your worth as of now. Yesterday the King could have carried out an full-fledged investigation, to look into the matter of Irene but no he had rather chosen to give out a punishment. Being eager to get rid of her in haste was a foul move.

This eagerness will cost you more than you bargained for.

"And—" The King stops, taking your full attention. "If Jin is hard to handle, then how will you handle Yoongi and the others."

You huff, subtle in your actions. Yoongi, that Prince is like ice who will freeze you the moment you near him. Who knows, what is he upto? Only time will tell that. Taking your leave, you walk out not before bowing down to the King who dismisses you with a smile, that held ulterior motives. The glint in his eyes tell you that your in for a great ride.

Anika is waiting outside with few guards who accompanied you, "So how did it go?"

Her expression was tight, lips pressed in a thin line.

You don't wait, walking ahead for walls too have ears. Your robes slither, anklets jiggling at each step. "A lot."

You give one word answers, careful of the guards that follow you. Their expression remain stoic, but who knows where their loyalty lies. In Palace, trust is expensive. You do not have any to waste on them.

Your steps come to a halt, as soon as your met with Jin towering your figure in fury. Taking your hand, he smiles sweetly. So fake, that you gagged. "You all can go, I need to talk to her personally."

Not waiting for anyone's reply, he drags you with him. You pretend to be calm, but inside your mad at him for forcing you like this. You hurry to match his footsteps, not wishing to fall and make a fool out of you. Your earrings drop, in chaotic madness as your chest rises and falls, across the weight of the heavy necklace of priceless gems.

He pulls you inside what you deem as his quarters; the door is closed harshly behind you with a loud thud. Looking back, your breath hitches at the close proximity. But Jin is quick to slam you against his chest with brute force.

A gasp, slips past your throat. Cursing the moment it took flight. "Be in your limits, Prince." You glower at him, tone dripping in warning.

At your defiance, he only pulls you close. Breath mingling with yours and here you almost go cross-eyed at how narrow is the gap of your lips which parts, taking huge gulps of air. Wriggling, you wince when he tightens the hold around your waist.

"Now tell me, who gave you the right to punish Irene?" He glares at you, his tone dropping a few octaves.

You roll your eyes, "You should ask this question to His Majesty, not me."

You wriggle relentlessly, but your hands are gripped by his hands. You grit your teeth, as he refuses to budge. "Then why did you attack her, I saw the bleeding Y/N. How dare you stoop so low hah?"

"Oh, then how dare you to fuck that whore in my quarters. It's you who is the problem, not me or anyone. It's you who were trying to push my buttons. Don't you remember how shamelessly you were staring at me, even when you had a lover. You were fucking red on face, and here I thought lovers don't get affected by anyone who isn't their sweetheart. Your a damn cheater, a fucking liar who is hiding in name of love." You fume, unleashing your wrath with your voice that increases in intensity.

How dare he chanel your worth on his lowly scale. A Prince running from responsibility has no right to question you. Stirring trouble, causing rift and hate for Irene was his doing. A Palace has its own laws, and if anyone crosses it. Your bound to punish them. Heck, even the guards were fired for lacking in their duties of guarding the royal library. Then who the fuck is Irene? Irene got his affection, but no title or regard of her worth from the King. In that way, she is just a servant and is to be treated like one. Affection alone doesn't acquire your safety within the palace walls.

Jin backs away, as you glare at him. Refusing to wince at the obvious pain your waist erupts in. Monster, a fucking monster. That's what he is. You hate him.

"So what, I am the Prince. And she wasn't stealing anything for such a harsh punishment. I want her back in Palace, right now." He orders you, as if your some meagre servant.

If he wasn't a Prince, you would have slapped him so hard that he would have a whole factory reset. You pity the King, for getting such a spoilt brat of a son as the future King of the Kingdom.

"Enough of your stupidity. First learn the laws of what powers and limits you have as a Prince. Your not above the King, your fucking below him. What Irene is facing, is because of your poor judgement. Somewhere you must have a hand in filling her mind with delusional security. And that was ripped apart by the King who showed you both their exact place. And now that your trapped, your forcing me to get her back. You fool, the King's decision is above us. I am no one to meddle in your stupid affairs."

To say Jin was mad at your words was an understatement. He knew you were right somewhere but his ego refuses to stroke the thought. He knows he is lacking, heck his father never fails to remind how far behind he is to take the throne. And now that you slap that directly on his face, it's more obvious.

You step forward, eyes blazing. "Have you even fought in war? Do you know what it's like to have lives in your hands. How will you handle this Kingdom with that fragile ego of yours. Unlike me, there will be thousands to point a finger at you. You can shut them but you can't stop them. Why is it that His Majesty only refers me as the future Queen but he never once called you or any brother of yours as future King. Cause you all lack somewhere. To run a Kingdom is not a child's play. Have any of you ever joined the King in the court, have you? You just got distributed with tasks and yet you all fail to prove your worth to His Majesty. Instead of hating me, why don't your pathetic self learn something in court. And if your a coward then give up this title of the Prince that you carry without any responsibility and leave with your tail tucked between your legs."

Your words like shards of glass pierce his body, drawing blood at multiple occasions. His heart is burning with the insults that you threw at him. Calling him a coward was the last straw. "Shut up. Just shut up, I will show you. Just wait and watch how I become a King and banish you from this Kingdom for once and for all."

You smile mockingly, "Don't dream okay, reality is harsh and unfortunately you are a weak Prince."

Throwing him a last look, you move out.

From that day, something changed.

The Seven Princes who hardly ever graced the court with their presence were dragged their by Jin. Days passed on in peace, as Jin got busy in his royal duties. King's advisors and court members were shocked by the drastic change of the elder Prince. He no longer skipped a day of the court.

The current affairs of the Kingdom was handled by him, he even went all the way to investigate and learn from the trusted advisor of his father.

To say the King was happy would be an understatement.

And now you had some peace from the quarrel, though Jin slept in your quarters at night. You two had no interaction whatsoever. By the time your up, he is gone. He had become a lot busy and so your back to enjoying your lonely time.

Taehyung was taking a stroll across the stable. Looking over the royal horses. He smiled as he pats his horse, a special breed. Hard to tame but he grew a liking. Like the dark night, Raven's fur are his pride and as his Master he have given strict instructions for his care.

Just then he hears commotion, and there he is met with a heavenly sight. It's you. His wife that he had little to no connection with coming along with her maids and guards. You haven't seen him yet, and so he is content in observing.

Your complexion is thundering upon the barren land of his heart. As if expecting a heavy downpour. Your decked up in jewels, none being deprived of enhancing your beauty to that of a dazzling moon. He watches as you laugh, climbing on one of the horse with ease.

"Princess, careful." One of your maid chides you.

Deciding to join, he announces his presence with a clap of amusement.

"My lady, it's good to see you here."

To say you were shocked to see him there would be an understatement.

Hiding your frown, you bow at him.

"My Prince, I just came for horse riding." You smile, hoping to cut short the conversation and go on your merry way.

Your grip on the reins tighten, but it's not long before you feel him climbing up behind you. In shock, you move forward. But Taehyung pulls you right against his chest, the added warmth unwelcomed on your part. You bite your lip, scowling at the turn of events. But in front of the maids, you stay silent.

Taehyung enjoys your act of defiance, his fiesty wife is surely mad now. Why should Jin have all the fun? Your his as much as Jin's. Inching closer, he tilts his head. Ever so lightly brushing your neck, he inhales the sweet scent that permeates his being. He feels you shudder, the action not going unattended by him.

He smirks, "Let's go Princess, I will join you."

Whispering sweetly against your ear, he watches you glare at him in burning fury. Chuckling he takes hold of your hands that grip the reins and pulls it.

The cool wind brushes past you, as the horse gallops through the palettes of green. Your stiff, refusing to relax against him. The nature bloomed, with trees casting a shadow that swirled along the rays of the light that create a painting of their own.

Reaching the lake, Taehyung stops near the cool shade of the tree. Getting down, he smiles at you while lending a hand.

Ignoring him, you get down. "I wonder why the Prince is suddenly interested in what I do?" You take a jab at him, not at all pleased at his act.

"I am always interested in what my wife does."

You roll your eyes. Not believing anything. Blessed with beauty, he was a sight to behold but looks can be deceiving. Wary of his motive, you keep your guard. Just in case. "Drop the act, it's of no use."

Taehyung grins, "So cold. Loosen up, My Queen."

You scowl at his display of endearment, refusing to react. You move away. But Taehyung is quick to chase you and match your steps equally. You ignore him, yet again. It's futile to lead you astray with some sweet words. Your heart is guarded, forget about moving. It won't even faze at the sight of a naked man like Jin. Your a person who connects emotionally and your emotions are forever closed for the Princes who are nothing but brats.

"Just yesterday you all hated me. And today suddenly, your showing fake affection. Why, didn't you get any other way to defeat me?" Your words are sharp and calculated, not an ounce of trust exuding at the Prince that walks across you.

Taehyung smiles, "It's nothing like that, why don't you give me a chance Princess? Join me for a tea"

"You?"

"Yes, the one and only Prince Taehyung."

"Princess, can you please send this to Prince Yoongi's quarters? I have to urgently go and give an important message to the King." The way the advisor speaks, you know you can't refuse.

You were ready to refuse, but then you get reminded of how you have to fucking bond. And so you smile, nodding at him. "As long as you don't have an ulterior motive. I am in."

You were just heading for your duties, when your stopped by the Royal Advisor. It seems, the message is not to be known by anyone and interfering in it would be futile. But you have to meet him out of all the Princes. That rude ass guy. Still, not having an option you take the pile of books.

Bowing to you, he hurries to the opposite direction.

"Uh, that was quick." Anika laughs,

You shake your head, feet moving towards the Yoongi's quarters. Your steps are confident, even as the guards open the door, letting you inside the haven of Prince. Sensing your presence, his trusted assistant quickly greets you.

But your eyes are looking at a very sleepy man who is seated on the chair, doing anything but work. "Does his lover entertain him so much that now he has to sleep during work hours?"

Your words are soft spoken, not wishing to rile up the sleeping cat who might just claw you if you dig too deep. Keeping the books on the table, you look up at the assistant who is busy looking at you without a blink.

You raise an eyebrow.

"Look down, do you want to die?" It's Anika who scolds him, breaking his dazed look.

He shakes his head, "I just was surprised, how someone can be this beautiful. Pardon my rudeness, Princess. I have heard a lot about you and now seeing you in front, I was shocked. Sorry,"

You nod, dismissing him. It's not your first time hearing it and neither it will be your last. You look around, taking a look at the cozy workplace. Decked up in gold and red, it screamed royalty and luxury. A seperate shelf was kept at the corner, wherein the books must contain the talks of war, politics, geography and so on.

Moving away, you look through the window. Getting a perfect view of the Garden from afar. Not that your jealous of your quarters, it's just that there would be no harm if the King gave you an extra quarter which had a perfect view. Anyways that cat won't mind, or will he?

Turning around, you almost shriek at the man who looks unbothered. Your heart thuds against your ribcage, even as you sense the absence of that assistant and Anika who were nowhere to be seen. "Are you done inspecting, Princess?"

You bite your lip, scowling to hide the obvious blush of embarassment rushing to your cheeks. "And are you done working hubby?" You mock back. Purposely adding the last word, just to irk him.

Yoongi gives you a cold look. "The door is there," he points at the exit.

As if you don't know.

"Where, I can't see it?" You look around, searching for that legendary exit.

"Don't joke with me okay, I have work to do. Get out."

His words are final. Not that your dying to be here. You tch at him, why so cold? But then, questioning others for their coldness isn't justified if your rude too. You shrug, not that it matters anyways.

"Now now Yoongi, is this the way you talk to the Princess."

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

Hi hello I watched all of carmilla in a weekend when I was 17 because a student teacher who in retrospect I had a bit of a crush on mentioned that she knew one of the actresses. also I am pretty invested in all your recent vampire stuff because I watched iwtv in 2 days last week because your edit intrigued me

oh hiiii 🫶 thank you for indulging me. thats so cool that you watched iwtv! did it live up to the expectation?

i also watched carmilla at 17! or like, 17-19. i found it when s2 had just started and followed it to the end. did something permanent to my brain but i think it was a good thing. on rewatch now im like, i was right to like this. like it's a solid show, it's good. it has its flaws obviously but it's well written, the emotional moments still get me, i can see why i liked it and i still like it now even when it's not anymore, you know, meeting every need that baby gay me didnt even know they had

what it doesnt reaallyy do though - i dont remember if i posted abt this or if i left it in my drafts but - is explore vampirism as a concept. their subject matter is more lesbianism than vampirism. which is great! thats what they wanted to do and they did it and it's very good. but reading interview with the vampire the book rn im realising how much potential vampires have to be metaphors for like so many things and i started wondering like 'wait, did carmilla just not really engage with it or did it all go over my head'. but it just didnt really engage with it all that much. which again is fine bc that wasnt what they were doing. im glad they were more about the lesbianism than the vampirism

but there's this interesting difference in framing, because in iwtv they keep calling armand 'ancient' right? and emphasising how old he is. and he's like 500? and i was like 'wait isnt carmilla like 400?'. she isnt, shes 340, but still, thats getting there, you know? and we know quite a lot about her history, but kind of just the Big Events. when she was turned, the events of the novella, coffin of blood, silas. thats sort of what we know. but none of the long lonely slog of history day to day you know? with armand i feel like we can really feel how much time everything takes. how every one of those years is made up of single days. with carmilla i dont feel that as much. i keep kind of thinking about daniel, when louis calls him a boy in the first episode, saying "im an old man, with all the triggers that come with it"

because carmilla might look 18 (or mid twenties at this point) but she has lived all that time. shes also seen her native land be claimed by like a succession of ruling powers, right? like armand. shes been buried alive, like louis. when lestat is born, shes already 80 years old, shes lived a whole human lifetime, and the entire adult part of it shes been a vampire. shes lived through 1680-1870 being a lure. i compared her to abigail hobbs in some tags on a post, i dont know if youre familiar with hannibal the tv show, but i do also kinda keep thinking about that comparison

if youre not familiar, in the first episode of hannibal the murderer of the week is this guy garrett jacob hobbs who kills and cannibalises girls who resemble his daughter. and later on it turns out she was made to be his lure. like they'd go places and he'd sent her to the victims to make friends and maybe get them back to their home or smth. not sure if they specified all the details. but that's what carmilla did for mother. and in s2 we hear from mattie that while every couple of decades carmilla had to lure victims for the fish god, she also seemed to just enjoy humans between those times, right? like the doctor, gets lonely, gets a new companion. but we've only sort of got mattie's mocking word for it ("dont eat him, hes a poet! or her, shes got such a wonderful voice. or that one, shes just too pretty to ruin"), we don't know exactly from carmilla's point of view what she was doing or why. if mattie's talking about stuff that happened after the blood coffin, 1950-now, then i think it's a fair assumption based on what carmilla says in the s1 sock puppet show that after she'd figured out what the real situation was and what her role in it was, when she'd started trying to save girls from being sacrificed, that she mightve been doing the same trying to save people from becoming mattie's victims. it's probably more likely that she was just trying to find excuses to stop mattie from sucking someone dry rather than actually having like an aesthetic based morality. but it might be a bit of both. im still trying to figure out what her philosophy actually is, like i dont know what existentialism actually means ghkfjghkj but i will

i also found it pretty striking in the movie when shes turning back into a vampire she says like "this was supposed to be done, you know? the blood lust, the self-loathing, the sleeping tied to a chair in my own bedroom". thats what defines her vampirism, wanting blood and hating yourself for it (the third part is a joke/reference to s1 but also i think meaningful for how she sees her relationship with laura when she IS a vampire. little bit of that 'she will reject me for my monstrousness' shining through). and thats what defines vampirism for lots of vampires across the genre obviously, but i dont know, it struck me. we dont get a lot from carmilla's pov, we know a fair amount about her, but the story is always told through laura. we get laura's diaries, but just snippets here and there from carmilla, what shes thinking, how shes feeling

and i love that shes a philosopher. i love that thats how she seems to try and find something to hold onto, in a world that kind of moves around her, having been murdered, kidnapped, turned and groomed to be a lure on the cusp of adulthood, never having been properly loved (the relationship with her father wasnt good she says in s3, and her mortal mother i dont think has ever been mentioned (like laura's)). the only good relationship she seems to have had for the better part of 3 centuries seems to have been mattie, and mattie seems to love being a vampire. i can imagine carmilla just sort of going along with anything mattie wants to do just because shes so desperate for that friendship. not like, against her will necessarily really. but more like, she hasnt even had the space to develop her own will, you know? and philosophy lets you do that. philosophy gives you frameworks to understand the world and to develop your own opinions on it. and by the 21st century she seems to have developed those opinions, she has a sense of her own values, but shes also still stuck in that same situation. shes jaded and cynical in the face of laura's optimism and strong moral code a lot of the time in s1 because she feels probably pretty powerless. like she does what she can to save some girls but at the end of the day shes scared of her mother and she has nowhere else to go really, right?

i like how she grapples with that over the course of the series, in tandem with laura grappling with her black and white morality. she sort of jumps ship from her mother to laura bc theyve fallen in love, but then laura still stuck in her hero thinking refuses to see her monstrous side. not literally bc i think the biological vampirism never seemed to be a problem for laura, but morally. the having murdered. carmilla needs laura to see that and love her while seeing it bc the last girl she loved rejected her for being a vampire.

but you see her kind of swing back and forth in s2. she softens first with laura but then they break up and she leans back hard into the sarcastic cynic defense mechanisms, leans hard into "im a monster, dont expect heroism from me". but thats like, it's sort of learned helplessness i think. it's powerlessness, resignation. bc morally shes not a monster. maybe she doesnt have as strong a drive to help other people as laura does and is a little more selfishly hedonistic in that she just wants to enjoy her/their life, but she doesnt hurt people for fun, she never has. she just sort of didnt have another option for a Really long time. so she pretends she doesnt care. "im a vampire, this is what i do, this is who i am". but clearly from the way she talks about it when she turns back into one, she doesnt enjoy it

and i like how she goes even further in s3, where she starts swinging even more to the heroic side, bc she sees hope. shes like "wow if we kill my mother, i'd be free". theres hope and she becomes like a lot more active. and shes like that at the start of the movie too, a lot happier, a lot more relaxed, and then vampirism is back and bam depression gfhgkjh like shes immediately more gloomy, ashamed of her past and her self, retreats into herself

sorry i just took this as an opportunity to dump all the carmilla thoughts floating in my head on you. you didnt ask fhkghgjh consider this an open invitation to you or anyone else to come talk to me about carmilla

[ideas-4-stories]

NOOOOOOOO I LOST THE AU I WROTE FOR YOU 😭😭😭 I LITERALLY SENT IT AND TUMBLR SAID "NETWORK ERROR". L FOR THE WIFI. L. Not cool I'm literally crying I thought that AU was genius. It was a Teacher!Buggy AU with Crocomom and Dadhawk. + Shanks co-parenting Luffy with Crocodile. That note was so long I literally spent like 45 mins writing it here on your ask and it was just. Gone. Or I think it did. Why does life hate me. I'm just gonna be brief with this cuz I still think it's golden lmao. Croco and Mihawk work long hours so their kids (Luffy, Zoro, Perona) have to wait for a few hours until they're picked up by their parents. The school doesn't have school buses bc I said so (no I am not cruel it's just out of my budget /j). So Buggy takes the responsibility to keep them comfortable and entertained while they wait. Croco and Mihawk meeting this charming (and clown looking) blue-haired guy and they start courting him. Shanks gets dragged in on the courting bc of Luffy. Also he was already courting Buggy. I didn't write their process of courting I basically skipped and went,, their wedding will take part in a Goth castle. And the design are all sunshine and rainbows (literally). Sanji, Usopp, Nami, Vivi, Zoro and Luffy being in a class along with other kids. Franky, Robin, Jinbei and Brook are in higher classes. Chopper is atom. Not here in the world yet. Perona is like, 2-3yrs older than her brothers so. Yeah *awkwardly shuffles* (I love perona I swear-). Implied Zosan. Some rando: but you didn't imply shi— Me: Shhh I did. *gaslighting*. Law is also there in the classroom with lower grade strawhats. He's suffering. He only attends 3 days a week tho, he's mostly homeschooled bc of his sickness. He's homeschooled by Cora. (You can pry Law and Cora from my cold dead hands. You can separate them when I dissolve into ashes). Don't worry as he gets older his sickness is cured. Ofc he's cured by Cora. He's saved by Cora in every universe. In every AU. Every Era. Every life they will ever live. I will die on that hill– *applies the nobody dies/everyone lives tag on this AU* let my babies be happy pls. Let my man Cora live and travel the world with this emo boy (Law). Doffy isn't real, he can't hurt anyone. Ace is there. Sabo is there. Every One Piece character is out there somewhere. They're like hidden stones and you have 0.02% of finding them. I thought I was just making a Teacher!Buggy AU but then it turns into a Modern!AU for everyone. Let's gooooo. Sora divorces with Judge and remarry with Zeff so now Sanji lives with all his brothers and his sister. They get separate classrooms tho, and reiju is perona's age so she's besties with her. (I do not play by canon's rules with ages bc i live in my own world) They both tease their brothers (Sanji and Zoro) about their crushes on each other. The heart crew is there. Bepo is a dog, a very fluffy one. Kuina is alive. Kaya is there, same classroom with Usopp. I have no idea how to continue this lmao, but I do hope you find this interesting bc Buggy is 100% great with kids and probably teaches well bc he is a big nerd and makes lessons interesting. (Also, the whole reason why I wrote this instead of letting the idea slip through my mind like the others is bc the image of two goth men courting a clown looking mf was funny to me. So here we are lmao. The way I wrote this makes Shanks look like he's the person they let into their open relationship twice lol I'm so sorry 😭😭)

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

That's really sad, I really like this idea (though I see Shanks and Buggy more as siblings, but I understand the idea of Shuggy) It's fine that this became about so many people, I really like this.

Teacher!Buggy sounds so cool, you know that he's the flashiest and maybe one of the craziness of the things he'll do to get his students good things that will boost their learning. He knows that every kid might not have the same learning paths as others.

How many classes does this man teach? Who knows, too many for how much he gets paid. All teachers needs to get paid more.

I would think Jinbei and Brook being other fun teachers in the school, like Tom could be as well!

I really like this idea, and the imagine of two gothic men trying to court a clown-looking mf is really funny to me as well.

[unionizedwizard]

damn i can't believe i got GUNKED WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO thank you @gunktuationmark. time to inflict music upon you all. this is going to be LONG. no choice. suffer me.

Rules: pick a song for each letter of your URL and tag that many people. (all the links are youtube links because we hate spotify in this house)

U: Ulysse - Nino Ferrer. you even get a (homebrew) translation (with some poetic license. because i said so) (i even downloaded the reference english translation of a 17th century verse collection to make sure my translation was as accurate as possible. okay.)

Odysseus was a strong, handsome young man who wanted to see the world

And he ran on the sea, ceaselessy, with this rage burning within him, towards the setting sun

And days and nights and months and years flew away under the stem, the journey never ended

Then one september morning at 7am, on an island or another, Odysseus found

A cracked mirror shard that a princess had lost

And then he looked his own face in the eyes, and saw that he was old, and alone, and naked

And then he started dreaming of all the lost days, still looking at the faraway skyline that seemed to taunt him, so near and yet so far

"Futile, all is futile

We busy ourselves, we're fleas

Futile, all is futile

Hopeless, all is a farce

Where does the sun set and where have all the mysteries gone, with their beautiful sorcereresses?

I can't believe in the gods no more and I don't hope for love and all my friends are dead and the game goes on still

And still I keep on rolling on the sea, taking me to the end day, the point of no return

I can't scream my rage or desire no more, I feel tired, emptied of want

And out of breath like an old dog chasing after the wind;

Singing availeth you not; now you must die"

Thus quoth Odysseus on an empty beach before boarding for his last trip

Through the bitter pitter-patter of time's waters, towards the setting sun

Joined by his friends, all singing while they rowed:

"Futile, all is futile

We busy ourselves, we're fleas

Futile, all is futile

Hopeless, all is a farce"

N: No Other Name - cover by Youn Sun Nah

I: Intranquillité - Chrisine and the Queens

O: O Fortuna - Carl Orff. sorry i'm legally compelled to add this one

N: November Rain - Guns N' Roses (literally the only song of theirs i know. i'm an impostor)

I: It - Genesis (when you eat right through it you see everything alive it is inside spirit with enough grit to survive) (and so on and so forth)

Z: Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie (out of the 4 Z songs in my library...)

E: Europop - The Divine Comedy

D: Dancing With The Moonlight Knight - Genesis

W: Walpurgis - William Sheller (another one i translated ages ago but i think this post is long enough as it is)

I: I Am A Rock - Simon & Garfunkel

Z: Zaza - Thomas Fersen

A: A Horse With No Name - America

R: Relâche - William Sheller (Parade Au Cirque Royal version). youtube gave the wrong title to this track. The album version is there

D: Don't Cross The River - America

tagging @elizabethrobertajones @cherry-blossomtea @tobyfoxmademeascaly @wine-dark-soup @arcaneoddity @gazouillisclaquant @jorjor-wel @coralloid @wandringaesthetic @vesperaevis @emcapi-gaming and @darkmollusc ! and whoever wants to do it (:

[yujeong]

Fic Ask Game: Favorite Fic Lines

Hello people. So, I got some sudden inspiration for this little game, which goes hand in hand with the KinnPorsche Fanfic Comment Event a little bit, in my opinion: Share the lines of fics that have brought a big emotional reaction out of you. It can be anything, from sadness to happiness to horniness to anything in between. Lines that have stayed with you, no matter how long ago you read the fic. I believe our writers deserve a little praise in these trying times, don't you think? So, for me, some of them are the following: 1) "The rib hurts so much more now that someone else knows about it." - drank every scar, by @ginnymoonbeam - Tbh, I'd have to put the whole fic in here, but this is the line I tend to think of whenever the fic comes to mind. Rereading it now to find the line made my eyes water, it's so fucking visceral and perfect and I love it so much. Once again, thank you so, SO much for writing it and sharing it with the world ❤️ 2) "Vegas’ violence is unpredictable, painfully personal, and utterly, tragically ineffectual.

Pete forgives him all of it." - Civil Hands, by @ameliarating - I can't count the times I went feral over both Civil Hands and Deep Dive. As a fan of Pete, both of those fics mean the world to me, and this specific line has been on my mind since the moment I read it. I love how it showcases Vegas' effect on Pete's worldview, how Vegas made him break his own rules, and how he came to accept it, because it's him. Incredible writing, I love it so fucking much❤️ 3) "He’d rather be marked as disposable, he’d realized, than erased as invisible.

There was something bitter about realizing that he’d been both." - Once You Are Real, by @veliseraptor - Lise chose this for the summary and it's such a perfect choice. I think it's the reason I chose to read the fic in the first place. I am very emotional when it comes to the concept of Pete finding out he was forgotten, and this fic does an amazing job with it. I keep returning to it a lot, I love it to death. Painful in it's brilliance, I can't recommend it enough. 4) "“I don’t know,” Pete said unsteadily. “I don’t know. How could I know what that feels like? I’m not that kind of person.” He pulled against Vegas’s grip, and got nowhere. “You make my teeth ache. You make the world bright, like it’s real. It hurts. It’s hurt since I met you, but that means I can never forget I’m alive." - even the clearest water, by @luckydicekirby What a fic. The concept, the lines, the execution, it all deserves praise until the end of time. Pete's answer to Vegas' "Do you love me?" will always remain in my head as one of the best things VP-related I've ever read and ever will read in my life. I loved this so fucking much, I will never get over it ❤️ 5) "“And now you have nothing,” Kinn says. “As I said, a dumb move.”

“Wrong again,” Vegas says. “I now have something you don’t.”

“Oh?” Kinn doesn’t hide the way he rolls his eyes. “Massive hospital bills? Bed sores?”

“Happiness.”" - Your Power Over Me, by @wisteria-daydreamer - A very special shout out to my lovely friend who's written one of my favorite Kinn&Vegas fics I've ever had the pleasure to read. When this line came, I literally gasped out loud, it left me speechless. The way Kinn's POV is written was marvelous and the whole conversation he had with Vegas was incredible. Check it out if you crave some good Kinn&Vegas fics, it's very, very good. Disclaimer: I have so many fics and authors I love and I've made that clear to both them and my followers in the past. My brain could only handle doing 5 for this, but I absolutely have more than 5 that I'm obsessed with. Maybe one day I'll do a Part 2, I'll see how it goes in the future. No pressure tagging all the following lovely people, besides the writers that have already been tagged: @wretchedamaranth, @xpi-x-elx, @fleet-off, @lu-sn, @suzteel, @tsttoain, @thisautistic, @theoldastronomer, @vegaseatsass, @adanima, @kissporsche, @raksh-writes, @nyxelestia, @yourknightofrage, @mightymightygnomepriest, @justanothervariant, @justfionn and anyone else who wants to share the love for their fave fics and authors. You can do 5 or 10 or 100, there's no limit at all ❤️❤️

[wikiangela]

Weekend WIP Game

tagged by @jesuisici33 <3

Rules: List your WIPs below (if you only write one fic at a time, feel free to include future WIPs/ideas!) then answer the following questions. Then, tag as many people as you have WIPs (or more)

1. WIP List:

alive shannon

sick eddie

buddie coffee shop

new buddie chris' school

roommates

bi eddie

buddie death cast fic

cheating fic

untitled natalia fic

buddie 2x01

5+1 nicknames

coffee buddie

2. Which of your WIPs is currently the longest?

alive shannon with 20k words so far

3. Which WIP do you expect will end up the longest?

alive shannon, since it's kinda a canon rewrite and I still haven't decided to which point it's gonna go, we'll see when it'll feel right to end it haha

4. Which WIP is your favourite to write/the most enjoyable to write? Why?

once again, alive shannon haha - it's just so fun to explore what all those dynamics could've been, and giving Eddie and Shannon some closure, and I love exploring Shannon's character, too, speculating on her thoughts and motivations, and diving into everyone's heads, and I'm so excited to see it all develop!!

5. Which WIP do you find the most intimidating to write? Why?

I think it's either alive shannon or the cheating fic alive shannon bc I've never written s2/s3 buddie and I wanna get their characters semi-right, and I don't remember a lot of details so I need to get on with my rewatch lol - and also writing Shannon's and Eddie's feelings on their relationship and how it all ended is not easy haha and the cheating fic bc it's so not my thing but a song inspired it and it got stuck in my head and it's happening haha and I hope I'll make it make sense haha

6. Which WIP do you experience the most self-doubt about. Why?

tbh all of them - some more, some less, but there are moments, especially lately, when veeeery often I'm just like: everything I write sucks wtf

7. Which of your WIPs will you seek out a beta/sensitivity reader for? Why?

@giddyupbuck agreed to beta the alive shannon fic, and I spam them with snippets if I'm in doubt and it's sooo helpful fr ily <3 and I'll need alive shannon beta-read bc it's gonna be so long, and I keep changing my mind about things bc of how many ideas I have, so I just need someone else to look at it and tell me if everything makes sense haha - and Ro's helped me so much with some previous fics so they have my full trust with my baby that is the alive shannon fic haha

8. Have any of your WIPs been struck by the curse of writer's block?

all of them at some point lol - a few of these are actually on hold bc of that - I will get back to them tho!

9. Which WIP has your favourite OC? Tell us about them?

as of now there's no ocs in any of these, but we'll see haha

10. Which WIP is the sexiest?

cheating fic and maaaaybe coffee buddie (if I'll ever get back to this one) - no actual smut in my wips yet atm

11. Which WIP is the angstiest?

buddie death cast fic - if you've read 'they both die at the end' you know why lol this is not gonna have a happy ending

12. Which WIP has the best characterisation (in your humble opinion)?

so far I'm loving everyone in alive shannon so I guess let's go with that haha

13. Which WIP has the best scene setting (in your humble opinion)?

oh I am so bad this - but maybe let's say buddie coffee shop au bc i think it's the only one where I put even a little bit of focus on the setting lmao

14. Which WIP have you worked the hardest on?

alive shannon, been thinking about it and making notes for months before I started writing, and I don't think i've ever been this invested in a fic

15. Which WIP do you have the highest expectations for? Why?

alive shannon - - like I said, it's my most precious baby, and I'm so excited to not only write it but read it, and I hope it's gonna be as good as it is in my head, and I hope I'll make the story make sense with Shannon there, but also keeping some important buddie moments from canon hah

16. Do you dream about any of your WIPs?

not sure if i've ever dreamt about a wip, but i do get new ideas in my sleep sometimes lol

17. Do any of your WIPs have particular complexities that your other fics don't?

alive shannon will have switching povs which i rarely do, so it's gonna be a challenge to write three distinct voices - and diving into Shannon's head and feelings and motivations will also definitely be hard

18. Which WIP is the funniest or has the most humour?

I think sick eddie - he's so ridiculously stubborn and difficult istg haha or buddie coffee shop with how fucking awkward buck's being

19. Do any of your WIPs contain outside POVs or a deep dive on a character other than the main ship? How are you finding that process?

yep, once again, alive shannon - it's as much a buddie fic as it is a shannon fic, so it's not exactly outside pov, bc I'm just excited to focus on her equally as much, on how she's settling into their lives, becoming a better mom, being involved in Chris' life - she's gonna have as much focus as buddie sns it's not easy, bc it's alternating povs and once I get stuck in Eddie's head it's hard to leave, but so far it's been fun

20. Tell us one thing we don't know about one or more of your WIPs

uhhh, I think I share like everything lol okay, so maybe: alive shannon will definitely go at least up until s4 and will include Eddie dating Ana 👀 purely bc I want a buddie-shipping Shannon to be like wtf eddie??? also, there will be more than one mcd in the death cast fic and coffee buddie was loosely inspired by a small thing from luke cage lol

no pressure tags: @daffi-990 @fortheloveofbuddie @elvensorceress @gaydiaz @diazass @thebravebitch @silentxxsoul @shortsighted-owl @eddiebabygirldiaz @arthursdent @diazblunt @911onabc @eddiediaztho @housewifebuck @lover-of-mine @gayhoediaz @rogerzsteven @watchyourbuck @hoodie-buck @monsterrae1 @ladydorian05 @forthewolves @honestlydarkprincess @wildlife4life @theotherbuckley @weewootruck @thewolvesof1998 @disasterbuckdiaz @loserdiaz @underwater-ninja-13 @giddyupbuck @hippolotamus @eowon @callaplums @spotsandsocks

[notgonnaedit]

Beskar and Bone

Chapter 7: The Reckoning

Summary: A lone bounty hunter must make his way through the galaxy as he cares for two children with mysterious powers.

Chapter summary: An old contact asks for help

Warnings: Canon-typical violence, injury, Greef Karga being shady, the Client being creepy (If I miss a tag LMK)

@thecoffeelorian

Updates on Fridays. If you want to be tagged LMK

Master list

The kids were sleeping while Mando piloted the Crest. The Child snored lightly, but Elaine was silent, save for the soft sound of her breathing. Mando figured they could use the rest. After all, it was only a few hours earlier that they were running around the hull wildly. 

That was something Mando had never thought he'd see; two children playing together in his ship, children he was tasked with protecting and had gotten attached to.

Attached. Another thing Mando had never thought would happen.

A soft trilling sound brought Mando out of his thoughts and Elaine out of her sleep.

"Wahisit?" She muttered rubbing her eyes. Mando looked and saw it was a transmission, from Greef Karga.

"My friend," it played. "If you are receiving this transmission, that means you are alive. You might be surprised to hear this, but I am alive too. I guess we can call it even. A lot has happened since we last saw each other. The man who hired you is still here, and his ranks of ex-Imperial guards have grown.

"They have imposed despotic rule over my city, which has impeded the livelihood of the Guild. We consider him an enemy, but we cannot get close enough to take him out. If you would consider one last commission, I will very much make it worth your while. You have been successful so far in staving off their hunters, but they will not stop until they have their prizes.

"So, here is my proposition: Return to Nevarro. Bring the children as bait. I will arrange an exchange, and provide loyal Guild members as protection. Once we get near the Client, you kill him, and we both get what we want. If you succeed, you keep the children and I will have your name cleared with the Guild, for a man of honor should not be forced to live in exile. I await your arrival with optimism."

The transmission ended and Elaine looked over at Mando. "Are we going back to Nevarro?"

Mando sighed. He knew Karga was right, the Client would stop at nothing to take the kids from him. "We won't go alone. We'll get Cara and the Ugnaught."

Elaine perked up at the idea of seeing Cara again. She grinned excitedly, and Mando realized that was the first he'd seen her smile. He smiled under his helmet, and hoped he could give the kids a life they deserved.

                                                                                 ~~~~~

Mando, Elaine, and the Child walked into the inn on Sorgan where they first met Cara. They found the ex-shock trooper battling a large alien. When she won, they waked over.

"Looking for some work?" Mando asked.

Cara looked at him. "Let me buy the kids something to eat," Cara knew that Mando wouldn't except her offer for a drink, he wouldn't say no to the kids. 

When they sat down, Elaine and the Child ate their soup as Mando explained their situation to Cara. "It's seems like a straightforward operation. They're providing the plan and the firepower. I'm the snare."

Cara raised her eyebrows. "With the kids?" 

Mando nodded. "That's why I'm coming to you."

Cara bit her lip. "I don't know. I've been advised to lay low. If anybody runs my chain code, I'll rot in a cell for the rest of my life."

"I thought you were a good guy," Elaine said curiously.

Cara smiled softly at the girl. "I am, but the people in charge don't think so. If I so much as book passage on a ship registered to the New Republic, I'm–"

"I have a ship," Mando interrupted. "I can bring you there and back with a handsome reward. You can live free of worry."

Cara picked up her drink. "I'm already free of worry, and I'm not in the mood to play soldier anymore. Especially fighting some local warlord."

So that's what she thought. Mando decided to tell her the truth. "He's not some local warlord. He's Imperial."

Cara didn't break eye contact. "I'm in."

Elaine smiled and the Child cooed happily. Mando had his backup.

~~~~

On the Razor Crest, Mando and Cara were in the hull checking the blasters, while Elaine and the Child where in the cockpit.

"They alright up there alone?" Cara asked. She didn't know how well behaved the kids were.

Mando looked at one of his blasters. "Yeah. Pick one."

Cara picked up a blaster and felt it in her hand. "You trust the contact?"

"Not particularly. He and I had a run-in last time I was there on some Guild business."

"So then why are we going?"

Mando sighed. "I don't have a choice. You saw what happened on Sorgan. They'll keep sending hunters. The kids will never be safe until the Imp is dead."

Cara frowned. "And you're okay with bringing them back there?" She could tell Mando cared about the kids, but they were in a terrible position.

"Not really," Mando admitted. "That's why I'm bringing you."

Suddenly, an alarm blared and the Crest lurched. A short yell was heard from the cockpit. It was Elaine. Mando and Cara rushed up the ladder in the chaos and found the Child grabbing a lever and Elaine in the corner trying to hold on.

Mando grabbed the Child and looked down at him. He giggled, causing Mando to sigh before turning to Elaine. "What happened?"

Elaine picked herself up. "I fell asleep and he grabbed the controls."

Mando gritted his teeth. He couldn't get mad at Elaine, she was just a kid and was no doubt extremely tired. He looked at Cara who glaced at the Child. "We need someone to watch that thing. You got anyone you can trust?"

~~~

Mando landed the Razor Crest not far from the Ugnaught's farm, and the owner came out to greet them, inviting them into his home.

"They haven't grown much," The Ugnaught remarked seeing Elaine and the Child.

Mando looked down at them, his eyes settling on the Child. "I think it might be a Strand-Cast. But, I'm not so sure about her."

The Ugnaught shook his head. "I don't think it was engineered. I've worked in the gene farms. This one looks evolved. Too ugly. She looks like she could be a Devaronian, except the females are hornless," He turned to Cara. "This one, on the other hand, looks like she was farmed in the Cytocaves of Nora."

Whether Cara was offended or not, they couldn't tell. Perhaps she took it as a compliment that the Ugnaught thought her muscles were engineered.

"This is Cara Dune," Mando intoduced. "She was a shock trooper."

"You were a Dropper?" The Ugnaught asked.

Cara nodded. "Did you serve?"

The Ugnaught shook his head. "On the other side, I'm afraid. But I'm proud to say that I paid out my clan's debt, and now I serve no one but myself."

Cara wasn't pleased to hear that, but she kept her mouth shut. Mando heard metallic footfalls enter the room, and drew his blaster when he saw an all to familiar droid. Elaine took the Child and ran behind Mando as the IG spoke. 

"Would anyone care for some tea?" All blasters reminded trained on it.

"Please lower your blasters," the Ugnaught said. "He will not harm you."

"That thing is programmed to kill the children," Mando spat, his weapon ready.

"Not anymore," The Ugnaught explained. "It was left behind in the wake of your destruction. I found if laying were it fell. Devoid of all life. I recovered the flotsam and staked it as my own in accordance with the Charter of the New Republic. Little remained of it's neural harness. Reconstruction was quite difficult...but not impossible. It had to learn everything from scratch. This is something that cannot be taught in the twist of a spanner. It requires patience and repetition. I spent day after day reinforcing it's development with patience and affirmation. It developed a personality as it's experiences grew."

Mando cared nothing for the Ugnaught's trials with the IG. "Is it still a hunter?"

The Ugnaught shook his head. "No. But it will protect." 

All eyes turned to the droid, who once again held out his tray. "Tea?" 

Letting out a sigh, Mando gestured for the Ugnaught to walk outside with him. He didn't want Elaine to know that he needed the Ugnaught to care for her and the Child. Why, he didn't want her know? Mando didn't even know himself.

"I've run into some problems," The armor clad man said.

"The Ugnaught nodded. "I figured as much. Why else would you return?"

"I wanna hire you for your services."

"I'm retired from service." 

"I can pay you handsomely, Ugnaught," Mando offered. He had a few credits from a successful job not too long ago, and he wanted to put them to good use. The Ugnaught turned and looked up at him.

"I have a name. It is Kuiil."

Fair enough. "I need someone to protect the little ones, Kuiil," Mando hoped he didn't sound as desperate as he felt. "I'm not suited for such work."

"I can reprogram IG-11 for nursing and protocol," Kuiil offered.

"No," Mando replied shortly. "I don't want that droid anywhere near them."

"Why're you so distrustful of droids?" Kuiil asked.

Mando didn't want to get into his home being destroyed at the beginning of the Clone Wars, but he remained honest. "It tried to kill them."

Kuiil shrugged. "It was programmed to do so. Droids are not good or bad. They are neutral reflections of those who imprint them."

Mando scoffed. "I've seen otherwise."

Kuiil looked at him. "Do you trust me?"

Mando weighed the decision in his mind. "From what I can tell, yes."

"Then you will trust my work," Kuiil ordered. "IG-11 will join me. And we do it not for payment, but to protect the children from Imperial slavery. None will be free until the old ways are gone forever."

"Okay," Despite his worries about the droid, Mando figured Kuiil was being responsible.

"And the blurrgs will join me as well."

"The blurrgs?"

"I have spoken," Kuiil walked back inside, and Mando followed to get the kids.

~~~~~

The blurrgs made their temporary home in the cargo hold of the Razor Crest. The only thing separating them from the people was a metal divider. Kuiil was tending to his beasts as Mando and Cara struck up an arm wrestling contest while Elaine and the Child watched.

"I got you, Mando," Cara grunted.

"Care to double the bet?" Mando asked teasingly, but Elaine could hear the strain in his voice. Cara was winning. Elaine watched eagerly, not noticeing the Child raise his tiny hand. 

Suddenly, Cara began to choke. Mando looked between her and the Child a few times before registering what was happening. When he did, he moved quickly to the Child and picked him up, ceasing the choking.

 "No! No, no! Stop! We're friends, we're friends. Cara is my friend!" The bounty hunter explained to the Child.

Cara massaged her throat. "That is not okay!"

Kuiil came over and looked at the situation. "Hmm. Very curious."

Cara looked at him incredulously. "Curious? It almost killed me!"

Ignoring the shocked veteran, Kuiil turned to Mando. "The story you told me of the Mudhorn now makes more sense."

Thinking the Ugnaught knew that the Child was, he asked, "What is it?"

"What is is I don't know," Kuiil admitted. "But what it does, this...This I've heard rumors of."

"What? When you worked for the Empire?" Cara spat. She was very upset with almost being killed by a small child.

Kuiil turned to her. "When I was sold to the Empire, in indentured servitude."

"Yet somehow, you walk free."

Elaine had never seen anyone so close to losing their temper, not since Mando fired his flamethrower at the Jawas. Kuiil was close to fuming. "I bought my freedom through the skill of my hands with the labor of three of your human lifetimes. Do not cast doubt upon that of what I am not whom I shall serve."

Everyone was silent for a moment, even Cara didn't have a comment or a dig to make.

"Tell you what," Mando said breaking the awkward quiet. "I could really use your craft work right now," He grabbed the basket used as the Child's makeshift cradle. "Can you pad this container better so the Child can sleep better?" Since Mando was usually in the pilot's seat, Elaine took his bunk.

Kuiil took the container and turned it over in his hands. "I shall fabricate a better one. Then perhaps this Dropper can see how one can win their freedom with the skill of one's hands," He shot Cara a distasteful look and left.

"So, we're going to Nevarro?" Cara asked playing with her hands.

"Have you ever been?" Mando asked.

Cara shook her head. "No. We lost a lot of our forces there. The city's dug in pretty deep. No cover when you drop in. It stayed in Empire control 'till the end of the war."

"The warlord we're taking out was an Imperial officer," Mando reminded her.

"What station?"

"Hard to tell. No insignia anymore. I took out the safehouse when I snatched the kids," He looked at the Child sitting in his arms and Elaine sitting cross-legged on a crate. "More Imps have reinforced since."

"There's something more going on," Cara half said to herself.

Mando doubted she was wrong. "Maybe. We'll find out more when we land."

Elaine shifted nervously. She had no desire to return to the Client or the doctor. She would have preferred to never return to Nevarro, but she trusted Mando to care for her and the Child.

~~~~~

When the Crest touched down on Nevarro, the team mounted blurrgs and rode to meet Karga. Each adult had their own blurrg, even the Child had a new pod that flew next to Mando. But Elaine sat behind Mando, holding on very tightly, as if the blurrg would suddenly buck her off.

They met Karga not to far from the ship. He had three people with him. "Sorry for the remote rendezvous, Mando, but things have gotten more complicated since you were last here," Karga looked at Cara and Kuiil. "It appears that introductions are in order. It seems we both provided a security detail. I recommend the shock trooper guards the ship," he said noticing Cara's tattoo. "These fields are lousy with Jawas."

"She's coming with me," Mando said. The IG was guarding the ship, and he needed Cara.

"But the town is now run by ex-Empire. If a Rebel Dropper is with us, they'll all get their hackles up."

"She coming," Mando's decision was final, and Karga seemed to realize that.

"Fine. Fine," he said turning to Cara. "At least cover your tattoo. No need to flaunt it. Now, where are the little ones?" Karga moved to looked at the Child as Elaine peeked her head out from behind Mando. "So, these little bogwigs are what all the fuss was about. What precious little creatures. I can see why you didn't want to harm a hair on their wrinkled and horned heads."

Mando used his gauntlet to close the Child's pram, and Karga turned back to him. "Well, I'm glad this matter will be put to rest once and for all. The sun drops fast on Nevarro. We can walk for a spell, camp out on the riverbank, then make our way into town at first light."

They started their trek across the lava flats, Mando's team riding the blurrgs and Karga's walking.

~~~~~

When night came, they made a small campfire and settled around it. Kuiil was feeding the Child small pieces of meat and Elaine sat near Mando, quietly munching on her own food. Karga looked between the two kids. "I guess their carnivores. Never seen anything like them. They were ready to pay a king's ransom for them. Must be for some kind of highfalutin menagerie," he chuckled.

Mando didn't like how easily Karga spoke about the kids, so he decided to change the subject. "Let's go over the plan again."

Karga nodded. "We both enter the common house. We show the client the bait. We join him at the table. And you kill him."

"Tell me about his reinforcements," Mando said.

"They're all ex-Empire. As soon as they lose their paycheck, poof, they'll all scatter."

Mando raised the question no one wanted to ask. "And what if they don't?"

"They will," Karga assured him.

Mando shook his head. "That's not good enough." He need his kids to be safe from the Empire, even if all that was left was ragtag groups like that.

Karga humored him. "If, for arguments sake, a few of them don't realize that I'm their best path to alternative employment and they elect to react impulsively, then these three fine Guild Hunters, along with that battle-hardened shock trooper, will cut down anyone who bucks."

"How many will their be?" Mando asked.

Karga sighed. "No more than four. He travels with at most, a Fire Team. Trust me. Nothing can go wrong."

As he spoke a creature flew down and stole his piece of meat. It swooped down again and stole a blurrg, and the adults began to fire upon it. Elaine grabbed the Child and watched as another creature swooped down and stole a second blurrg. Mando fired at it, and it attacked him. He used his flamethrower and set it's tail on fire. The creature fled with its partner, leaving the group in shock.

Mando turned to the kids, holstering his blaster. "Are you two alright?"

Elaine nodded and the Child cooed happily. However, Elaine looked over and saw Karga on the ground, his hand clutching his side.

"He's hurt badly," Kuiil said examining the wound.

"I'm fine," Karga grunted. "I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. Ow!" He tried to move but couldn't.

"Hold still," Cara ordered. She looked at the bloody mess and applied bacta to it. Mando offeres his bacta as well, but the poison was spreading quickly. Cara called for another medpac, but no one had any. The Child wriggled in Elaine's grasp and looked up at her. Somehow, she knew what he was feeling and set him down. They moved to Karga's side.

"Get them out of here," Cara ordered. The Child laid his tiny hands on Karga's wound, causing him to panic.

"He's trying to eat me," he said. Elaine sat next to him and took his hand, her instincts taking over.

"It's going to be okay," She whispered. She focused on her calm and tried to show Karga that he would be fine.

Everyone watched in amazement as the children helped the man. Elaine calling him, and the Child healing him. Mando had never known the Child could do that with his powers, but Elaine was still somewhat of a mystery. Was she just being kind?

~~~~

The next morning, Karga and his colleagues were talking quietly amongst themselves as the others walked behind them. Kuiil rode the remaining blurrg and Elaine and Cara walked with Mando, the younger of the two trying her hardest to keep up with their large strides.

"You think they're having second thoughts?" Cara asked.

"Could be," Mando said. "I need your eyes."

Cara nodded. "I'm watching."

They arrived at a small ridge not to far from the city. "I guess this is it," Karga said. His hunters had moved away from him towards the back, but Karga shot them. Mando and Cara raised their blasters. Elaine ducked behind Mando as the Child cooed curiously.

Karga holstered his blaster and kicked the dead hunter. "There's something you should know. The plan was to kill you and take the kids. But after what happened last night, I couldn't go through with it," seeing no change in their demeanor, Karga raised his hands. "Go on. You can gun me down here and now and it wouldn't violate the Code. But if you do, those kids will never be safe."

Cara kept her blaster fixed on him. "We'll take our chances."

"The Imperial client is obsessed with obtaining these assets," Karga tried. "You tried to run, but where did it get you?"

"This is ridiculous," Cara scoffed.

"Perhaps you should let him speak," Kuiil suggested.

Karga nodded. "Listen, we both need the client to be eliminated. Let me take the kids to him and then you two–"

"No," Mando said sharply. 

"Let's just kill him and get outta here," Cara said.

Mando looked back at the Child. He was watching the whole thing innocently. He looked down at Elaine and saw she was stareing up at him with her soul piercing gaze. "He's right," Mando put his blaster away, much to Cara's shock.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"As long as the Imp lives, he'll send hunters after the kids," Mando said.

"It's a trap," Cara argued.

"Bring me," Mando said.

"Bring you?" Karga asked.

"Tell him you captured me. Get me close to him and I'll kill him."

Karga nodded. "That's a good idea. Give me your blaster."

Mando did as he said as Cara looked at them incredulously. "This is insane."

"It's the only way," Mando said. The only way the kids would stay safe.

Cara holstered her blaster. "Well, I'm coming with you."

"No, no, no," Karga said. "That would make them suspicious."

"Don't care. I'm coming," she snapped.

"Tell them she caught me," Mando reasoned.

"Fine. Then she can bring the kids," Karga said.

"No. The little one goes back in the ship."

"But without both of them, none of this works!"

Mando stared at him. "I have a plan. Kuiil, ride back to the Razor Crest with the Child and seal yourself in. When your inside, engage ground security protocols. Nothing on this planet will breach those doors." 

Kuiil nodded and handed Mando something. "Here's a commlink. I will keep the Child safe," he turned to Cara. "Don't forget to cover your stripes," he picked up the Child and headed to his blurrg. Elaine watched as her friend went away before leaving herself with Mando.

~~~~

Mando was now cuffed as well as Elaine, who was being carried by Cara. The girl had a hard time keeping up as is, but with her hands bound she was constantly tripping. They reached the sketchy house and entered, but there were way more than four stormtroopers.

They were seated at a booth where the client was waiting for them. He immediately took notice of Mando's armor. "What exquisite craftsmanship," je said. "It is amazing how beautiful Beskar can be when forged by it's ancestral artisans. Can I offer you a libation to celebrate the closing of our shared narrative?"

Elaine didn't know what he was saying, only that he made her skin crawl. "It is a shame that your people suffered so," he said to Mando. "Just as in this situation, it was all avoidable. Why did Mandalore resist our expansion? The Empire improves every system it touches. Judge by any metric. Safety, prosperity, trade, opportunity, peace. Compare Imperial rule to what is happening now. Look outside. Is the world more peaceful since the revolution? I see nothing but death and chaos."

The client's eyes drifted to the Child's pram. "I would like to see the baby."

Karga pursed his lips. "Uh...It is asleep."

The client leaned forward. "We all will be quiet. Open the pram," luckily, a stormtrooper came over and whispered something to him. "Don't think me to be rude. I must take this call," je stood up and walked to a hologram on the other side of the room.

"Give me the blaster," Mando whispered. 

Karga slipped it to him under the table. "You get one shot," as he spoke, several more stormtroopers walked in, filling the room.

"This is bad," Cara said. "You said four."

"Well, there are more. What can I tell you?" Karga asked.

Elaine felt anxious, something was wrong. She looked up at Mando. "I don't like this."

Before Mando could say anything, blaster fire shot through the window, killing all the troopers and the client. Mando grabbed Elaine and shielded her, his cuffs falling off. When the fire ended he grabbed his comm. "Kuiil? Are you back to the ship yet? Are you there? Do you copy?"

"Yes!" Kuiil's voice crackled over the comm.

"Are you back to the ship yet?"

"Not yet."

Mando hugged Elaine closer to him. She held on for dear life. "Get back to the ship and bail. Get the kid out of here," Mando risked a look and saw a squadron of stormtroopers, their armor gleaming white. The man in front was wearing all black and had a red cape.

"You have something I want," he said. "You may think you have some idea of what you are in possession of, but you do not."

Mando didn't care, he needed to contact Kuiil. "Kuiil, are you back to the ship yet? They're on to us! Kuiil come in!"

"They mean more to me than you will ever know," the man said from outside.

Elaine clung to Mando, her arms grasped tightly around his neck. Mando stood against the wall, Elaine in one arm and the commlink in the other. Kuiil was gone, and the kids were in danger. 

He failed them.​​​​​​​

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[abarbaricyalp]

do you have any advice for a new writer trying to post on ao3 I want my stories to be noticed (also thanks for not leaving -- so many writers are gone now)

*Looks at my recent hits counts* I'm not sure I'm the best reference for this 😅

I think there are two aspects to getting engagement on fan works:

1: There is the actual work you put into posting your fics. This includes tags, cross posting, and self promotion.

Tags: Make sure you are tagging what is relevant to your fic. AO3 doesn't run on an algorithm, so the way people find your fics is primarily through searches. There is an excellent post on tumblr somewhere that discusses how to accurately tag your work, and I highly suggest starting there! (Post here) Also when tagging, I would suggest considering what YOU would search if you were looking for a fic like this. Quite often, I've found that the tag I was looking for isn't on AO3 yet. Don't be afraid to type in the specific trope or AU you are writing. Look at other tags to get a feel for the structure of the tag, but other than that, have fun.

Also, it may seem counterintuitive, but don't over-tag, by which I mean tagging a bunch of tropes or characters or ships that aren't in your story. It's a fast way to have people disregard your fic instantly, or even mute your name on AO3. Especially in smaller fandoms, I totally get the desire to tag a bigger ship, but it just makes more trouble for you in the long run.

Similarly, on tumblr, keep tags tight. I tend to only tag ship, character (name and superhero name), show/ movie, franchise, and the challenge I'm answering if I am. I know other people tag the actors of the characters. I don't because I know when I go into an actor's tag, I don't want to see fic (of their characters or them either) but that's entirely up to you. But don't tag characters or shows etc that have nothing to do with your fic. This is just courtesy in fandom spaces.

Cross-posting: I admit, I can be kind of bad about cross-posting, but I do find that it helps drive engagement when I do buckle down and get it done. Cross-posting is publishing or promoting a fic on multiple platforms. For instance, I use AO3 AND tumblr. On tumblr fic posts,I link to the AO3 (if there is one, I'm pretty bad about publishing shorter things on here only) And when I publish the fic on AO3, I'm supposed to be linking back to my tumblr. This helps more people see your fic and it grows your community when people are able to follow you on various platforms and spread your fic and kudos around. If you have fan accounts elsewhere and you're comfortable with it, feel free to promote there as well. Also check any discord or group servers you may be on for rules about promoting or channels meant exactly for that.

Self-promoting: this is pretty similar to the above. Because AO3 doesn't have an algorithm, it's kind of up to you to keep interest alive in your fics, especially if you want eyes on it for the first several days afterwards. I know it feels embarrassing to reblog your own fic posts all the time, but it's impossible to tell who may have seen or not seen that you posted a new fic. I don't have any set times for this, personally. I try to catch what I consider active times on tumblr, but that's entirely subjective. It's just trial and error, really. Secondly, don't be embarrassed to recommend your own fics (I'm kind of bad at this) If someone is looking for recs on a specific trope or AU and you know you have just the fic, tell them! Unfortunately, you have to be your own biggest cheerleader when it comes to your own art because no one knows and loves it as much as you do. It feels awkward and I know I get embarrassed if people aren't reccing my fics on their own, but you really are your biggest advocate. Fandom is kind of a popularity contest sometimes 🤷‍♀️ Hype your own self up

2: Now that the technical stuff is done, let's move on to the community aspect of fic posting. (This is not really what you asked for, but i think it's more important sometimes than the actual tags and AO3 procedures) Curating a community and making friends is HUGE as far as readership goes. Especially in smaller fandoms (I assume this is about Sambucky fics/fandom) community is everything. Being a name people recognize and trust is important to regular readership.

Building community: don't be afraid to interact with other writers on this platform or others! The Sambucky fandom has this delightful habit of playfully creating headcanons and ficlets based off of text posts. The Daily Sambucky Fluff Diary project is so much fun and so interactive. I have honestly never been in such a fun, supportive group as the sambucky writers on tumblr. I highly suggest playing in this sandbox and getting familiar with other writers. We hype each other up all the time.

Understanding the rules of play: this is kind of an addendum, but the sambucky fandom is rightfully protective over Sam and his portrayal in fics, as well as Bucky. Reading fics, community interaction posts, and even the rules laid out in various challenges (like the bingos that are hosted at various times) will really help you get a sense of how to respectfully tell stories with Sam and Bucky without being racist, ableist, or disregarding to these characters. Quite often Sam (and Bucky, and especially Sambucky) is only there to prop up other characters. This is something the fandom will (again, rightfully) push back on and avoid. I highly suggest looking at the rules that are laid out in the Sambucky Library's bingo rounds to get an idea of the sandbox rules.

Engagement: the sambucky fandom is small, so we don't really have big organized events like Bangs or Reverse Bangs. However, we do have lots of fun, smaller challenges, namely the bingos! There is also Samtember, the Anniversary Challenge (I don't think that's what we called it) and various prompt week challenges, including an AU week (and we like birthdays here). I highly suggest following @ sambuckylibrary to keep apprised of challenges and prompts. Filling out these prompts when you can and want is a great way to break into the fandom and get engagement with your fics. They are all very low stakes and the reward is new fics, friends, and interaction!

I would also suggest joining a discord server, if that is something you're interested in. (I personally am not in any, but that's because I don't like making new accounts on things, not because I don't want to be part of the fun) This is a great place to interact with other fans, promote your fics, get new recs, and generally reap the fun of fandom in a more condensed space, rather than the entirety of AO3 or tumblr.

One last thing to keep in mind: you've already pointed out that fan fic/art/engagement is decreased in our fandom. This will be reflected in your hits/kudos/comments, especially if you're coming from a bigger fandom. Don't let this discourage you. In fact, I really suggest not looking at stats as much as possible. The wealth of engagement in this fandom will be seen in your relationships and interactions with other fans, not in skyrocketing numbers. Allegedly, Cap4 and Thunderbolts come out in 2025 and our guys look to have an episode in the next season of What-If, but without new content, interest will lag and numerical engagement with it. Just keep this in mind as you begin/ continue your journey into the fandom.

That's a lot of words to say: tag properly, make friends, and have fun ❤️🤍💙❤️🩶🖤🪽🐺

[justafeweggnoodles]

Chaotic Art Journal

(there is nothing else to this, just enjoy some chaotic art made with charcoal, collage and some other things thrown in (im going to kinda explain the spreads / artworks))

Front cover: Watcher eye thing, its going to keep appearing through out so that's something. Text: They are always watching

Inside of cover / Page 1: just the start of the book Text: A collage of thoughts. To begin press X. Entertain Them.

Page 3/4: A list of things I like drawing and some prompts I came up with and didn't do. Text (black scribbles): Mushroom. The Stories we tell, Guide the worlds formation. The ones who watch. Prompts.

Page 5/6: So this was just a cute pastel sketch then the rest of the book was black scribbles so I added some, the writing has to do with the Everything's Interconnected AU but I haven't covered it before. Text: Fairy Floss Duo. The forge burns. The power of knowledge takes.

Page 7/8: soooo um Mr Sunshine from Pikuniku and eyes with pupils made from coins. This was once again originally did not have the black writing. Text: Free Money. He kills YOU. Our perception lies. What do you SEE.

Page 9/10: Cabaret by Penelope Scott lyric reference and my friend's character, Emily. Text: Am I a fucking cabaret to you? Emily.

Page 11/12: OOOO look life series imagery and random photos from the newspaper. Text (the pencil this time cause there is no black text): The canary will always go first. If you stop trying it will burn. You can't escape. They make the rules. There is always the next game. Play again?? Yes. They always watch.

Page 13/14: More lyrics, this time a full 2 page spread of them. They are from Blueprint by Slowly Slowly. Text: Call the cops, somebody stop me. RIP my sick head of off this body. WE are the gods now, we say what goes. Off with the fairies, horns up, eyes closed. 666, just make a wish. Please promise you'll always have time for this. Back to basics, back on our bullshit. I'll get the hang of it. You be my blueprint.

Page 15/16: this is about a character I made to go in the Everything's Interconnected AU. She is from a time right before Kingdomcraft and grew up with the rulers, but she wasn't alive when they ascended to their thrones. What happened to her??? Text: She died before them ALL. The candles guide the souls to HER.

Page 18 (page 17 was blank so I left it out): It is a bit hard to see but here is the girl talked about in page 16 and 17. Text: The Rapids Keeper.

Page 19 / 20: Talking about the watchers with a little bit of front cover thumb nailing visible. Idk what the general consensus is with the life games but I think that the players where taken and have no memory of their home and between games they are in a prison thing. Text: THEY took us from our homes. They are always watching, always.

so that's it. hope u found that interesting. There are more pages left some maybe one day I'll update u guys with what gets made (if it gets made). Now im going to go and try to tag this, which is going to be... interesting.