#Kirby….. I know next to nothing about it but I’m excited for others !!!!!

[groovygladiatorsheep]

So… deltarune, silksong and more ? I think I might actually succumb ! I will not be able to buy the switch two because of its price, but I’ll watch let’s play for sure hehehw

Deltarune ©️ Toby Fox + the others characters to their respective creators.

[fuckyeahhandizzie]

Memories Day 3 - Kissing in the snow Legacies - Landon/Lizzie/Hope Warnings: implied past abuse Words: 861

Landon has never really liked winter. The first snowfall, for a good majority of his life, has always signaled misery. Home wasn’t always a place Landon wanted to be, so winter usually meant cold walks to school and cold night wandering around to avoid going home for as long as possible. Plus terrible holidays and breaks from school that meant he didn’t have anywhere else to go. 

So when the first snowfall of the year graces Mystic Falls, Landon feels apprehension. It’s habit, really, and not anything to do with his actual life. Still, he pulls himself out of his dorm room and to the Whitmore dorm common room, feeling dour. He’s tense, like something bad is going to happen at any moment. 

“Hey Landon!” Hope smiles when she sees him. She kisses him on the cheek. “Did you see?” 

Lizzie walks over, looking equally cheerful. 

“See what?” he asks. 

“It’s snowing!” Hope says, grabbing his hand. “Come look!” 

Landon holds in his sigh. Hope is excited about this. Lizzie, too, even if it’s to a lesser degree. He doesn’t want to ruin their fun, so he sucks it up and lets them pull him outside. 

The cold isn’t too biting, and the snow is pretty. He knows he’ll get over himself in a few days, but even with Lizzie spinning around with a contented smile on her face and the snow dotting Hope’s hair and eyelashes, Landon can’t help but feel close to panicking. He shoves his hands into his pockets as Hope reaches out to catch the falling snow. 

“Isn’t this great?” Lizzie says. “I love the smell of snow in the air.” 

Hope leans down, bundles up snow in her hands, and throws it at Lizzie’s back. She squeals, laughs, and grabs her own ball of snow. 

“I’ll get you, Mikaelson!” she shouts. 

Neither can use their powers at Whitmore, so they rush around the lawn laughing and throwing snowballs at each other, which miss most of the time. Their joy slightly cheers Landon up, but it’s not enough, and eventually, Hope notices what a dark cloud he is. 

“What’s wrong?” she asks as she comes up to him. 

“Nothing.” He shakes his head. It’s stupid, anyway. 

Lizzie raises an eyebrow. “Spit it out, Kirby. You know you can’t lie to us.” 

He sighs, looking all around as if it’ll feel less embarrassing if he’s saying it to the trees or the sky or the foot of snow freezing his feet. “I just don’t have a lot of good memories around winter or snow or whatever.” 

“I’m sorry,” Hope says. “Do you want to go back inside? We can close the windows and put on your favorite movie and ignore the world.” 

“Hell no!” Lizzie says. Hope turns to her, mouth open to chastise her, but Lizzie continues, “So you’ve had some crappy winters. That’s why you have us: we will make better memories with you. Starting now. I’m going to make sure you have the most kick-ass winter ever!” 

To that, Landon actually laughs. Not at her, but it’s the first thing that day that clears the darkness a little. 

“Yeah?” Hope asks, slipping a hand into Landon’s pocket to take his hand. 

“Yeah, sure,” he says with a smile. He points at her with his free hand. “But if this isn’t a kick-ass winter, we’re spending your next birthday in the Prison World.” 

Lizzie gasps, her hand going to her chest. “You wouldn’t.” 

“Don’t make me,” he counters. 

She glares, then leans down, grabs a ball of snow, and hucks it at him. Landon ducks out of the way, and suddenly he’s involved in the continuing snowball fight. It doesn’t last very long, ending when he slips on some ice and falls on his back, the wind getting knocked out of him. Hope rushes over to him, pulls him up, and checks that he’s okay. When she’s sure he’s fine, she pulls him in for a kiss, flurries of snow falling around them. Even if he had gotten hurt, Hope’s warm lips on his would have been all he needed to feel better.

“Cute,” Lizzie says when they pull apart. 

They look over to her to find her with her phone in her hands. She turns the screen to them at their quizzical looks. On it is a picture of the two of them, framed by the snowfall, their cheeks red from the cold. Landon snatches her phone out of her hand. 

“Hey!” Lizzie protests. 

“Your turn!” he says, ushering Hope over to her. 

Lizzie stops trying to get her phone out when she realizes what’s happening. She kisses Hope, Landon snaps the picture, but before he can do anything else, Hope steals the camera. Landon makes a noise of protest, but then Hope pulls him over to her other side and holds the camera out. 

“Smile!” she says. 

Lizzie and Landon share a look over Hope’s head, and then they both lean forward and kiss her on either cheek, and she chuckles in surprise as she takes the photo. Lizzie sends all three to their group chat. 

“See?” she says. “We’re making new memories already.”

[kth1]

Welcome to Woodsboro [KTH]

⟶ Welcome to Woodsboro [Taehyung x Female Reader] ⟶ Genre: Thriller, Horror-themed, Some Fluff, Established Relationship, Smut, One Shot, 18+ ⟶ Warnings: mentions of the scream lore, mentions of killers (main characters are alive and well), references killings, references murders, references death, uses a fake knife, fingering, unprotected, slight choking, tiny roleplay, creampie, etc. ⟶ WC: 15.8k+ ⟶ Beta: wittle tiny hali @haliiimede​ ⟶ Summary: One generation's tragedy is the next one's joke as two horror enthusiasts set out to visit California's most infamous murder site, Woodsboro. Decorated like a festival throughout the town is none other than the haunting and creepy mask of Ghostface. As an area with a history of a gruesome and terrorizing past, there is nothing better for fanatics from all around to show up on the anniversary of the very first murder that set off decades of repetitive fear. ⟶ Author’s Note: Apart of Bangtan Cinema: Horror Night! I’m super stoked to dabble in an AU which I personally love so dearly! Scream is my favorite horror franchise and slasher story, so it was only time for me to step down into the spooky pits of this type of story! Fun feedback is greatly appreciated if you have the time! Side note: This story takes place right after the 2021 film! So for those who know Scream, you will understand a bit better! Also I know my banner is super misleading but it’s so sexy so I don’t care.

The two seater Chevrolet Spark, which you and Taehyung drive in, cruises down the highway at impeccable speed given its size and stature. Zipping through lanes and passing slower cars all while doing the acceptable speed limit to reach your destination of choice. Which is none other than the well-known town in California named Woodsboro; a once quiet area many moons ago, now laced with a looming darkness and a chilling past. A hot spot for all horror enthusiasts to visit with curiosity and eagerness due to the story of former resident, Sidney Prescott.

To this day, Woodsboro is one of California’s most marketed and commercial murder sites.

Taehyung, your boyfriend for some time now, and yourself set out on a road trip to visit several famous murder-magnet areas across state lines throughout North America. Having a strong knack and liking towards horror as a whole; both you and Taehyung run your own podcast and occasional YouTube streams about several types of horror-related thoughts and opinions. Digging deep into the topics on hand and investigating the stories behind the stories of each subject.

The two of you managed to find another through your similar interests. Both individually having your own livestreams and eventually merging together as one after several personal interactions later. Together, the two of you take on the world of horror whether it be nonfiction or not!

You’ve been on the road for nearly 4 hours as your vehicle inches closer to Woodsboro. Taehyung takes on the wheel with ease, opting to use cruise control when necessary while you two share fast food fries tucked into the center console. The GPS on the dashboard indicates the two of you should be arriving shortly and excitement inside sparks higher than ever.

Mindlessly, you watch on your phone a new interview on Kirby Reed, a survivor from one of Woodboro’s murder sprees back in 2011. You mentally take note of a few sentences she states, trying to compare things she is speaking about now versus from when she was first interviewed 9 years ago. How much she has grown and changed throughout the years of being a survivor and taking life on with a new perspective.

“You know,” Taehyung begins speaking, “I’m surprised they haven’t made another Stab movie after the last massacre.”

“Do you mean the one Kirby was a part of or do you mean the one that happened literally last year?”

“Honestly, both. Considering that every-so-often something happens in Woodsboro or in regard to Sidney. I’m curious why the franchise didn’t come up with another movie to continue. I’m feeling a little dry over here with my favorite classic.”

You laugh a little as you tap through your phone to Google about any updates in reference to any future Stab movies. Clicking your tongue, you ease further back into your seat as you read the letters on your device.

“Says here it doesn’t look like there are any production talks about another Stab. Probably because the last film, Stab 8, was utterly terrible and Hollywood realized that it’s a dead franchise without Sidney’s story or Gale Weathers’ books to keep it alive.”

Taehyung grabs a handful of fries to shove into his mouth as he monitors the road ahead of him. His eyes watch for the large signs above that’ll signal the upcoming exits and the distance he has to get to them. 

“Stab 5 was awful too,” he quips, “That shit even had time travel in it. But I still loved it!”

“I think you’re hooked on the idea of Ghostface more than anything now,” you laugh at him while admiring his side profile and honey blonde hair.

Taehyung cracks a small smile, knowing very well that you are correct. His love for the entire Sidney Prescott lore stuck with him ever since he first learned about it. Something about the story just appeals to him, even though it’s a corrupted story and not one you would read in a happy fairytale book.

“To be fair, you like it too.”

“I do,” you affirm with a smile. “And we have several podcasts and documentaries to thrive off of! I don’t think we need another Stab movie.”

“Unless…” Taehyung grins as his hands run across the steering wheel.

You blink at him, awaiting his next words.

“Unless they went back, like they normally do with the classics, and remake everything from the beginning! New cast, new views, new –”

“– The first 3, the original trilogy, are solely based off of Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers’ books! How are you going to remake something based on real events and get away with it? Besides, Sidney threatened to sue the companies if they continued with her story. That’s why we have all these extra movies that half the time don’t make any sense.”

You laugh at the sudden pout formed on Taehyung’s lips that match the turned down brows on his forehead. He tilts his head as he huffs quickly, giving off a disputed noise.

“Haven’t you read into all of the murder massacres?”

His tone sounds defensive but you find it cute. You’re not trying to rile him up, although you are here for it if he speaks up. Taehyung normally becomes very passionate over his opinions and almost always has the need to express them.

“Are you saying I’ve never done my homework on Woodsboro? I’m quite offended,” you feign hurt. “Of course I know what went on. We did have a variety of podcasts entirely on Woodsboro.”

“Then you do realize that nearly all the murders were trying to out-do the original?”

A ping alerts on the dashboard before you, warning that your exit is coming up on the right. Taehyung merges into the closer lane when the coast is clear, taking the car out of cruise control in the meantime.

You question him with a puzzled look, “Are you seriously using that to ground your argument for another Stab movie?”

“It’s pretty solid if you ask me.”

The car slows down to a lesser speed as Taehyung directs it through an exit. The road bends slightly, pulling off of the California freeway and approaching the first set of traffic lights you’ve seen in hours. A green sign posted in the ground on the other side of the street welcomes you with the words “Woodsboro: City Limit”.

You begin to fidget with giddiness in your seat, you can see Taehyung do the same as the two of you actively scan the area around you with your eyes. Finally, the two of you have officially entered the area you’ve always talked about. Always researched on.

It’s all coming to life right before you; thrilled is a complete understatement!

Fumbling with your phone, you quickly tap on your device to access the camera app. You select the video, making sure it’s at its highest quality, as you start to record the scene before you. Speaking into the microphone, you express with a shriek of excitement that “Scary-tales”, your podcast and YouTube name, has officially set foot in Woodsboro.

Taehyung drives down the street after the light turns green, marveling at the scenery around. The two of you aren't surprised once your vehicle comes to a slow stop behind a line of cars. They seem to be waiting to enter the small town as well.

“Looks like there’s going to be a lot of festivities,” Taehyung voices as he points over to the left shoulder of the road. From a far distance he can see black fabric hanging from a sign accompanied with a white mask. “The town probably is all decorated for the season.”

Astonished, you try to lean over and look out from his side of the car.

“Oh! That’s so cool!” It takes you a moment to register something of importance, like a thought lingering in the back of your mind which now jumps out from hiding. “You did make sure to pack the good camera this time, right?”

The car moves up in line, the flow becoming a steady 10 miles per hour instead of the occasional stops.

Taehyung quickly glances at you to reassure your suspicion on him, “Of course! I brought the one with the little attachable microphone!”

You shrug in your seat, giving Taehyung a scrunched up facial expression as you regret the low faith you had in him a second ago.

“Ah! Sorry, sorry!” you laugh. “I didn’t mean it like that! I just wanted you to be able to capture everything you wanted. This place is more for you than for me.”

“Nah, baby, this place is for us both.”

He grins from ear to ear with sparkles in his eyes. He’s serious and endearing.

“You like Ghostface too!” he adds with mirth.

You pan your phone over towards him, recording his face as he speaks with enthusiasm. You smile with joy, letting out a laugh when Taehyung begs you not to record him.

“He’s no Michael Myers, but what can I say? I like my men with a mask.”

Taehyung raises an eyebrow towards you, humor in the tone of his voice when he questions you next.

“So you’re saying I need to wear a mask?” He jokes with a giggle.

You shake your head at his nonsense, but he’s funny nonetheless. It manages to make you smile wider and that’s all he wants from you. To make you enjoy yourself all in all.

The deeper you enter Woodsboro, the more decorations the two of you notice. The entire town is covered with Ghostface decorations and painted blood spills. Street signs from as simple as “2 Hour Parking” to the tops of lamp posts all have a floating Ghostface mask with ripped up black fabric drifting in the wind of the chilly air. Giving the town even more character; making it feel even spookier.

You zoom in and out on all the decorations that you can catch in a passing car. Taehyung continues to travel by the GPS’s directions while you speak openly to your phone that’s recording the festivities and spooky decorations.

“Traffic remains busy as ever. It’s the exact day, September 28th, of the first original murder which set out decades of horrendous attacks and killings to the years that followed. Maureen Prescott, Sidney Prescott’s mother, was murdered in this very town 27 years ago. Here, I, Y/n, and my most trusted colleague and partner, Taehyung finally have entered California’s most infamous town. Woodsboro!”

Slowly the vehicling passes through the town square. It feels as if every street has a police car patrolling the area. A small park resides in the middle of the cross-pathed streets, vendors and food trucks line up from end to end. You can spot Ghostface merchandise everywhere you look before you turn to Taehyung with surprise.

“They really turned this place into a celebration. I wonder if there’s any movie viewings at an abandoned farm or the theaters,” Taehyung ponders out loud.

“We did not come all the way out here just to watch the movies,” you lightly hit his shoulder. “We want to experience the actual vibe of Woodsboro.”

Taehyung chuckles as his eyes light up. He sees a group of people following the lead of a female with a microphone and small speaker attached to her hip. She’s ushering the crowd through the park, pointing over at some local stores and holding out a map.

“We’ll be sure to take a lot of photos and videos,” Taehyung exclaims. “We’ll see as much as we can!”

Shortly after being directed through traffic, Taehyung drives past Woodsboro High School. Both of you ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ over the building. Large banners drape over the front of the building with Ghostface’s mask. Firefighters on ladders are trying to take them down, disapproval from the Mayor must be the reason.

“It must suck working for a town that mocks its law enforcement and first responders,” Taehyung murmurs under his breath. “The place turned into a whole attraction site for people like us.”

You pan your phone over to Taehyung with a wide grin on your face. Angling yourself to get to the High School in the background of Taehyung, you clear your throat to gain his attention.

In your deepest and creepiest way, you speak the classic quote.

“What’s your favorite scary movie, Taehyung?”

Your boyfriend rolls his eyes as he quickly looks into the camera. He squints as if he’s up to no good. The GPS speaks to you once again, telling you to take the next left turn and the destination will be a mile up on the right. Taehyung raises his eyebrow to flirt, giving you a suggestive glare.

“Bambi.”

The fork in your hand clinks against the plate below you as you stab into a clump of mashed potatoes. It’s salted and buttered exactly the way you like it. In your opinion it is a better choice compared to the diner fries. So, at least you say as you stare over at Taehyung’s plate of food with pieces of fries you pick off his plate whenever you feel like it.

His mouth opens wide to engulf a large portion of his triple stacked cheeseburger loaded with tomatoes, pickles, onions, ketchup, mayonnaise, and the diner’s special hot sauce. This man always surprises you with how he can practically inhale his food, making you question how he even digests it all before his next meal. Taehyung has just as strong of a love for food as he does for his murder stories.

You pick at your BLT sandwich piece by piece as you look around the diner. The layout is plain and simple, suits the busy crowd well with the variety of characters that linger throughout. Several people sit at a curved stool in front of the bar, snacking on their meals they ordered. Whereas you and Taehyung managed to snag a corner table right near the large display window that sits two of you comfortably. Even the menu and window decal supports Ghostface’s presence. Yellow seats cover the base of each booth tied with an off-white backing. The table before you is dressed in a clear-plastic, protecting the speckled aged wood.

“I still can’t believe you managed to find an available room at the hotel in this town. It wasn’t too expensive, was it?” You question Taehyung as you whip out a small notepad from your purse. “Like, it wasn’t a big price for here?”

Taehyung continues to munch on his burger while nodding his head, humming a “mmf” as he answers you back. Dressing drips off the side of his mouth and runs down his jaw as he searches for a napkin.

“It’s all good, I’ve handled it. I booked the room months ago so no need to stress about the cost. We’re covered, baby.” He reassures you. Taehyung swipes away the food on the corners of his lips. “Besides, we’re only here for two nights and you can’t put a price on this type of stuff.”

Your pen runs across the paper of your notebook as you jot down the beginnings of a list. Mapping out their path of where they want to visit and what they want to do during the small timeframe they have.

“Okay,” you hum. “I trust you.”

Taehyung reaches over to grab your hand, his thumb rubs softly over your knuckles. He knocks the pen out of your grip and laces his fingers with yours.

“Hey,” he speaks softly. “I know you have so many things going on in that brain of yours, but sit back and enjoy yourself right now. We have all the time.”

You sigh but give Taehyung a warm smile in response. Your hand squeezes him a little more as you nod your agreement.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to calm down. I just have all this excitement –”

“– And that’s okay. I appreciate and love how excited you get, baby!” Taehyung smiles and grabs a french fry off of his plate and feeds it to you directly. “I’m wired too.”

“Say, let’s hit up one of these merchandise stands after we finish up our lunch. I’m sure we can get a fun matching shirt or something.” Taehyung flashes his teeth before biting on his bottom lip.

“Tempting,” you bat your eyes at him quickly, “But let’s figure out all the places we can visit and hit up. I want to visit the Macher’s house – well technically it was last owned by the Freeman’s. But it was the place with the most attacks. The one on Turner Lane! I heard it was turned into a walk-through funhouse of some sort. Like a museum but not really.”

“That would be such a great place for an airbnb,” Taehyung adds. He continues finishing up the food on his plate while you start jotting down your list.

“Right?” You agree with him. “But the idea of being able to walk around it freely is also pretty cool.”

Your waitress steps over to your table suddenly, her black apron sitting comfortably tight across her waist. She checks in with the two of you, has a coffee pot in hand and offers some for your empty cups in which the two of you agree immediately. Traveling through the state of California to hit up all your favorite horror-related sites has proved to the two of you that coffee is your new best friend.

“Just let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to order,” the waitress with the name tag saying ‘Tatum’ waves as she walks away to check on the other tables she’s in charge of. 

You tap Taehyung on the arm frantically the moment she disappears from your area, “Tae, did you notice her name?”

Taehyung looks up at you through his sweet honey blonde curtain bangs with another mouth full of food. His eyes open wide like a confused puppy.

“No?” he tries to say without spitting out any food.

“Her name is Tatum! Like Tatum Riley! Sidney’s best friend during the first massacre!”

“Oh shit, no way! Maybe her parents are lowkey a fan?”

“I’m afraid to ask though, she probably gets questioned about it a lot.”

You take a long sip of your coffee as you jot down more ideas. The surrounding tables are beginning to fill up more with bodies, making the Woodsboro diner sound a bit louder. Even a group of rowdy teenagers come in with full apparel of Ghostface costumes but each mask is a different color.

Taehyung stops mid-bite when his face turns into realization about something. His whole body stills as he processes his thoughts.

You look up at him when he makes a disgruntled noise with his throat. His brows slowly knit together.

“What’s the matter, babe?”

“Something just hit me,” he says with skepticism. “What if we end up getting killed?”

You laugh out loud, motioning with your hand for Taehyung to relax.

“Tae, we’re fine. Everything here is focused on Sidney. There is absolutely no reason or any motive for a Ghostface to attack us,” you reason with him. “And before you ask, last year’s massacre was in-relation to the people who were tied to the original massacres. All the people involved with the lore of the first mastermind of it all.”

“Billy Loomis,” Taehyung utters under his breath. Even the name sends a shiver down your spine now that you’re in this town. “But also, horror enthusiasts… one who watches too many movies and shows, like us…”

“Like Amber Freeman and Richie Kirsch?”

Taehyung nods, “There could be more people like the murderers from last year who just want to continue the story.”

You squint your eyes at Taehyung from across the table. Your face twists with humor and confusion, unsure on how to respond to his words.

“Saying something like that makes it sound like you’d be the one to do that type of thing,” you state nonchalantly.

“Not at all!” He reclines back into his side of the booth. Taehyung brushes his hair out of his face with a hand, the other searching for his phone in the pocket of his jacket. “I’m saying other people could be motivated in such a way. Do you really think I'd be capable of something like that?”

“Most people don’t know who could be a killer until they’re caught…” You tap your pen on the table with a smile on your face. “So I wouldn’t know if that’s something you’re into,” you joke.

Taehyung browses through some of his notifications on his cell phone when he gives you a contemptuous face. He’s unsatisfied with your accusation, but you do have a point.

“Baby, I can say the same thing for you.” He raises his eyebrows with surprise, smiling to himself as his thumb taps away to send a message to someone. “I mean, you indulge yourself in plenty of scary movies too. Which franchise are you trying to keep alive?” He jests with a wink as he places his phone down and turns the screen for you to view. 

You see a banner posted to a Twitter post that is colorful and pops out to draw the creative eye. In large bold words it says “Annual Stab-a-thon!” with pictures of knives and pumpkins. Attached is a timeframe and location, one nearby, which makes Taehyung wiggle his brows at you.

“You’re funny,” you dryly say as you push the phone away from your side of the table. The sarcasm laced in your tone only makes Taehyung content with his actions. “You know I would never do something like that,” you say in reference to the hint of you being a killer. “Honestly, I don’t think I'd survive very long in a horror movie. I am the type to be at the wrong place at the wrong time,” you humor him with your confession.

Taehyung grabs your notepad from you swiftly to write down an idea. He tilts his head to the side, shaking it at you in disbelief.

“Ah, you need to give yourself more credit than that,” he scribbles down his chicken scratch while speaking to you. “I think you would make it to the final act!”

“Well with you as the killer, I think you’d give me some mercy to make it that far,” you tease as you bite back a smile.

Taehyung scrunches his face with anger and surprise. His mouth gapes open with a disappointed huff.

“I’m not a killer!” he protests with his whole chest. He uses his forefinger to press into the table with every syllable he speaks. “I’m an innocent person!”

The two of you break out in a fit of laughter. Taehyung looks at you with sadness while holding back his full smile as you roll your eyes at his ridiculousness. It’s conversations like these that end up with cute displays which makes you love the man even more.

“Tae,” you drawl as you recollect the conversation. “You’re cute when you get offended.”

“Thanks,” he responds laconically and with a pout.

Your waitress, Tatum, comes back over once again with a written out check for your table. She offers her service one last time to see if either of you need any more refreshments or food before handing the piece of paper over. Your boyfriend snatches the check from your view and fishes out his wallet from his back pocket.

“I got it covered,” he states as he counts through his money.

“Okay, but the next thing we have to pay for is on me!” you declare.

There’s always this weird complex with you that you feel the need to have equal contribution to spending expenses. If someone keeps pampering you too much, someone like a boyfriend you know so well, you tend to find ways to make it equal in return. 

Somehow.

“We’ll see,” he grins.

Before Taehyung can manage the tip for the waitress, you emphasize the importance of the notepad still sitting out on the tabletop. You read the last thing Taehyung wrote, which is the address “34 Elm Street.” Nodding your head, you raise your shoulders to show your indifference to it.

“The Prescott’s old house,” you acknowledge. “I’m down.”

Taehyung holds onto his cup of coffee while leaning in to look at the notepad. You reach for the pen once again to begin writing more.

“How about we finish our list before we leave here and check out some souvenir places. By then we’ll be able to check into our hotel room and start visiting some spots. I’ll have to fill up the tank as well.”

“Sounds like a plan!” You voice with keenness. 

Your pen traces letters into your notepad as you add stars next to your favorite and must visit sites. Tonight the two of you will be able to hit some of the areas up with no problems in your way. Enjoy some festivities and grab some merchandise. Have fun together and experience some irreplaceable memories.

And survive Woodsboro.

Taehyung and you both walk into room 312 with your bags in hand. Right before arriving at the hotel, you had stopped at a local grocery place to grab a few necessities and snacks to hold you over for the night. Thankfully the WoodSpring Suites comes with a complimentary breakfast in the morning along with a small snack area where you can purchase beverages and food that can appeal to a small appetite. But with Taehyung, you already know that the store was the better choice for the matter.

The entire left wall from beginning to end is colored in Aegean blue while the rest of the walls are a soft eggshell white color. The king size bed is covered in grayish-tan and rice paper colors, complemented with hickory wood furniture. The laminate flooring matches the wood as much as possible, giving the room a friendly and clean look to it. One single off-yellow couch sits in the corner of the room with a coffee table in front of it. 

“Finally!” Taehyung rejoices to himself as he plops his bags down on the edge of the bed.

You, however, walk yourself to the coffee table and neatly take out pieces of your electronics and begin to step up a small work desk for yourself.

“The place looks great,” you comment as you toss the remote controller over toward the bed for Taehyung. 

“Yeah, I like it too!” Taehyung shuffles through his bags and gathers articles of clothing for himself. He continues to unzip and pull apart his items all over the spread of the bed. “Did you want to do a nightly recording before bed?”

You nod as you focus on angeling your laptop and connecting it to an outlet in the wall beside you. “With some of the sites we managed to see today, like the Robert’s house and High School, I think we can talk about some things if you’re up for it. It is kind of late though.”

“My legs hurt from walking so much,” he laughs while he sits on the bed and kicks off his shoes. “Can we do a mini-one? I’m kind of beat. Going to jump in the shower before anything though. Do you want to join?”

Looking over at Taehyung, you see he has a satisfied face without giving you a glance. You’re well aware he has already determined his actions for the next 30 minutes and you are in no position to stop him.

“I’m ok, I can wait.” You smile. Typing in your password to the laptop, you smile to yourself. “I can start reheating those microwavable meals while you are in the shower so they’ll be ready by the time you come out.”

Taehyung makes his way over to you as he leans down. All his clothes and toiletries are stuffed in between his arms.

“Thank you,” he grins as he waits for you to connect his awaiting kiss. 

You bite on your bottom lip before giving him what he wants. It’s a sweet and simple kiss, nothing hidden behind its meaning besides pure adoration.

The two of you are cut off by the sound of your hotel’s phone ringing. You give Taehyung a muddled face but he looks just as perplexed as you do. He moves toward the phone and by the third ring he picks it up.

“Hello?”

You watch as Taehyung’s facial gestures change through a series of confusion and amusement. He holds back a cringe smile, probably trying not to laugh.

“Oh yeah?” he says back to the phone. “A game?”

You furrow your brows while watching him. Taehyung wears a lopsided grin as he shifts his weight on his feet.

“Not interested, but this was cool,” he comments before hanging up the phone.

“Was that the front desk?” You blink at him.

Taehyung shakes his head while shrugging his shoulders, “I don’t think so,” he huffed a laugh. “Someone trying to do the Ghostface voice.”

“What really?” You speak with astonishment, “No way!”

He departs towards the bathroom before the phone rings once again. Taehyung stops and turns on his heels, eyes glaring at the phone that flashes. Taehyung shares a curious glance with you and raises his eyebrows.

“Do you want to answer it?”

The phone continues to ring until you finally decide for yourself to head over toward it. You grip the device with no hesitation and lift it to your ear. On the other side of the line you hear nothing at first besides heavy breathing. It stands the hairs on the back of your neck.

You allow the silence to linger between you and the caller, just listening for the only noises you can hear. A deep chuckle emits in a raspy tone.

“Hey, we’re not finished yet,” the ominous, taunting threatening voice speaks.

“Who is this?” you question with the thrill knowing you’re asking the most silly question.

It’s most definitely some form of prank based on how active and inventive Woodsboro is. You wonder how often people play the part of acting as Ghostface for shits and giggles. But from an out of townie like yourself, something like this seems so cool to you. Not annoying whatsoever. 

Taehyung has already entered the bathroom, leaving the door open just in case you change your mind or not if you choose to join him, while you sit on the edge of the bed. The shower is running and one can only assume Taehyung has stripped down to his bare nakedness and submerged himself under the cascade of water by now.

“Who do you think this is?”

You entertain the person on the other line. “The most obvious answer for Woodsboro would be Ghostface. Am I right?”

“Yes,” the rugged voice replies. “Aren’t you so smart?”

“I’m a big fan,” you giggle.

“Do you like scary movies?”

“Of course I do. Why do you think I’m here?” you laugh at the classic phrase being spoken to you. Before you allow the other person to respond, you fake yawn out of boredom. “This is so unoriginal. You’ve lost my interest already.”

In a warning tone, the voice threatens, “Don’t hang up on me!”

“It’s late and I'm tired,” you claim before placing the phone down on its receiver. 

You sigh as you stare at the device on the bedside table. There’s plenty of spooks to go around all day tomorrow, you don’t need anymore right now.

A knock on the door alerts you, Taehyung can even hear it from inside the bathroom. Creeping up to the peephole, you see nobody on the other side of your door. Slowly, you back up making a disgruntled noise.

“Who is it, baby?” Your boyfriend shouts from the shower.

“It’s nobody,” you respond loud enough for him to hear. As you pass by the bathroom, you see Taehyung’s head poking out from behind the shower curtain – wet locks and everything. You give him a brief smile and shrug, raising your hands up. “I didn’t see anyone. Probably just a prank.”

“Huh,” Taehyung mulls over it for a second. He tilts his head with a wink, “You want to join me now?”

It’s hard to resist his innocent persuasion. His invitation of a nice hot, steamy shower is so inviting.

“Sure,” you smile.

You take one single step in the bathroom before your hotel room’s phone goes off again. You stare at Taehyung with confusion and alarm. 

“Just unplug it from the wall.”

“Yeah… yeah,” you laugh.

You’re sure to disconnect the phone by the wire as well as locking both locks on your hotel room door. You shimmy off your clothes on your way into the bathroom, placing the towels nearby for when you need to grab them. Taehyung hums a melodic tune to himself as he washes his face under the showerhead as you peel open the curtain.

Your eyes scan the expanse of his wet nude body with a warm smile. He feels the cool draft enter his vicinity and turns to glance at you after wiping his eyes clean from the water.

“You alright?”

“Mhm,” you swallow. “Just surprised how dedicated some fans get with this place.”

Walking hand-in-hand with your boyfriend, you stroll along with some pep to your step. Thrills and shrills send signals throughout your nerves and you can tell it’s affecting Taehyung the way it does to you. Excitement and adrenaline. Together, the both of you walk along the line of the road flooded with lingering sight-seers all prepared to enter in the biggest hot spot of the night.

261 Turner Lane.

The location with the record of most murders and attacks know to Woodsboro – in regard to Ghostface. Taehyung begged you to visit the Woodsboro Hospital earlier this morning after your first night at the hotel. A place where several people, like Jill Roberts, Sidney’s cousin, and Sheriff Dwight ‘Dewey’ Riley had died. You two even managed to visit the Reed’s residence where Kirby and her friends were attacked nearly 10 years ago! However, that place was more off limits to civilians and most definitely did not want horror-nerds, like yourself, sniffing around with nostalgia.

All the sites are small, but hold so much weight and horrific memories for many. You can sympathize with those who are haunted by the past and understand that their community has gone through so much. But the geekiness of your love for horror and minor obsession with understanding serial killers and motives can almost desensitize the world around you. 

Considering how it’s not just you, or Taehyung, who enjoy these types of things. But with how your eyes scan around every inch that Woodsboro has to offer, the exhilaration of it all continues to live because of the enthusiasts!

Merchandise, candy, confetti, bags, and balloons scattering around the town as if it’s a carnival for the one and only Ghostface. People of all ages dress up in the legendary costume and perform reenactments or shows. Even you, who is caught up in the mix of fun and games, walk around with a matching customized bracelet that you wear proudly with Taehyung. It sports a small trinket with your initials engraved into it right next to a hanging silver dagger that represents a buck knife.

For slicing and dicing… and also to constitute Ghostface's traditional weapon of use.

You cycle through your camera for all the photos and footage the two of you captured from your previous day excursions, making mental notes on what you should talk about on your next podcast after the two of you leave this town. Taehyung makes sure to point out everything he wants in the camera as well as he looks over your shoulder. With his fingers still intertwined with yours, he pulls your arm closer to his body so he can hold you closer to him.

“How much do you think we’ll be able to see? I tried to stay away from the internet so I didn’t get spoiled with anything,” He questions as his eyes look toward the front of the line you two stand in.

“I would hope for everything,” you speak softly. “It would be worth it to show off the entire house. It looks like they have hosts who direct you around,” you point over to a worker wearing a red tucked in button-up and dark dress pants.

The two of you admire the view of the side of the house, showing how the line you stand in extends with at least 50 bodies or more. But the home is dressed up nicely as if it was any other house you can see in Woodsboro. Beautiful flowers trail along the edgings of the road such as daffodils, red lilies, and purple agapanthus’. Tall brushes and thick weeds compliment the tan exterior of the house and deep green shingles. Shrubs and cobblestone walkways. Your mind paints a picture of all the gruesome and alarming actions that once took place here.

A little fountain in the middle of the entrance alley is drained of its water, showing off the rustic residue. Eerie music fills the air, played to entertain the ears of those who are visiting this walk-through house. Group by group, you see people filter into the front entrance of the notorious home. Eagerly, you and Taehyung step closer and closer and await your turn.

At the gate, a working crew at a small stand pulls out pieces of papers to fill out. Files to keep documented for those who enter and liability checks. Your signature is needed along with demographics and contact information. You hear screams up ahead, laughter soon to follow. Lights in the house flicker on and off, but the music ellipses over the brunt of the shrieks. 

You pay a fee, nothing too expensive, for the two of you before signing your agreement. Fearlessly, both you and Taehyung allow the workers to strap on a colored bracelet to your wrists. 

“Thank you,” you two express gratitude as you step along with the rest of the crowd.

The papers serve as a waiver, giving formal structure with risk involved sections, assumptions of risk sections, law provision, and respect to state laws. The owners of the house and those involved with the business have every right to hold your papers and pull you from the attraction site. Even though this is for fun and games, the seriousness of the property comes with its own stakes.

The Macher’s house, now rebranded into the name ‘Horror House’ for the attraction, stands at 5,500 square feet. To your knowledge, there are up to 4 bedrooms residing inside the establishment. Several bathrooms, a 3-car garage, rear and front foyers, and much more. With over 290 acres of land, creek frontage, and a span of eucalyptus groves, this amazing home survives decades of dreadful history.

You follow the path along the walkway with Taehyung by your side. Securing your purse around your body so it doesn’t snag on anything while you're inside, you turn to your boyfriend who’s snapping photos of the landscape and crowd.

“No flash photography!” You hear a worker shout at the entrance of the home. They hold up a flashlight directed toward Taehyung as they address him.

“Turn it off,” you whisper-yell at him as you pull his arm down. “Let’s not get thrown out before even getting inside.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it was on until I took the photo!”

“Have bags opened and ready to be checked! Pockets emptied!”

As you step up the porch stairs of the Macher’s house, you hear busy workers repeating rules verbatim. They make this as swift and nimble as possible. Taehyung passes through security first, being patted down from all sides before they allow you to step through. They search your bag and roughly touch over your arms and jacket pockets, looking for any unnecessary hidden items for the protection of the house, staff, and customers.

Inside the house, the lights flicker on a timer. Red and yellow glows illuminate the walls as some areas in the house remain dim with no light source. The two of you are guided through the main entrance of the house by your hostess. The moment you step through, a loud group of screams appear overhead on the stairs right above you. People tripping over another and laughing from being spooked by someone in a Ghostface costume who has jumped out from behind a door frame.

You grab onto Taehyung on instinct while chuckling at yourself for getting scared from the loud noise. He, too, is startled momentarily, but he flashes a smile that expresses the fever buzz his body is radiating. 

“Spooks and scares is the theme tonight!” Your hostess speaks in singsong. “Get ready to survive the fright!”

As corny as that rhyme sounds, it makes both you and your boyfriend giggle. You listen intently to the hostesses' words and fair warnings. How everything within the house is a reenactment of some sort and only serves to get your nerves jumping with fear. To be careful of your surroundings and not to stray too far away from your group. Playing in the funhouse is what you guys came here for anyways.

A loud dong resounds over the music, the clock striking an hour before midnight. Loud cheers and hollers are heard from inside and outside, everyone rejoicing with excitement.

“This shit’s so wild,” you comment with a bright look. You lean in towards Taehyung’s ear to whisper to him next, “Say, whenever we can… try recording some of the places in here without the staff seeing.”

“Already ahead of you,” he comments with a mischievous grin. His eyes flicker down to his pants pocket where his phone’s camera pops out just enough to show. In secret, he must have hit record and slid the device nonchalantly. “I’ve been recording after they yelled at me for the flash,” he laughs.

“I’m your hostess, Hallie. Please be advised that other parties are roaming around the building. So you most definitely will intermingle at some point. Please try your best to stick with me.” The petite, younger woman, adjusts her shirts’ sleeves along her wrists. Flashing the two of you the happiest of smiles.

“Can I ask,” you interject ever so slightly. “How long have you guys been running this?”

Hallie smiles with a nod, “About 4 months now. After the previous owners listed the house, it wasn’t very long for the current owner to snatch it off the market.”

“And no problems?” You quiz as you look around.

“Most furniture have been replaced with replicas just in case of damage. But it’s such a popular site, nobody has complained besides some locals.”

All three of you glance over towards a door frame in the back of the foyer. It’s hard to see but flashes of people running across the backend of the house come into view, followed by another person in a costume. 

“There’s been some renovations to the house to maintain multiple entrances and exits to allow the flow of parties to weave in and out. Ideally, throughout your walkthrough you will visit every section of the house and even the field out back. Just mind the parties around you. We usually have about 7 parties at once to keep the line moving at a decent pace.”

Taehyung wraps his arm around your shoulder and pulls you comfortably against him. He shifts on his feet but directs his attention to Hallie.

“I think what she’s trying to ask is if there’s been any murders because of this,” he emphazises with a gesture of his hand.

Hallie gives the two of you a cheerful smile, flashing her set of pearly whites. “None whatsoever.” She steps in closer towards the two of you, taking hold of the earpiece in her ear to muffle her next words for whoever is listening on the other end. “But between us, I think this town wants to keep the slasher story alive and well.”

You both blink at her dumbfounded, but she holds up a hushed finger before placing her earpiece back in. She clicks on her small handheld flashlight that shines a bright blue, waving it in the air towards the walls of the house.

“So let us begin our journey through the Horror House! Our group color is blue,” she references the flashlight’s light color., “So if you ever need to find me, look for my light.”

Quickly, and before Hallie leads you to the left side of the house, you whip out your phone to snap a photo of you and Taehyung. The lighting is absolutely terrible but you manage to get the quarter turned staircase and sparkling chandelier above. Taehyung presses his lips against your cheek as you grin ear to ear to show your utmost happiness.

“Happy Anniversary!” you cheer to yourself as you snap the photo.

“Phones away please,” Hallie demands as her light flashes at you. “First and final warning.”

“Sorry, sorry,” you meekly say. You shrug like how a child does when they’re in trouble.

You shove your phone back inside your purse and zip it up tight. You grimace when Hallie gives you a sharp look, but she tilts her head and opens up her arms to guide you into the next room.

The room is lit up with a dim light, covered with plenty of floorspace and loveseat couches. The fireplace displays a fake fire while smoke roams on the floor. It serves as a living space, but before you or Taehyung can geek out about it, Hallie declares that this is not the room where any murders took place.

“One of the most unused areas of the house happens to be right here!” She exclaims. The celinings are tall, giving the room a larger feeling to it. Over in the corner stands a mannequin of Ghostface in an attacking pose, decorations surround it while the large mirror behind it shows your reflection.

Another round of terrific screams come from another part of the house and you can’t help but grip Taehyung’s hand tighter in your hold. The spooky aura of the house, and knowing the history, fuels your brain into all the acts.

“Now if you follow me this way, we’ll be entering the one area where Sidney and Stu battled out a fight, resulting in Sidney breaking a potted plant over Stu’s head and dropping an entire television on him!”

Hallie walks through first, pointing out a replicated television set standing in the corner of the room in front of some more couches. A coffee table is littered with candy, snacks, and drinks – as if there was an active party going on. You and Taehyung walk in right after her, only to get your first fright of the night when an actor jumps out from the side of the doorframe and grunts at the two of you.

“Ah!” You yelp but immediately slap your hand over your chest from laughing. 

“Fuck!” Taehyung curses as his arm briefly comes up in defense.

The actor maintains character, hardly speaks but stays menacing enough. They hold up their false dagger, moving their arm in an attacking motion as both you and Taehyung maneuver around the floor without stumbling over another. The lights flicker with the beat of the sinister music, all to help create a fun horror-themed house.

“God this is so good!” You declare as you step around a few broken pieces of chairs as you get into the next room. 

Your eyes scan around every inch and every corner of the beautiful house, given what little lighting you have to work with. You wish you can take it all in at your own pace, record things you want when you want to. But you need to be crafty and careful. So any chance you get, when Hallie or any other floating bodies of people aren’t looking your way, you try to fish through your purse to pull out your phone and capture a photo.

Taehyung on the other hand, is still rocking his secret pocket recording. You can tell he’s turning his body more often than so – probably to get as much footage as possible without being caught. 

“This is the main attraction here! The climatic kitchen!” Hallie walks forward and around a small island table, tapping her hands on the counter like beating on a drum. “Where chicken and vegetables aren’t the only things that got cut up in here.”

You give Hallie a pensive glare, nearly shaking your head the moment the words left her lips.

“Eh,” she shrugs. “You’re right. That punchline isn’t that funny.”

Taehyung admires the white countertops and ocean blue walls which match the tiles above the stove. The window by the kitchen sink has blood splatters across it, red liquid dripping down into the silver stainless steel. Popcorn pieces are littered everywhere, while an old-timey phone hangs off the hinge of its cable.

“This is so fucking cool,” he comments. “Everything! All right here.” He stands with his arms outstretched. “This whole house has so much history! I can practically feel it.” He’s astonished but shows all his gratitude through giddiness. “Can you even imagine all the thoughts and emotions of the people who have gone through here?”

You step close to him as you check out a calendar up on the wall. It’s from 1996, September, with dates circled and highlighted and has written notes over which days and approximate times people have been attacked here during the first massacre.

“Too bad it’s not the 28th anymore and it’s the 29th. We’d be here exactly 26 years from when the first reign of Ghostface came to an end.”

“Yeah, but,” Taehyung nudges you in the arm. “It is our anniversary. So it’s still special.”

A loud thud from upstairs causes all three of you to jump in your spots. You whip your head around to look at Hallie who is already making her move towards the front foyer again, waving the two of you on with her.

“Let’s head upstairs, shall we?”

You wrap around to the front once again to see a new party of people entering the house. Hallie steps besides the stairs and points upward, telling the two of you to walk up. Taehyung shows no hesitation, but for you, you notice how there’s fake blood smeared all over the carpet of each stair. With your naked eye, it looks fresh. It is not until the time you reach the top of the stairs do you notice that the red paint was still wet and now tracks from your footprints.

Before you can question anything, you pivot and are ushered up another set of small stairs. The second story of the home has plenty of space. There is a nice little balcony area over the foyer that you can look down in, peeping at the groups of people who roam around the floors. You spot another actor walking around in a costume creeping behind a straggler, waiting any second for them to scare the person.

“Baby, let’s go.”

Taehyung pats you on your back as he passes you, following the hostesses lead into the master bedroom. There’s more decor dressing the house even scarier, and this time, the entire room is flipped upside down. The bed sheets and comforter are ripped apart, feathers from the pillows fallen on the floor. 

It’s staged as if someone ransacked the entire room. It helps seeing a stuffed life-sized doll laying on the floor in a pile of blood. Both you and Taehyung express admiration over the scene, feeding into the question Hallie hits you with.

“Now, what might have happened here?”

“Looks like a murder,” Taehyung replies evidently. 

Suddenly, a mysterious Ghostface appears from the master bathroom with his knife wielded high into the air. They step towards Hallie quickly, bee-lining their way straight to her to attack her.

She screams, and you respond with the same noise back. Ghostface digs his knife into her backside as Hallie stares at you and your boyfriend with shock. Her flashlight drops to the ground as Ghostface stabs her again.

You immediately back up, walking over the display of horror in the center of the room and walking over to another exit of the master suit.

“Holy shit,” you mutter as you’re grabbing Taehyung by the jacket to yank him with you. “Hallie?” you question as you watch her and Ghostface interact.

Your hostess drops to her knees before finally landing on the ground, face first into the carpet. While Ghostface stands there, head tilting to look over at the two of you as they clean off their knife with their gloves.

“Tae, move,” you urge while pulling on him more. You continue to back up until you see the steps to the stairs. They lead right to the ones that come from the foyer.

Ghostface begins to stalk you, rushing over to attack. Taehyung follows you as you pull him along urgently, frantically.

“This isn’t right. No, no, no,” you scream. You attempt to turn to run downstairs, but you nearly slip from trying to stop yourself. A group of people are in the middle of walking up the stairs, preventing you from going down. Taehyung hoists you back up, making you run to the other side and searches for the nearest door to run through.

“Run!” He shouts to anyone who can hear. Taehyung looks over his shoulder to see if Ghostface is still chasing you, and for a fact – they very much are!

Taehyung nearly pushes you through the far end door, closing it tight behind him. He searches for the locks, even moves a piece of furniture in front of the door quickly out of pure instinct. Your heart races erratically, but you turn and look at Taehyung with surprise.

You begin to laugh out loud, holding your head with your hands. Looking around, you notice the two of you are barricaded in a storage area. Like an attic of some sorts.

“This is hilarious!” you chuckle. You move around some useless knick knacks storage on top of some boxes. “We just got chased by a Ghostface!”

Taehyung nervously goes along with your lighthearted giggles, until his nerves bubble down into full blown laughter. He notices he has scratched his hand during the mix of everything. A cut annoying enough to draw blood.

“Yeah! Ha –” he runs his other hand through his hair, “– That was really funny.”

A bang hits the door and the two of you jolt in your place. The door gets hit again with a louder thud. When you notice the handle jingling, both Taehyung and you back up slightly. More shrieks and hollars are made from outside the door but you stay staring at it, begging for the door not to open.

When the door bursts open, but is blocked by the furniture Taehyung placed in front of it, you see the mask of Ghostface sticking through with their arm. Swinging wildly with their knife in hand. It clinks and digs into the wood of the door.

You walk backwards, deeper into the storage area and run over to one of the windows to look outside. You begin hitting your hands on the glass, screaming for help as you look down at the line of people still waiting to get inside of the house. The music is blaring and screaming coming from this house is practically normal – so your cries for help go completely unnoticed.

Taehyung grabs you from your shoulder, pulling you back as he calls your name.

“Y/n, Y/n! Look,” Taehyung points out another door that was hidden from view. Maybe one of the many renovations Hallie had spoken about earlier. “Come, come!” He begs as he holds onto your hand and leads you towards it.

He pried the door open after pushing boxes away from it. Stairs that lead down below welcome you, and happily the two of you take them. The darkness makes it impossible to see, but once you hit the last step into the new room, you realize you’re just outside the kitchen nook area.

“This house is so confusing,” you comment. “All the rooms practically intertwine with another!”

“The garage!” Taehyung pulls you with him, leading you to the door that’s been cracked open. Together, you push it open and step down the three wooden stairs. You notice a party with their host, they turn to you in shock. “Ghostface is chasing us!” Taehyung shouts as he practically drags you to the one open garage door. 

You see the darkness of the night outside in the driveway. The sooner you’re out of the house the quicker you will feel safe. At least that’s what runs through your mind as you stumble over yourself as you rush out of the garage.

“Relax guys!” The host says. He flashes his green light at you as his hand comes up to halt your running spree. “It’s just a part of the show! What’s your color?”

Taehyung stops the two of you in the middle of the driveway. You’re now at the back of the house, away from the long line of horror enthusiasts, and can see golf carts set up for roaming the many acres of the backyard.

You grip onto his arm, holding tightly as your heartbeat races inside your chest. Wide eyed, you stare at the other host and the group they’re guiding.

“We’re blue,” Taehyung comments. He sounds slightly winded, but he hides it well when speaking back to the worker.

The host reaches for a walky-talky from his back pocket, pressing the button to speak into the voicebox.

“I have the blue party at the garage. Can the host of blue come here?”

Taehyung wraps his arm around you, pulling you tight against him as you two stand aimlessly. There’s an uproar inside the house, joyous laughters and shouts for help. It rounds every 30 seconds or so. But it begins to sound unnerving. Maybe the horror funhouse is really scaring you.

“Hey,” Taehyung whispers as he runs his hands along your arm. “Not to psych you out or anything… but look where we’re standing right now.”

You glance around, seeing a boat covered with a tarp. A concrete walkway leads to the back desk of the house to your right and a row of lights line up beside it. It doesn’t hit you until Taehyung speaks the words “doggy door” to you that you realize exactly what you should be looking at.

The middle garage door is the place where Tatum Riley was found crushed at the top. Stuck between the dog door and the top of the garage.

You move around Taehyung to sneak a quick photo of the area. With enough space, you back up and capture the scene – making sure to capture Taehyung in the frame.

From the roof, windows from above peer out of the building. Inside one of those windows stands a person with the mask on, staring down at you. It raises a knife to the glass, tapping on it. 

Taunting you. 

Teasing you.

Minutes have gone by before someone shows up. Thankfully that person is Hallie, your original hostess. She steps into the garage from the kitchen, like how Taehyung and you had just done before.

“Jesus, where have you guys gone to? You’re so fast!” She exclaims with a huff.

“Wha-what?” You reply. “You were attacked!”

“It was an act,” she reassures. “Only to scare you! I see that it worked.” She laughs. Hallie turns her body left and right to show you her well being, “See, I’m unharmed. It’s all good.”

“I mean, I guess it is a funhouse. We just got caught up in it,” Taehyung mumbles. “I even thought it was real for a second there.” His deep chuckle makes you feel a little at ease.

“So are we ready to continue the house tour? We have more bumps and scares ahead of us.”

You stare off into space as your mind continues to think about all the places and things you’ve seen. Ever since that small scare at the Macher’s house, you can’t help but shake the feeling of what it could have been like for all who were murdered by someone behind the terrorizing mask that haunts this town. It feels almost too real for a reenactment, even though your hostess was perfectly fine in the end. Taehyung managed to get scraped in the process of running throughout the house while your shirt, which you didn’t notice until you got back to the hotel, ended up having a small tear in it. But that’s what a horror themed funhouse could do to those who enter. Freak them out. Psych them up.

Your fingers fiddle with another while you listen haphazardly to Taehyung recording himself for the podcast in the corner of your hotel room. He goes on and on about how much he’s enjoyed himself and shows off a handful of his memorable trinkets he’s bought from a few item shops. His freshly washed hair is combed back and away from his face; one small piece of tissue paper stuck to the blood patch on his upper lip – he must have cut himself shaving.

Gripping the small dangling chain of your matching bracelet, you twist it around playfully. You love how it’s customized and you also love how it’s something you two share. This horror-road trip the two of you set out on for your anniversary week is such a lovely occasion. Taehyung surprisingly took most of the reins for planning, which secondhandly makes you feel a tad bit ashamed for not being able to contribute as much.

However, you and only you know how to make Taehyung feel the most special. Give him the happiness that he deserves. Even when he’s the one who spoils you the most. 

As you look over and watch him geek out over his favorite serial killer story, you can’t help but smile with awe. He has no idea how you’re watching him so intently. Applauding every boast and passionate joy he releases through his words. Taehyung has no clue what you have secretly planned for him for tonight.

And your entrance means everything.

Quietly, you gather a bag of goodies by your side – making sure not to draw Taehyung’s attention when you hushly pack a few extra items into it. You glance once, twice, just to make sure he’s staying indulged with his video editing.

You don’t need to announce that you’re heading to the shower. But you’re hoping Taehyung understands your need to lock the bathroom door behind you. With grace, you twist the nozzle for the shower on, waiting for the temperature of the water to blast the warmth you desire.

“In and out,” you mumble to yourself. “Don’t take forever.”

With the time ticking, you bath yourself faster than usual. Every inch of your skin is loathed up with your soapy washcloth and each stand of your hair touches shampoo and conditioner. When it comes to shaving, you choose to take your time. There’s no point of rushing in a haste and accidentally nipping yourself somewhere.

You prep and prime the rest of your body once you exit the shower. Running your mouth through with some fresh mouthwash, you multitask with lathering lotion all over your skin.

For the finale, you place some light make-up on your face. Highlighting your eyes and illuminating your cheeks with complimentary colors for you. 

A wicked smile stretches across your face once you pull out your black lingerie from your bag. It was perfectly hidden with the Ghostface mask you’ve stored along with a retractable plastic dagger. You slip on piece by piece, lace and fishnets covering over your body in a sinful and sinister kind of way. Your thong sits tight across your waist, and the garter belts from the corset piece you now wear clips onto the stockings on your thighs.

“Shit,” you look around the counter of the sink for your phone. You must have left it on the bed while you snuck away here. No time to take some sexy Ghostface mirror selfies without ruining the surprise first.

“Baby, are you ok in there?” Taehyung's concerned voice calls out from behind the door.

You’re quick to interrupt, cutting any further talk off as you sinch the last belt over your waist.

“I’m good! Just thought I dropped something down the sink, but I didn’t!”

This is the first time you’ve worn something this elegant and fancy for Taehyung, with a new twist to it. The mask you hold in your hand lifts over your face, covering the top of your head before it settles in place.

The sheer black material of the eye holes only dims your vision slightly; but other than that you can see most of everything clearly.

You turn off the bathroom light before you open the door to return to Taehyung. With the fake dagger in one hand and your other on the handle, you hold your breath until you finally are ready to step through.

Finding yourself on the wall, you slant against it in a saucy pose. Lowering yourself just enough to look like you’re nearly ready to continue slipping. Your boyfriend doesn’t hear you at first, not with his nose driven deep into his cell phone and thumbs tapping away on the screen.

“Hey babe,” you tap lightly against the wall with your knuckles. “I want to play a game.”

Your outfit is hiked shorter than usual, showing off more lower half and making you appear all the leggier as your fishnet stockings welcome Taehyung’s eyes. The black lingerie calls to him, even the added Ghostface mask to top it all off. Your breasts are held firm against your chest with how your corset fits. Shaping you in such a beautiful and complementarity way. You wiggle your fake weapon at him as you drag the tip of it down between your chest to your navel. Forcing his eyes to follow your every move.

And how could he focus on anything besides you right now? 

The buzzing of his phone in his hand doesn’t register to him. The noise on the television doesn’t distract him. The only thing his attention is on is how godly, how gorgeous, you look right here.

Right now.

“B-Baby?” His jaw drops. You’ve rendered him nearly speechless as his mind processes how completely stunning and mouthwatering you are. “Is this for me?” He smiles with amusement.

You nod your head slowly, using the knife to trail down your thigh and up between them. Lightly toying with the idea of it touching you in your naughty bits.

“Do you like it?” You lift yourself off the wall. Slowly you walk towards your dumbfounded boyfriend as sexy as you can, swaying your hips with each step. “I thought this could be a nice little treat for our anniversary, babe.”

“Oh, this is most definitely a nice little treat,” he comments as he licks his lips. Taehyung places his phone down on the coffee table in front of him. “Look at you!” He exclaims with a wide grin. “Look at this fucking outfit, I mean… fuck me, wow!”

He praises with excitement and wide eyes. Taehyung practically eats you up from head to toe.

“Thank you, I spent a lot of time thinking about how to woo you.”

“I’m howlin’ for you,” he jumps up from his chair. “Are you trying to kill me with that outfit?”

“Get the camera,” you flash him a smile.

Taehyung grabs hold of the recording device from the coffee table. Barely able to click it on, he covers the lens when he talks with you.

“This isn’t going on YouTube,” he murmurs with a nervous laugh.

You make your way over to your boyfriend, glide your hands up his chest and hook around his shoulders. The fake blade in your hand slowly draws lines up towards his neck. You attempt to be sexy and murderous at the same time.

“You wanna record me, babe?” You question rhetorically with seduction. As if you’re surprised he has the camera in his hand. Even though he cannot see your face behind the mask, he knows you’re giving him those sensual eyes he loves.

Taehyung focuses the camera on you, recording on play while he zooms in and out on your saucy attire. His eyes cannot leave you, mind racing with delicious thought after thought.

“Jesus, baby, you’re making me so hard. Best present ever!”

You pull his body close to yours, drag one of his hands to run up your thigh and around to the curve of your ass. Lifting your leg up, you allow Taehyung to hold you against him. His fingernails rake up your bare thighs, scratching and pulling at your skin and fabric.

His building erection becomes prominent through his shorts as you press yourself into him. To test him and to feel him.

“I can feel you,” you comment. With your might, you direct Taehyung to the edge of the bed before pushing him down to sit. His body flops enough for him to prop himself up by his elbows, looking up with you hungry and thirsty. His camera scans you from tip to toe, making sure to capture every single essence of your nightly Ghostface vibes. “I haven’t even gotten to play my game with you.”

Taehyung smiles, his teeth capturing his bottom lip. “You’re a fucking tease, you know that?”

“Oh, poo,” you mock lightheartedly. “Does Taehyung not want any of this?” you shimmy your chest just enough to emphasize your cleavage. For good measure, your hand comes up to squeeze the mound. Giving Taehyung a sight to see but also giving you a sensation you need.

Your boyfriend leans up and goes to grab at your chest, but you stop him with the dagger pointed at him. 

“Ah-ah!” You taunt, “My game.”

Taehyung laughs as he sits back and admits defeat, for now. He gives you a passive gaze but gestures for you to continue onward. He’s interested in what you want to do.

“Let’s have some trivia,” you start as you tilt your head. “But first, a couple of small rules.”

“I’m listening,” Taehyung nods obediently. 

“One, don’t interrupt,” you hold out a finger. You wiggle it at the camera that’s still on you as Taehyung raises his eyebrows at your asserting behavior. “Two, no touching!”

Taehyung deeply chuckles to himself. A challenge for him of course.

“And three,” you continue, “and this is the most important rule of them all…”

Your boyfriend shuffles himself up the bed slightly, legs spreading a smidgen wider for his growing bulge. It’s very evident through the fabric of his shorts, but you pay it no attention.

“I’m listening, baby. Tell me what it is,” he urges you on as he angles the camera.

Your knee bends into the end of the bed, pressing into the mattress where Taehyung is leaning back on. Stretching your legs open a little wider, you tease the idea of your prettiness and smooth thighs to him. The knife in your hand points towards the camera as your other hand presses into Taehyung’s chest to push him down.

“All eyes on me,” you speak beneath the mask you wear.

“God you’re so sexy…” Taehyung murmurs. His chest rises and falls with anticipation, and you already know you have him locked and loaded. “How did I get so luc –”

“– Let’s begin!” You twist the blade in your hand. “Get each question right and I'll touch myself for you. Get them wrong and well… let’s just say you won’t have a happy ending tonight.”

Taehyung’s smile never leaves his face while his eyes cannot focus on any specific part of your body. He wants to drink you all up, savior every single second of this sexy foreplay you have going on.

You hold up a single finger as you trail an invisible line above your cleavage area. It dances over each of your collar bones and up the length of your neck. A snicker escapes your throat, but the tone is more promiscuous than evil.

“I’ll give you an easy one. In the first Stab movies, which actress plays the part of the Woodsboro native, Sidney Prescott?”

Taehyung rolls his eyes, “Tori Spelling.”

“Yes! Very good,” you announce. Your palm grasps the mound of your tit as you feel yourself up in front of your boyfriend. Slowly, you slide your hand down the expanse of your torso down toward your hip. Making sure to outline all your curves and edges. You toy with the hemline of your panties through the sheer fabric that hangs down from your bust. “Ready for question number two?”

You watch the way Taehyung stares, rattling his brain about all the things he wants to do with you. To tease him further, your hand lands on his thigh as you guide it up toward the junction of his hips. With purpose, you avoid touching him where he’ll enjoy it the most. Letting him know you’re only centimeters away from pleasuring his cock.

“Yeah, hit me with the next one,” he murmurs. You can tell his voice is going softer as he stays focused.

“What was the name of the first book Gale Weathers wrote?”

You turn the dagger in your hand to drag the handle across your thigh. Bringing it up towards your clothed cunt that you keep spread open as your knee continues to bend into the mattress. Tilting your head, you let out a sweet “hmm?” noise towards Taehyung who is gawking at the way you decide to use your prop.

“Uh, uhm…”

“C’mon, babe. I know reading isn’t your forte… but a Ghostface fanatic should know this as well!”

“Isn’t it the Woodsboro Murders?” he looks up to you briefly for affirmation. There’s a sweet innocence to his eyes, clouded within the lust that pools in there.

“Ah? Is that your final answer?” you chuckle as you place your other knee onto the bed to now tower your boyfriend. With force, you make sure he’s pinned flat on his back.

“Why do you make it sound like it’s wrong?” he quizzes you as he places the camera to the side.

“Oh, because it is,” you interject quickly. With nothing else said, you take Taehyung’s answer and discipline him. “It’s Wrongly Accused. Based on the Maureen Prescoutt murder.” You unwrap a piece of black fabric off of your outfit, long enough to wrap around Taehyung’s head to cover his eyes. You’ve chosen to blind him from seeing you for now, since his answer was incorrect. He needs to be penalized somehow.

“Baby,” he whines. “I want to see you!”

“Get the questions right and maybe you will,” you threaten.

You grab ahold of his hand and drag it close to your warm body. Giving Taehyung something to visualize, you guide his palm across your fishnet leggings and up the side of your hip. He hums satisfaction, it matches the lopsided grin plastered to his face.

“Next question. Which college did Sidney and her friends get attacked at back in 1998?”

You shuffle your body forward, placing both of your legs around Taehyung’s frame as you sit on his lap. His hard-on pains with lack of touch beneath you, but your added warmth and friction helps the slightest. Taehyung’s free hand taps on his chest as he ponders the question while the one you escort up your body touches and feels you.

“Windsor College.”

“Correct!” You praise as you sit further down onto his bulge. With excitement, you bring Taehyung’s hand up to have access to your breasts. You moan softly when he takes the lead and gropes you across your chest. Making sure to feel and fondle both of them equally and with full appreciation.

“I like this game,” he comments with a gruffier voice.

“I bet you do, babe.” You lean down toward your boyfriend's face, smiling under the mask at how pretty and complacent he is under your ministrations. You allow him to continue to tug and toy with your tits, plucking at your nipples through the material when he can. But you take a fist full of his hair with your hand and hold him to the mattress. A little roughness wouldn’t hurt him. “Here’s another for you,” you hold up your fake knife against his throat. “In Stab 6, what images did the Facebook stalker use to catfish Trudy?”

Taehyung chuckles once again, tilting his head to the side as you place more pressure with the grip on his hair.

“Channing Tatum’s Abercrombie photos. I’m sure you’d enjoy those too.”

“Not as much as I enjoy you,” you smile. 

Your grip releases from him as you settle back on your heels. His hand chases you, but you’re fast to move it down lower. Between the apex of your thighs. Taehyung hums at the contact and from how damp you already feel. He skillfully pets along your folds from the outside of your thong, tracing patterns across your lady-bits.

You take a moment to relish in the feeling. It nearly distracts you from your game because of how much you want him to sink his fingers inside of you.

The two of you share a warm giggle with another, noticing how your hips start to move with the pace of his fingers.

“I thought you were supposed to touch yourself?” Taehyung teases.

“Well,” you breathe. “I changed my… mind.”

Taehyung grins, “I wonder why…” he acts coy. His knuckles graze across your clit through your panties and it forces you to hold yourself by placing a hand on his chest. “Do I get another question?”

Your breath hitches, it’s becoming unbearable to breathe under your mask. You clear your throat, gripping a fist full of his shirt, “Yes. Last year, what was the name of Sheriff Judy’s son who was murdered mere minutes after her at their residence here in Woodsboro?”

A fingertip trails on the outside of your thong, tickling you in the process. Taehyung slips his digit underneath, touching your slippery pussy. It glides smoothly, easy for him to slide further to touch you deeper.

“Fuck. Tae,” you softly groan.

He reaches around with his other hand, testing how far he can go while you still hold the dominant position. His palm grips your bare ass, weaving through the pieces of fishnet leggings before ripping a piece of it apart. 

“Y-Your answer?” you breathe.

“Kiss me,” he demands.

“That’s not an answer,” you laugh. You release a moan when you feel his finger twist and dip into the entrance of your pussy, slotting knuckle deep. “Tae –”

“Wes,” he whispers as he leans up. With a growl, he snakes his arm around your hips and pulls you closer to him. Taehyung nudges his face in the nook of your neck, breathing heat against your skin while he deeply chuckles. “Fuck this game,” he speaks against your neck, leaving a sensual kiss against it. The whine that escapes your lips from feeling his teeth lightly dragging along your sweet spot fills the empty room. It’s louder than anything playing on the television behind you.

Taehyung pulls you in a humping-motion against his hand that’s lodged between your thighs. He flicks against the walls of the inside of your pussy, searching for your sensitive areas.

You drop your prop as you frantically pull up Taehyung’s t-shirt, hauling it over his head to undress him as fast as possible. You curl your fingernails against his shoulders as Taehyung nibbles your skin, causing goosebumps to rise and fall.

Despite every rational part of your brain reminding you that your game is at stake, you couldn’t care less with the result anymore. You and Taehyung had your fun, even though it was brief, and now you’re ready to get down to business.

His skin is warm against yours as you push him down with you following. You rip off your mask, tossing the pathetic item to the side and appreciate a nice cool breeze of fresh air hitting your face. Sweat dampens around your hairline as your lips connect to his. You rush to remove the fabric around his eyes, using your fingers to rake along the roots of his hair.

You rock back and forth on his finger, begging for him to enter another one. Taehyung follows your lead in the make-out, tongue chasing yours as you dive deeper inside of his mouth. You groan in unison, smiling as your teeth clink with how eager the two of you are.

“You’re so hot,” he comments in between breathless kisses.

Between the sensations of his deft finger, how hungrily he eats at your mouth, and how smooth and naked he feels against you already, you feel like you’ve entered heaven.

“Oh, Tae,” you hum. Your breath comes out labored, electrified.

Briskly, you reach down between your bodies and slip your hand around the elastic of his night shorts. Your movements are quick and frenzied as you grip onto his length, feeling the heavy girth bare. Taehyung voices a choked moan, surprised with the sudden touch. Your wrist flicks as much as it can in your compromising position, enough to run your palm up and down his cock.

You feel the heat racing to your face as Taehyung slides a second finger inside of you, rubbing in a come-hither gesture. Your head nearly falls down against his shoulder as you attempt to not lose control of your body, but the feeling is so toe-curling good!

With desire, you look up through half-lidded eyes. Lust fuels your entire body, you can tell it affects Taehyung too.

“I want you in me,” you speak with kiss ridden lips. “Fuck me like this, babe.”

Taehyung wastes no time shimmying his shorts down far enough to release his cock between the two of you. His chest heaves with each shallow breath he takes. A hand comes around to playfully slap and hungrily massage at the flesh of your ass as he hoists you higher and angles himself below you.

“Move up for me, baby.” He turns his head toward you, a smile laced on his lips. Without another word, he leans forward and captures your lips in a bruising kiss while his hand rips at the thin thong that you wear. You can hear the tear audibly, but somehow it turns you on knowing how the desire within Taehyung is taking over. “Let me fuck you in this pretty little Ghostface outfit.”

You lean up for him, biting down on your lower lip as you look at Taehyung clumsily shuffling himself under you. His eyes stare at your bare, dripping pussy. Likes the way it shines with your wetness.

“That’s right, come sit on me,” he beckons as his dick taps against your pelvis. “See how sharp my weapon is,” he jokes in a sexy manner.

Cracking up with laughter, you lift enough to feel him at your entrance. His bulbous mushroom head feels so nice and smooth, ready to glide right in.

Your hand comes out to grip around Taehyung’s throat, a surprise for both you and him. Yet something in the back of your mind tells you that this is good. Something he may enjoy with your power-play move tonight. Slowly, and only lightly, do you squeeze around the column of his neck, raising your eyebrows as you anticipate his sign of protest.

You take him in with one movement, hissing at the sensation the moment you sit flat on his lap. He fills you full, your cunt thanks you with vibrating pulses around him. Allowing a few moments and testing thrusts to go by, you adjust accordingly. Until you’re ready to go faster.

Harder.

Every bounce has his dick reaching deeper inside of you, opening you wider and dragging against every inch of your velvety walls. You search for his eyes when you tighten your grip around his neck, but you see nothing but pure enjoyment on his face. Taehyung moans as his hands help lead you with each swivel of your hips. His mouth is parted, eyes fluttering shut with exhilaration shooting through his nerves.

“Shit,” he seethes through his teeth. “Baby slow down, I'm going to cum.”

But you don’t listen to his plea. You want him to cum. Bust his nut and lose control because of you. So you set yourself, pushing harder down onto his cock and riding your boyfriend for all he’s worth. Even selfishly rutting your clit into his pelvic bone to get yourself off.

You notice the way Taehyung’s eyebrows downturn with a spike of fury. “Baby,” he warns as his voice gets cut off from you moving the hand on his neck to his mouth. You cover his lips, hushing him from putting up a fight.

Though, Taehyung does not take a liking to that.

Within a snap of a finger, Taehyung hoists his body up enough to gain an advantage on you. He twists around fast, pushing you to the side as he slips out of your grasp. Taehyung’s hands move you around, holding you with your chest against the mattress as your ass stays up.

“Tae, wait!” you laugh and beg. You try to wiggle out of the position, but he pins you down by your arms. “I want to make you cum!”

“Oh, trust me,” he huffs. “You and only you will make me cum.”

Taehyung takes a handful of your ass before spreading your cheeks open. He stands behind you before inserting himself, sliding his cock in from a brand new angle.

You groan out loud, pulling your legs together. The mattress’s sheets ball in your fists as Taehyung thrusts inside of you at a steady pace. Your body shifts up on the bed, but keeps getting dragged back down against Taehyung’s lap. He’s amazed how fast you fall apart with your whole body tensing against him.

The small moans you try to hide are highly cherished by him. Fuels Taehyung to keep pressing forward and pile-drive his cock into you.

“Oh fuck, fuck!” You curse with your face pressed down. You purposely muffle your noises to not disturb the neighboring guests in the other rooms. The phone is still unplugged so at least you won’t be receiving any noise complaints through there.

You encourage Taehyung with the higher moans. It tells him to fill you up, go harder and faster all at once. His cock starts to twitch as he draws near to his release, ready to burst his entire load all because of you.

“Do it with me,” he demands as his cock dives deeper into you. His pelvis slaps hard against your backside, hoping to force you to your orgasm. “I can feel you tightening up, baby. Cum for me. Show me how this slutty Ghostface cums.”

You turn your head to the side to gasp for fresh air. Through your lashes it’s not hard to tell that the camera is still on the two of you, now performing a surprise sex-tape. The thought crosses your mind and it makes you curious if Taehyung has noticed as well.

“Babe,” you whine with the pressure of his dick inside of you, “Babe the camera?”

You can hear the smile in his chuckle when he reaches for the recording device. Taehyung still maintains his pace while now capturing a new view. From the back, the screen records your entire backside and how his lengthy cock slithers in and out of your folds. Your black lingerie compliments you so beautifully, Taehyung never wants to forget about it.

The slapping from skin on skin resounds so loudly, almost covering the noise from the television. It only quickens when Taehyung sets into another drive.

He calls you by your pet name, grinning as you mewl over the size and speed of his cock. He compliments you through the camera while one hand holds you tight by the hip.

“Touch yourself,” he commands. “Reach down there and play with yourself.”

You obey, slithering your fingers between your legs and begin rubbing circles against your swollen clit. Your teeth bite a mouthful of the sheets below you as Taehyung fastens his pace, matching the eagerness of your digits.

“Mmf!” you groan as a build up inside you finally shatters. Cracking like a whip against your nerves and shooting sparks of pleasure throughout you. Your back arches harshly, almost knocking Taehyung off his balance as you press back into him. Cunt so eager to get fucked.

The camera drops to the side of the bed as your boyfriend firmly places his other hand around your thigh, anchoring himself to your body as you ride out your orgasm. He holds you against him, dick submerged as deep as he can go as he stills. Shifting his hips ever so slightly as his cock quivers as cum spurts out the tip, dressing your cervix and inner walls.

“Mm, yeah,” he voices with a slack jaw. His hips continue to roll into you slowly, pushing every ounce of cum into your pussy. “I wasn’t risking dirtying the outfit,” he huffs.

You continue to wiggle with the aftermath vibrations throughout your body, but you giggle nonetheless. Craning your head enough to look back at your handsome boyfriend you smile brightly.

“How kind of you,” you speak in sarcasm. “I’m sure that wasn’t the only reason why you want to cum inside of me.” You clench down on his lodged cock to tease him again, watching the way his face suddenly contorts to a painful, sensitive reaction.

“I thank you for taking birth control, for not just sexy time, but…” he anxiously confesses. “Actually, no. Right now, I really thank you for taking it.”

“I know what you were trying to say,” you comment lightheartedly. “It helps with more than just ‘sexy time’.”

“I love you,” he states to clear the air. “I really do,” he playfully pulls at a garter belt connected to your stocking and corset. It snaps back in place against your skin, “You’re my favorite person in the world.”

“I love you too,” you smile as you prop yourself up by your elbows. “And Happy Anniversary!”

Taehyung lifts the disposed Ghostface mask off the floor after he detaches himself from you. He inspects the item, flipping it back and forth. He smiles, giving you a quick eyebrow raise and sparkling look.

“My turn?” He questions as he pulls the mask over his head and allows it to sit on his face. “Let’s play some more games, baby.”

You slip on a nice early fall dress that pairs with your brown booties. The jean jacket you want to wear lounges on the back of the chair beside you, waiting to be picked up once you finish tightening a belt around your waist.

A small lingering ache rests between your legs from the previous night. Taehyung surely had fun with you. You wince when he comes out of the bathroom from his shower, noticing the bruise on the side of his forehead that has formed a small grotesque spot.

“I’m sorry again,” you inspect lightly. Stopping him in his tracks, your finger touches the bump. “It doesn’t look as bad as I thought it would though.”

“It’s alright, it’s my fault for having my head too close to yours when I tried to… you know.”

You shrug, “Yeah. Might need to give a girl a warning before touching her asshole.”

Your lips softly peck the swollen spot on his head before you allow him to continue to his clothes. Mentally, you check off all the items you have already packed back up in your bags in preparation of departure.

The television plays the local news aimlessly in the background as you scroll through your phone. You can barely hear from how low the volume is, but an alert blurts on the screen in bold red lettering.

“Breaking News! –”

“Baby, can you pull up the directions for Fairvale? The Bates Motel shouldn’t be too far from here,” your gruff voiced boyfriend askes.

You blink, trying to listen to both the conversations. “Sure. Did you gather everything from the bathroom?”

Taehyung slips his pants up his legs as a toothbrush is lodged in his mouth. Multitasking at its finest. He brushes his teeth as he dresses himself, pulling over his shirt section by section. He grunts a noise, one you know well that means he already finished putting everything together.

“Murdered! Several bodies have been found! Adding to the Woodsboro mystery of horrors. This once peaceful, now suffering community, continues to be terrorized and haunted by masked killings. Like out of some plot of a horror movie.”

Both you and Taehyung freeze at the commentary coming from the television in the corner of the hotel room. Stunned, you watch the news reporter stand in front of what seems to be the Macher’s house. Which is now turned into a funhouse for visiting horror-enthusiasts.

“No fuckin’ way…” Taehyung murmurs as he watches ideally as the images begin to show. Caution tape, police cars, and ambulances surround the reporter who holds their microphone to their mouth. “No way this shit is real.”

“We… we were there last night…” you trail off.

“Just after midnight, a masked killer wreaked havoc through an attraction site for –”

“Do you think…” Taehyung begins to speak.

“... I don’t want to think,” you stand up abruptly. “I just… Can we go?”

You glance at Taehyung nervously, but you’re already gripping your jacket and sliding it on your arms. Something spikes deep inside of you, something that shocks you. Maybe Woodsboro isn’t the best place for you to be, even though you once thought everything would be fine. Searching for your purse, you lift all of your bags in one heave.

“Hey, hey!” Taehyung tries to calm you down with a softer tone. “Hey, listen. Just wait for a second!” 

His hand grips you by your elbow, pulling you gently back toward him.

Taehyung’s hands find their way around your body, touching your face in a caressing kind of way. His thumb runs over the curve of your cheek while he looks into your frantic eyes.

“It’s ok to feel freaked out. This is freaking me out as well,” he comments. “Don’t go running so fast. Stay with me, baby.” He tries to sooth your speeding thoughts. “We’ll leave together.”

Moodboard themed credited to: @/kth1 (me)

© All rights reserved under @kth1​ - do not copy, repost, modify, edit, or translate any of my work without my direct consent. This TUMBLR and AO3 the ONLY places my fics are posted.

[theultimateultimateweapon]

Kirby: Meta Knight and the Knight of Hades (Chapter 5)

“Meta Knight is on another rampage!”

“Another one!?”

“Popular restaurants are being destroyed, one after another!”

“Don’t forgive Meta Knight at all! We should be angry!”

Such news ran through the galaxy in a blink of an eye. Captain Vul and the Meta Knights knew the confusion was inevitable. Of course, it was Beryl that was rampaging, but not everyone knew this.

After all, he was wielding the Galaxia pretending to be Meta Knight. He was even running around politely saying, “I’m Meta Knight! Remember it!”

“Damn…! Beryl!”

Captain Vul paced in the lobby and shook.

Javelin Knight said, “He’s going to ruin Meta Knight’s reputation and become the number one swordfighter in the galaxy. He’s doing a pretty good job at it too!”

“I won’t let him do that!” Captain Vul shouted.

“Well, the real Meta Knight will get better… I’m sure… I’m sure…” Captain Vul had a dark look.

Meta Knight was being treated with great care by well-known doctors. However, he still hadn’t regained consciousness. Thanks to the treatment he is stable, but if his condition continues for a long time it won’t matter.

“Yeah… let’s see what Kirby is doing!”

Captain Vul stomped and shouted. “Axe Knight! Contact Kirby!”

He ordered Axe Knight in the communications seat.

Axe Knight sighed. “Are you sure? We can’t do anything with Kirby and the others because we don’t know where the enemy will appear.”

“Yeah… I know! I know…!” He couldn’t help sitting by doing nothing.

Therefore, Captain Vul contacted Kirby and the others many times day and night to complain to them.

Axe Knight turned to the communication equipment.

Meanwhile, Kirby’s team was doing their best.

No matter how desperately they chased Beryl, their opponent was quick to escape. Even if they rushed to the news of Meta Knight’s rampage, he had already escaped. They couldn’t stop it.

What’s more, Kirby and his friends would arrive at the scenes and see restaurants with broken windows and destroyed towns. All they could hear were furious grudges against Meta Knight.

Even if Kirby and his friends told them “It’s a fake that’s rampaging!” no one cared.

People would even shout at them “Aren’t you a member of the Meta Knight!?”

“Sigh… I’m sorry!” Blade Knight kicked the stones at his feet.

King Dedede said with a moody face. “Why do we have to do this, it’s all because of Meta Knight!”

“Hey, shut your mouth!” Sword Knight and Blade Knight roared at King Dedede in unison.

“It’s not Meta Knight’s fault!”

“Yeah, it’s the fake doing these bad things!”

“Tch… I know that…” King Dedede sounded defeated.

Sword Knight’s child-like communication device started ringing.

King Dedede said with a disgusted face, “Well, it’s Captain Vul! Calling to complain all day instead of listening to what we’re going through…!”

It’s as he says, the captain has made millions of small calls throughout the day. Kirby and the others were fed up with it.

Sword Knight had no choice but to respond to the call. “Yes… this is Sword Knight…”

“This is Captain Vul,” came an annoyed voice. “How is the situation? Did you get any clues about Beryl?”

“No, it’s not good. He moves too fast… is there any new information on your end?”

“Umm… no.”

“How is Meta Knight?”

Unfortunately, Captain Vul gave a heavy answer. “He hasn’t woken up yet.”

“...Is that so…”

“The doctors are doing their best. Chase Beryl with all your might! We might catch him soon!”

“Of course.”

Sword Knight cut off communication.

Then…

“He...hello…”

Someone approached Kirby.

It was a little boy. Looking around Kirby and his friends, he spoke in a frightened manner. “You guys are chasing Meta Knight, right?”

“Yeah? What of it?”

When Blade Knight asked, the boy weakly replied.

“My town was attacked by Meta Knight. The flowers I cherished were also trampled…”

Tears came to the boy’s eyes.

“Please don’t give up. Defeat Meta Knight.”

Blade Knight said sullenly, “That’s a misunderstanding. It’s not Meta Knight who is rampaging. It’s a fake disguised as Meta Knight!”

“...Eh? But he was calling himself Meta Knight…?”

“It’s a lie. It’s a bad guy who’s disguised as Meta Knight, his real name is Beryl.”

“Is that so? I’m not sure… this…” The boy presented a piece of paper. “The man who attacked our town, dropped this paper.”

“What!?”

“I thought it might be a clue…”

“Show me!”

Blade Knight tried to grab the paper, but King Dedede snatched it from the side.

Immediately, King Dedede’s complexion changed. “This is…!”

“What’s on there!?”

“It’s a list of towns.” King Dedede showed the paper to everyone.

On the paper, the names of the towns that Beryl had attacked so far were written in order.

Sword Knight said, “This is… no way, Beryl’s plan…!?”

“Uhuh!” King Dedede snorted and nodded.

Blade Knight shouted with excitement. “In other words, we know the next town that he will attack!”

“Yes. At the end of the memo is ‘Planet Charm - Ancient Temple’!”

“He’s gonna attack that next!” Kirby jumped and shouted. “Let’s go! Let’s defeat Beryl!”

The boy who brought the note was relieved. “Good! Now you can get rid of Meta Knight.”

Sword Knight and Blade Knight screamed in anger. “Not Meta Knight!” “It’s a fake!”

“I-i’m sorry! Anyways, please defeat the bad guy, please!” The boy bowed down.

Waddle Dee called to the boy but he started to run. “Oh, wait. That…” However, he ran off without turning around.

Waddle Dee tried to chase after him, but the boy disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“I know… that kid… somehow…” Waddle Dee thought.

Regardless of what Waddle Dee thought, Kirby and the others knew what they had to do next.

Sword Knight shouted in a brave voice, “We’ve done it! This time we can get him!”

King Dedede nodded. “Uh, hurry up! Planet Charm!”

“Oh yeah, I have to tell Captain Vul.”

While Sword Knight was speaking to the communication device, Waddle Dee spoke up to King Dedede.

“Great King, I’m worried about something.”

“Oh? What?”

“That memo… is it real?” Waddle Dee looked worried.

“What?” King Dedede was stubborn.

“I think it’s suspicious.” Waddle Dee opened his arms and shouted. “Beryl is a very cautious and evil guy. How could he accidentally drop a note?”

“Mmm…? What do you mean?”

“The boy may have been Beryl in disguise.”

“...What!?” King Dedede was stunned.

Kirby, who was listening on the side, was surprised and shouted. “No way! He was a kind boy. He was totally different from Beryl!”

“It sure seemed so!” King Dedede laughed away. “No way, Waddle Dee. No matter how much, Beryl can’t turn into such a weak child!”

“Beryl is a master of disguise.” Waddle Dee became more and more anxious. “He can change his appearance and voice as he likes. If he can disguise himself as Meta Knight or Captain Vul, it must be easy to masquerade as a young boy.”

“Um… um… if you ask me…”

King Dedede thought with his arms folded.

Waddle Dee continued.

“And it’s weird that the last place written is an ancient temple, even though Beryl has only hit populated towns so far.”

“Yes, that’s right. There’s no reason to attack an unpopulated place like an ancient temple…” King Dedede nodded loudly. “That’s a good point, Waddle Dee. Now that I think of it, the speed of that escape was similar to Beryl’s. He could have disguised himself as a boy and handed us this memo to lure us in. That creep!”

At that time, Sword Knight finished his call.

“I told Captain Vul what was happening. The battleship Halberd is urgently heading to planet Charm.”

“Don’t go to Charm.” King Dedede told him what Waddle Dee had noticed.

“I see… I see.” Sword Knight heard the whole story and nodded. “Beryl tried to lure us out with that memo.”

Blade Knight also spoke up. “In other words, the ancient temple must have a trap like that pit. In that case, we should avoid it!”

“I have to tell Captain Vul. The trip to Charm must be cancelled.” Sword Knight got out his communication device.

However, Kirby shouted. “Yeah! Let’s go to planet Charm!”

“Kirby?” Blade Knight said, amazed. “Did you not hear the story? This is a trap.”

“I know, but if Beryl will be there, then we have to go.” Kirby’s eyes gleamed with power. “We’re chasing after Beryl. We finally have a clue, but if we don’t go after him, then we’ll be back to square one!”

King Dedede looked at the others.

Sword Knight pondered, and Blade Knight roamed around.

Usually, they agree to go with Kirby without hesitation. However, they’ve seen the horrors of Beryl’s traps. The last trap left Meta Knight wandering between the border of life and death. It’s too dangerous to walk right into a place they knew would be trapped…

It was King Dedede who opened his mouth first. “...Hmm. I know the situation is rough, but it’s exactly as Kirby says.”

Sword Knight and Blade Knight raised their faces.

King Dedede laughed bluntly and raised his fist. “Whether it’s a trap or whatever, we can’t afford to miss the chance! Let’s go to the planet Charm!”

Sword Knight and Blade Knight hesitated and nodded.

“...Oh, oh. Alright then.”

“We have to catch him as soon as possible.”

“Let’s go, and of course, be careful of his traps.”

Sword Knight and Blade Knight, as if they had decided together, put their hands on the handles of their swords and squeezed them tightly.

It was Kirby who blew away the heavy air. “Then, let’s go let’s go~! Before that, I want a snack!”

“A, a snack?”

Both knights looked at him as if he was crazy.

“Hey, Kirby!”

“Don’t play around!”

“Play? What are you talking about!” Kirby replied with a serious look. “We’re going to beat Beryl! We’ll be in trouble if we go on an empty stomach!”

“I’m telling you, you guys!”

“Be serious!”

“I am serious!” Kirby looked up at the sky and shouted. “Seriously, we’ll need some snacks! Cookies, chocolate, candy! If we only have sweets we’ll get bored, so rice crackers and popcorn too!”

“Not so fast, Kirby!” King Dedede slammed Kirby with a harsh voice. 

Waddle Dee looked up at him with respect.

The great king turned around and said, “You really think that’ll feed you? If you’re like me you’ll need a huge shortcake and 100 large rice cakes!”

“...Your majesty…” Waddle Dee gave us his respect and dropped his face.

Kirby’s eyes shined. “Yes! Then, 100 meat buns and 100 steamed buns!”

“We’ll also need a drink. Maybe strawberry juice, cream soda…”

“And apple juice and orange juice! And coffee, milk, cocoa, and…!”

If they kept going, it seemed like they would go on forever.

“Okay, okay. You can buy as many snacks as you want. We need to go!”

(Chapter 4 - Table of Contents - Chapter 6)

[kirby-the-gorb]

reply roundup! + announcement

things will be restructuring soon:

I may do one more normal reply roundup after this, but then they will become shorter, more sporadic, and less thorough - just whatever catches my eye that I have something to say about, rather than systemically trawling the notes of every post since the last one

the reblob queue is still full up until mid-november, but when that runs out I will also be changing how that gets filled - organizational tags will stay but commentary will be less frequent, and I’ll just refill as I go instead of big days of concentrated effort which means you may get the same artist multiple days and it may just run out sometimes if no one’s posted in a while

I will be stopping the patreon requests and wallpapers after fulfillment for november signups - that means there will be patreon requests and a wallpaper that go up in december, but none after that. I may or may not sub in a $5 postcard tier at that time, for a little print in the mail of whichever drawing was my favorite that month, but that’s still a maybe. other than that the patreon will become more of a tip jar, if you just like tucking a little extra spending money in my pocket so I can order better food sometimes :v I’m pretty sure the favorites posts every couple months should continue though.

daily drawings will definitely continue.

this is unfortunately necessary due to my health.

highlights:

the [preview] for next month’s wallpaper is up

patreon requests for this month are up for [my wife], [fleurdelis], and [matt]

my friend darian and I did a livestream and the vod is up on [youtube] with proper captions (I will not be able to do captions like this again anytime soon even if I stream again, soz)

my wife had an important interview and she said it went well, we should know how well by like the 4th (if it went well enough we get to move back home next summer)

on [story]:

@hobgirl​ said: go girl give me nothing!! actually this is exclusively how i talk to my friend, describing the book im reading like: SO her husband who died of cancer was actually a clone and her actual husband is only sort of dead because hes an owl now, but maybe not. either way the owl died and that made her lonely so she gave in to the supernatural force of whatever, that turned her into a big beast with thousands of eyes and gills and actual mountains maybe??? and she met HER clone who DIDNT have cancer!!!!! thats what i picture kirby saying as well

this is absolutely how I tell stories to my wife too lol (sounds like a wild book)

@ceylonsilvergirl​ said: talking to an excited 3-year-old. all you can do it nod and occasionally say “wow!’’ “for reals!?’’ “no way!’’ “what happened next!?’’

bless their hearts they are so excited but they’re not super good at pronunciation or sentence structure yet so you just gotta roll with it

on [zap]:

@hobgirl​ said: somehow i did not expect his skeleton to look like that. like.... it feels like he should have tiny lil ribs cause he can deform so much, but either way his skeleton was gonna be cursed!

I did intentionally not give him a sternum, not having the ribs fused to anything in front does give them a lot more mobility! but honestly he probably does not have an endoskeleton at all I just think it’s funny lol

on [teeth]:

@rajayohn​ said: oh my god you actually did it you made kirby look adorable with teeth

ehehehehehe >:)

regarding [stream]:

@ceylonsilvergirl​ said: The stream was fun! Thanks!

@slimey-2​ said: was bummed out to be busy during this stream, I'll catch the next one if you do it again!

totally! it was a good time and if I don’t corner myself into writing the captions I should be able to manage another one sometime :>

on [bears]:

@brainfullofhotsauce​ said: Omg Neapolitan

omg you’re right that was completely by accident :0

on [basket]:

@ceylonsilvergirl​ said: Kirby moses. koses

@jupiterlandings​ said: *deliver us from Prince of Egypt plays faintly in the distance*

yes. exactly. you get me.

on [clue]:

@chaosinanutshell​ said: A CLUE A CLUE!! movie??? heck yes plz. bring back my boys Joe and Steve, the OGs. me when I was taking my bio test

honestly the trailer is really cute, my childhood friends and I are old enough that we kinda aged out right as joe started but I sent the trailer to the group chat and they were like “ohhhhh we should watch it!!!!” (and those answers are in there somewhere! maybe!)

on [balloon]:

@angst-and-fajitas​ said: 'are they helium balloons? I told ya the kirb aint made for helium balloons! oh great now he's floatin away'

@ghostieblotts said: prev tags how does it feel to be a genius you're brilliant. i love this style!!

I’ve watched that vine so many times, I can hear it so clearly in my head lol. great joke. (and thank you!)

@ceylonsilvergirl​ said: when my son was very young, probably about 2 or 3, he had received a balloon from a kind employee when we were grocery shopping. I tied it to his wrist but he insisted he hold it instead, and when we went to the park afterwards... yes the inevitable occurred. it was one of those moments where he just plain had to learn. it wasn’t a tragic thing, more of a disappointment, but an important lesson nonetheless

aww, never a fun lesson to learn. (also she feels really good about how the interview went, I hope your meeting went okay too!)

on [baseball]:

@imkirb​ said: me when the padres, but at least they're SEXY B)

yeah looks like the padres really got the tar beat out of em this series. matt and I are mariners fans so... :’)

@ceylonsilvergirl​ said: Kirby darling, I’m afraid someone lied to you about how baseball is played

maybe he’s practicing! (it’s probably not very good practice.)

on [postcard idea]:

@imkirb said: shiii I wouldn't complain bout a postcard deal, that sounds fresh asf

@ceylonsilvergirl said: Don’t push yourself or your health on our account. Take care of yourself first

I’m doing my best to balance the two! we’ll see what happens.

from the askbox:

@chaosinanutshell said: Hallo :3 I was wondering, have u watched terminalmontage's kirbo videos? like the latest one for dream buffet which was basically a fever dream lmao

hope u have a good day (●'◡'●)

I’ve seen a couple of them, the humor is a little bit too fart- and scream-based for me sometimes but they have some jokes that really hit for me in there too. I love how absolutely brainless their kirby looks though lol (and thank you!)

[mattsboldyy]

The 24 Days in the Bubble | WJ Canada

CHAPTER 3 | SELECTION CAMP

-

Summary- Selection Camp begins. Y/N and Kaiden begin getting closer. Y/N also makes some new friends. Selection camp can’t be that bad, right? And final cuts are made. Does Y/N make it onto the final roster?

Requested- No! Idea come from myself :)

Words- 2k

Warnings- mentions of covid, fem!reader, covid testing, cuss words,

Requests- Closed for now :)

Taglist: @2manytabsopen @prettyboyjackhughes @sorokns @ricohenrique @cherrylita @tonyspep @lovereadinghockeyy @only-goalies-allowed @hawksgirl1 @mysoftboybowen @hoespill​ @tysonsjosty @cherrybarzy

Authors note- I got all of my information from google, websites, & from the documentary Team Canada put out based off of the 2021 Tournament therefore, some information that takes place in this series may be false, but just know that I got all my information from the documentary and the internet. Thank you and enjoy!

-

-

-

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

“Hey Y/N!” Kirby said, as you entered the locker room where you, and 46 boys were dressing for the start of selection camp.

”Hey Dacher!” You said, walking over to your stall, putting down your backpack, and pulling out your phone to text your family.

’About to go in for the first day of selection camp! Love you guys!’ Was the text you typed out to the groupchat you had made with your best friends and family before hitting the send button and putting your phone away.

“Alrighty guys, are you already?” Andre said, adjusting his mask.

A mix of “Yeah!” and “Yes!” were thrown around the room.

After getting out on the ice, selection camp in Red Deer began. 

“Hey, you’re doing great out there!” Kaiden said, skating up to you and tapping his stick on your kneepad. 

“Thanks Kaiden! Not to bad yourself!” You said, touching his helmet as he went back to skating and stickhandling.

“Soooo what's that about?” Jamie asked, when you turned toward the other end of the ice, not realizing he was standing there.

“Holy shit Jamie! What are you doing here?” You asked, eyes wide.

“Uhh I’m at selection camp... why wouldn’t I be? But you and Kaiden like each other. Just admit it.” Jamie asked, giggling and wrapping his arm around your shoulder, pulling you into his side.

“What? No!” You said, skating away from him and hearing Jamie laugh so hard you were sure he had tears coming out of his eyes.

Anyways, you couldn’t really decide if it selection camp was easy or not. You couldn’t feel your legs, and it seemed like nobody else could either. Andre and the assistant coaches made all of the players stick handle, timed skates to the far blue line and back, and a few of the players helped the goalies by shooting slap shots at them and acted like you were in a shoot out. 

-

-

NOVEMBER 21, 2020

You were just about to leave your room to go to the locker room for the first intersquad game when you heard your phone ringing. You looked over and saw that Andre was calling you. 

“Hello?” You asked, picking up your backpack from the floor, sitting down on the hotel bed.

“Y/N? We just found out that a non-core staff member tested positive for covid and they had come in contact with assistant coaches, Michael Dyck and Jason Labarbera so they are quarantining. We don’t have to cancel the intersquad games so far, though. Just a heads up and wanted to let you know.” Andre said.

“Oh I hope they’re okay! Thank you for letting me know!” You said.

“Yep, no problem. See you in a few minutes.” Andre said, hanging up.

You put your phone in your back pocket and sighed. This was the type of stuff you would have to deal with.. and really what anyone in the bubble would have to deal with. You put your mask on and opened your hotel room door, and headed to the locker room of the area you and 46 other guys were playing at.

-

“Y/N! Y/N!” Kirby called, passing the puck to you. ‘Shoot the puck. Shoot the puck.’ was all that you were thinking while skating as fast as you can down the ice. You shot it, and it went in, past the goalie that would possibly be on the final roster along with you, and a bunch of other guys. “Yeah!” Kirby said, hugging you and laughing while your other linemates tapped each others helmets. You gave your bench high fives and sat down on the bench as the puck dropped again. “Nice job.” Jamie said, tapping your helmet as you sat down next to him. “Thanks!” You said. 

A few minutes later, when the period ended, you stood up from your seat on the bench when you heard someone calling your name. You turn and see Kaiden.

“Hey Y/N! That was a sick goal!” Kaiden said, smiling down at you.

You laughed. “Thank you Kaiden!” 

“Yeah well I better score one or else I can’t be here with you on the final roster.” Kaiden said, laughing.

“What? What if I’m not on the final roster? Why so sure of yourself, Guhle?” You asked.

“Y/N, you’re an amazing player. Why wouldn’t you be on the final roster?” Kaiden said, looking at you.

“T-thanks. You’re an amazing player too.” You said, heart starting to beat faster.

“Well Jamie is probably going to come looking for us if you don’t go.” Kaiden said, smiling at you.

“Yeah! Stalkerrr vibess!!! Anyways, see ya Kaiden, and good luck!” You said, turning around and fast walking down the tunnel.

‘Why does Kaiden make you feel like this if I only liked him as a friend? I mean he does have a really cute smile, and face, and hair, and... oh my god. Do I have a crush on Kaiden?’ You thought while walking into the dressing room.

-

“You’ve got something on your mind?” Braden asked, while sitting in his stall.

“Not really, just focused on the game.” You said, smiling over at Braden, knowing the words that just came out of your mouth was a complete lie.

“Okay.. but Y/N.. I’m always here to talk if you need me.” Braden said, getting up from his stall and going over to the dressing room door as the 2nd period was just about to start.

Maybe you should talk to Braden. Especially since you didn’t have your mom or best friends to talk to in person. You thought Braden would be a safe space to talk to about things. 

-

-

NOVEMBER 24, 2020

“Y/N?” Andre said through the phone, with his voice sounding a bit stressed and frantic.

“Hey! What’s up?” You ask, putting your stick tape in your bag, getting ready to head down to the locker room for the last intersquad game.

“Two of the players tested positive for covid. We have to post-pone the last game. I just wanted to let you know so you don’t get all of your stuff together for nothing. Have a great day and contact me, Michael, or Mitch if you have any symptoms.” Andre said.

“Oh my god. Okay that you Andre. You stay safe too.” You said before hanging up and immediately texting the group chat with you, Kaiden, Kirby, Braden, Jamie. The people you were closest with during this whole quarantine thing. 

‘guys did you hear about the covid positives?’ You type out, hitting send and immediately seeing speech bubble pop up on your screen.

Kaiden Guhle :)

Yeah. I’m disappointed. That means we’re stuck in this hotel room for 14 days.

Kirby Dach

It sucks. We’ll get through it though.

Jamie Drysdale

Yeah. It sucks a lot. What the hell am I supposed to do in a hotel room that I’m trapped in for 14 days?

Braden Schneider

Guys we will be fine. I hope.

Jamie Drysdale

YOU HOPE?

Kaiden Guhle :) 

Okay guys, calm down. Let’s all facetime, okay?

Me

i’m in.

-

You and the group chat ended up facetiming for two hours. You told your parents about the two covid cases among the players. They were scared you were going to get covid, but you told them about the 14 day hotel room situation and they calmed down. (thankfully)

You had to get used to this. It was part of being “apart of camp.”

-

-

DECEMBER 8, 2020

Some time had pasted and December finally had come. Well, you shouldn’t be that excited about it. It meant cuts and the final cuts to the roster were coming. Kaiden and a bunch of other people were very reassuring when it came to your worries about being cut. 

Coach Andre made an announcement via email stating that the first cuts had been made. The players were, Matthew Robertson, Mason Millman, Xavier Simoneau, Daemon Hunt, and Ridly Greig, leaving you and 41 other players in camp. 

When you read the email, and didn’t see your name, you felt like a weight was lifted off your shoulders... but, you still had 3 more days till the final cuts were made from the roster.

-

-

DECEMBER 10, 2020

That day, seven more players were cut from camp. The players being goalies Brett Brochu and Tristan Lennox, and forwards Adam Beckman, Tyson Foerster, Hendrix Lapierre, Cole Schwindt, and Shane Wright, leaving you and 34 other players in camp.

‘One more day.’ Was what you were telling yourself, trying to ease the anxiety of being cut.

“You aren’t going to get cut, Y/N/N. I know your not.” Kirby reassured you through facetime.

“We’ll see Kirby, we will see.”

-

DECEMBER 11, 2020 (FINAL CUTS TO THE ROSTER)

You heard a knock at your hotel door, quickly getting up from your bed, and tossing on a hoodie. When you opened the door, you saw a few staff members and one seemed to be holding a phone.

“Hey Y/N! We have a few people who want to talk to you!” The staff member said, making you put on a confused face before them handing you the phone. You saw your mom, dad, and brother gathered all around the screen.

“Hey sweetie!” Your mom said.

“Hi guys!” You said, looking down at the phone, seeing a bunch of smiley parents and brother.

“Congratulations, honey! You made it onto the final roster for Team Canada!” Your dad said, your mouth immediately dropping and looking at the camera crew and staff members, wiping tears that came down your face from being so happy.

“Really? I really did it?” You asked, jumping up and down.

“This is not a reaction we’ve gotten before.” One of the staff members mumbled to the other, slightly chuckling. 

After saying goodbye to your mom, dad, brother, and staff members, you went back into your hotel room and immediately check your email, making sure you, Kirby, Kaiden, Jamie, or Braden weren’t cut from the roster as they were the people you were closest to.

“We’ve made the final cuts to the roster. Team Canada is releasing forwards Mavrick Bourque, Graeme Clarke, Gage Goncalves, Seth Jarvis, Samuel Poulin, and Jamieson Rees and defensemen Lukas Cormier, Ryan O’Rourke, and Donovan Sebrango. Thank you.” You mumbled out, not seeing any of your friends names, smiling even wider. You then texted Kaiden to congradulate him. 

Wow, you did it. You really did it.

[lovely-necromancy]

A Cure for Insomnia CH.7

DISCLAIMER: Anything said about the Warrens in this work of fiction is not fact and more of an opinion. Not a skeptic just not a fan of their protocols and practices. I am not accusing the Warrens of anything in this work nor am I stating to know what actually happened in any of their cases. If you want to form your own opinion the podcast And That's Why We Drink has done multiple segments on their case files and given multiple reasoning for certain aspect of the cases.

If you didn't care that's fine I'm just trying not to get a defamation case.

Finding yourself lost to the humdrum of another by gone weekend and in the midst of a dull Monday morning is where most people start praying for some excitement. But when the excitement is debating the possibility of a stalker, you'd gladly take another lack luster week than deal with this bullshit.

And debating the possibility is the wrong thing to say. It's more accurate to say you've been contemplating what the proper steps to take in this situation are. Going to the police, or rather the Sheriff, is out because of how fucking useless they are when there's not a suspect present or Blue's Clue style trails for them to follow like breadcrumbs.

While David's surprising reappearance does stick out, you have no evidence to pin this to him. Then with all your knowledge on true crime and the likely hood of suspects it tends to be the first one who you've encountered in the stories. And that would point to Tim since you met him right before these shenanigans started but you were with him last night at the mini mart and even lost those fifty minutes together. So, there's no possible way Tim broke into your home and placed a book on your coffee table.

Then there's the issue of the book. You noticed it missing instantly because Toby had taken something from its shelf that you then went to put back. But it gets placed on your coffee table after you left, but not after you left the first time to take Toby home. Which was before you'd even notice the book gone. They were watching you, and knew you saw the book missing. You had to figure out how they were watching you. In case it was cameras you had changed in the dark of your closet today. And thankfully you've had practice showering in the dark before.

You really need more proof that you are being stalked and soon. The sooner you get that the sooner you can involve Big Jo. You'd thought on this all of yesterday on what you'd do and who you'd ask for help and the Cowells seem like your best bet in terms of stopping the stalker. Though that's only after you have proof. While Big Jo will help you out in a heartbeat you know it's more of a save his own skin down the line type of help and not out of the kindness of his heart, without proof he'd only humor you for a little bit. Not to mention if the stalker knows you're on to them at this point they could stop making it obvious, they'd get stricter with themselves, leave less evidence of their presence behind. Meaning it'd take longer to to get proof to catch them and even longer for you to feel comfortable.

Which is why you shoved away the idea of couch surfing until this blows over. If they were watching you at your house what would stop them from following you somewhere else. And if that happened and your friends got targeted or hurt you don't know how you'd live with yourself knowing you brought that to them. Or the other alternative of the stalker psychologically fucking with you and making you look crazy to your support system in this town before ultimately taking you down.

An even bigger reason as to why you suspect David. He'd been the first to start talking about Bambi's “wanderlust” before she disappeared. She'd laugh it off when people commented on it, but never really made mention of wanting to leave. He got it into everyone's heads that she wanted to get out of Kepler. To travel yeah, but she loved this town, she said it was home, she'd never leave without saying something.

When you came into town she'd been your first friend in years. You'll be the first to admit that you latched on to her but she quickly got you out making more friends with the residents. And even when you started hanging out with Hollis, Jake, and Kirby off planning events and deep diving for obscure movies for Saturday Night Dead she'd still talk with you everyday while she worked.

You really miss her.

Even if it wasn't David behind this, if this stalker was the person behind whatever happened to Bambi, you'd catch them. Not for peace of mind but so she'd have justice. It's what she deserves.

“uugggggggggh” you're pulling out your hair as you lay face down on the counter.

“I've never read The Book Thief but I didn't think it was supposed to be a frustrating book.” Nate says as he stops his dusting of the shelves.

You'd been “reading” the book your stalker left for you to find. Hoping you'd find a clue somewhere within it's pages to point to a suspect. But you've combed every page and not even the slightest mark had been left.

“Sorry I...I just have a lot of thoughts right now.” You say looking up through your arms that are now draped over your head.

“Want to talk?”

“Not now.”

The concern and uncertainty behind his gray eyes gives away his skepticism.

“Well, I'm here if you need.” a gentle reminder.

“I know and I appreciate it!”

Nate returns to his cleaning, sometimes it's like he was programmed to be productive. Most times actually. And you turn back to your book, having found no clues you decide to actually read through it. After all it is one of your favorites and maybe it will serve as a distraction from this whole mess. Help you calm down some.

An hour into your reading you're so engrossed in the story you hardly notice when the bell rings signaling the entry of a customer. If it wasn't for Nate calling out you'd have missed them completely.

“Hey welcome to Book & Nook.” the sound of his voice bombing through the quiet store front, startling you.

You look up at the right moment to catch sight of a furry black and brown rear going down an isle. Connor! Oh wait don't get too excited he has to be on duty to be here.

Now knowing that Brian has a need for the service dog too, you decide to wait and see who has Connor today. If it's Toby you could have a nice chat but if it's Brian you could be polite. Maybe thank him for helping with your episode the other night. Discretely of course, Nate would worry if he knew you had a panic attack. He'd probably assume it was due to the stress of the previous week and might force you to take some time to yourself. And that's the last thing you'd need if you were being stalked.

You really need to come up with an action plan. Keeping in mind that the stalker may not leave clues or escalate for a while it's probably best if you start getting active around town. Planting your roots deep and saying “hey I'm not going anywhere willingly”, but like subtly, y'know. Maybe start making habits about obsessively getting receipts even for packs of gum so if the last person who sees you is a cashier maybe they'd remember the strange interaction and might be able to help police find your body quicker.

God why does this all have to be so frustrating? And why you? Who stalks the mentally ill person who does nothing put listen to horror podcast and watch paranormal and true crime shows? Do they want to be harmed? Do they want to get caught. Oh for fuck's sake, that's another rabbit hole of possibilities.

You could've ignored the chime of the bell, but you most certainly couldn't ignore the boisterous voice that rang through the store. A welcomed distraction from your current mental struggle.

“What's up bros and non binary hoes?” Jake walks through the store like he owns the place, carrying a picnic basket over to the counter. As much of a Chad move it is Jake's a really nice guy he just has too much natural swagger in everything he does. It's probably the snow boarding showman in him.

“Jakey!” A very much welcomed distraction. Jake can always cheer you up with his “rad” antics and laissez faire attitude.

“What are you doing here?” while some of the stunt crew occasionally comes in for a book or to chat with you during your shift. Jake's never been one of them. You want to make the joke that the guy never learned to read but you've seen him actually read the manual that came with the new heater they got installed at the lodge. More of a practical reader than a for funsies reader.

“Sup YN, came to show you the picnic set ups that got in.” he places the basket on the counter and his hands give a jazzy effect for emphasis. What a dork.

“You missed the reveal at Saturday Night Dead, so I thought I'd stop by and let you see the final product before we finalize everything next week. After all 'Pride Picnic' was your idea, makes since that you should get the final say.”

With all the excitement of the past week you'd forgotten that it was already June. And you all had been planning a picnic for pride instead of a parade this year. So, and to quote yourself here, “Even the quiet queers can celebrate.” You guys had been planning this practically since you met. Seeing as you'd pretty much solidified a spot in Kepler's LGBTQIA+ community and planning committee. Really it was just the usual suspects for Saturday Night Dead; The Hornets, Hollis, Jake, and Kirby. But The Hornets, Hollis, and Jake were the extroverted types so when you mentioned a picnic to include the introverts or even the closeted of the community Kirby jumped at the idea before they could argue. Which they hadn't, everyone had been psyched for a change of event and for something that was more of a big block party than a traffic jam for the small town.

“Well?” you ask with anticipation nearly killing you.

Jake can't help his excited huffed laughter, kind of sounds like the 'boof' of a dog. And in one grand motion he opens the wicker basket revealing the lovely Pride set. It was a typical eight person set including stackable cups, forks, spoons, knives, flatware, and even bowls. One of item of each was assigned a color, going through the rainbow from pink all the way down to violet. It'd been a bit of a battle for Hollis to get the manufacturer to include pink and violet for some reason but they'd managed to persuade them enough. Probably pulled the influencer card and the company's marketing team caved instantly. But it got done, so yay to sell outs. One thing that'd been unanimously agreed on was having the modern flag incorporated. Which when you pulled out the thick durable blanket, was a vision that you couldn't have ever dreamed up. It wasn't a flimsy cover that was so thin that you could see through, but it wasn't the rough texture that most thicker blankets tend to have. And it was ginormous. But then again the basket was supposed to fit eight people per. Meaning the blankets would have to be eight person as well.

“Dude it's perfect.” you really didn't need to say anything, Jake could see your excitement from the stimming sway you were currently doing. But you took no notice of your stim as you stared in aww at the basket before you.

“Are non committee members allowed to see?” Why even ask when you're already craning your neck for a peak.

You and Jake share a look before rolling your eyes and waving Nate on over to inspect the Pride Picnic box.

“Woah you guys did great on this.” Nate says as he undoes the wrap around the cups to give one a tap. When it gives the tap tap that only ceramics make he nods in approval at the quality.

“Hollis was the lesion with the manufacturer so it was in our favor from the start.” Jake responds, not only were these baskets ordered at a heavily discounted rate due to bulk buying but add on the influencer discount and yea it pays to be an extreme sports streamer. So the man was allowed to be proud of his partner.

“Blankets don't leave a lot of room for food though.” you note with a pout.

“Yea we noticed that Saturday too,” you may have been pouting but Jake looks like a whole kicked puppy. “But we have an idea for that...at least for the picnic.” wow human labradors bounce back fast.

“Everyone brainstormed and we thought doing like a potluck style picnic for sides and deserts, then Barclay said he'd take care of main dishes.” That did sound like a good idea but with the turn out you were expecting you weren't sure. Especially with the time frame being two weeks. It's such short notice.

“Jakey, we're talking like block party amount of people, maybe like half the town max here...won't that be too much for him?” He'd already donated so much for you to even be able to order all these baskets since this wasn't a city sanctioned event. Sure everyone in the committee chipped in for a basket each or in some cases splitting one, but the majority of funds came from Barclay even if he said it'd be a donation from the lodge to add catering to his plate it was all too much.

“He'll be fine, he offered. And you haven't seen the lodge in the winter. Barc's used to it.” despite his confidence in the mountain of a cook, you think you'd stop by the lodge this week and offer a hand.

Nate and Jake get side tracked on discussing the details of the picnic while you struggle to fold the huge blanket. Having to step outside of the counter to get better leverage. When two large hands come from either side of the blanket and stretch it more. Jumping back from the blanket like it burned you. Amused hazel eyes meet yours as the blanket lowers until you can make out Brian's grinning face, your pretty sure that's the most genuine look he's had.

“Sorry, looked like you needed some help.” he's still grinning and while it isn't mean spirited, the lack of any sheepishness let's you know he's not really sorry. He'd been trying to at least give you a little scare, the fuck boy.

“Hey...ya thanks.” you say making to grab the bottom of the blanket and lift it up.

The two of you fold the blanket back up in no time with a weird synchronization for two people who never said a word. You just followed his lead and in no time the blanket was placed on the counter by Brian. Nate and Jake lost in conversation on the other side of the store, from what you can hear Nate's telling Jake about the faucet in the backroom that won't stop leaking and Jake offered to help.

“Mind if I have a look?” cocking his head towards the basket.

“Oh go ahead.” You don't see any harm in letting him have a look, if he was a homophobic dick who'd trash the box it wouldn't make sense that he gave you a ride. Or help you fold a pride flag picnic blanket up.

Thinking back on it he knew a proper gender neutral substitute. Even if he wasn't an ally in the sense of actively participating with the queer community he was in the sense of his awareness and knowledge. You've already extended an offer to Tim maybe Brian would appreciate one too.

“We'll be having a Pride Picnic this year in place of a Parade. Anyone for it is welcome to come.”

“Yea I think I heard talk of a potluck, right?”

“mmhmm” just as you go to nod your tic kicks in and your neck snaps left then right, “Barclay, he runs the Amnesty Lodge, he'll be cooking the main dishes. From what I hear we'll have most dietary restrictions covered.” Brian's brow furrows a bit as he tilts his head to look at you, before he straightens it back.

“That's right you haven't been here long.” he says it stoically and more to himself.

A comment like that should send your mind racing with thoughts of you stalker, but Toby could've just as easily mentioned it. Brian seems lost in thought after this and you take the time to look elsewhere, and see Connor who's sitting at Brian's side staring up at him.

Mindlessly you start to push your thumb into your palm with the other fingers on that hand rhythmically. Brian has Connor, and Toby said it was for seizures. Is it rude to ask how he's doing right now? You two have only spoken once, sure he helped get you to work and home but you'd argue that Toby did most of the work in both those cases. Not to mention you'd had breakfast with Toby and got to actually have a conversation and learn about him. You'd maybe said seven sentences to Brian since meeting him. It would definitely be weird to ask if he was ok.

“You ok there su- YN?” you note he did correct himself from calling you 'sugar'.

Shaking yourself out of your thoughts you look up confused at him.

“Uh...yea why?”

“Your hand.”

Looking to see what he's talking about you see you've just been pressing your thumb into your palm fingers dancing along in a rhythm you've long since forgotten the origin of. Cracking you thumb a few times and flexing your fingers you look back to Brian.

“Sorry just thinking, that happens sometimes.” you interrupt the silence before it has a chance to settle, “So...yea...everyone's welcome to the Picnic. Dogs too on or off duty. It's next Sunday just show up to Amnesty Lodge at like ten thirty in the morning and then everyone's hiking on over to the Archway. It's a great clearing and big enough to hold everyone.”

“I'll talk ta the boys 'n see what they think.”

“Ok cool cool, and when I said next Sunday I did mean next Sunday,”

“And not this one, gotcha.” You give him a smile which he returns.

Maybe this fuck boy look a like wasn't so bad...or he was just used to Toby's masked expressions. Still too soon to tell, he might still turn out to be a fuck boy in personality too.

“Do I check out here or...” you've only just noticed the four books on the counter.

“Oh yeah sure thing.”

Once you're behind the counter you have a clear view of the books that Brian's brought over Ghost an American History of Haunted Locations, Bell Dame, Deer from Hunt to Table, and lastly the first book in the Magnus Chase series. Odd collection but you yourself would read three out of four of them so you really can't say much.

“Oh have you read Percy Jackson or the Kane Chronicles?” making small talk isn't your strong suit but if you can find a fellow Riordan fan you'll make the attempt.

“What? Oh, oh nah, these are for Toby. He's working right now but wanted me to pick some new books up for him.” you make a note to try to talk to Toby about the series in the future. If he is a Riordan fan you can't wait for him to get to the Trials of Apollo series. “But 'e's read Percy Jackson, so is this next?”

This man has no idea the can of worms he just unleashed upon himself.

“No. Now has he read just the Percy Jackson series, or has he also read The Heroes of Olympus books?” He stares blankly at you.

“He's read whatever Percy Jackson was in the title of.”

“Ok, c'mon.” swiping Magnus Chase from the counter you make your way to the fiction YA section. Placing the book on the empty spot it came from you glance the shelves before finding The Lost Hero.

“This would be next, there are five in this series,” you pass the book off to Brian so you can point back to the shelf, “Then he'll have the Kane Chronicles, Magnus Chase, and Trials of Apollo series to look forward to. Book counts in each are three, three, and five.”

“So....Heroes of Olympus,” you nod at his pause, “five books in the series, Kane Chronicles three, Magnus Chase three, and Trials of Apollo five. Got it.”

“If you need help grabbing the next title just get me I've got it memorized from how obsessed with the Riordaverse I am.”

“Big reader?” he asks with a smirk.

“Not at all, just a found a good writer. Toby would probably like Neil Gaiman's work too. Maybe Diana Wynne Jones.”

“I've tried to get 'im to read American Gods but he just won't have it.” well this is awkward.

“I was thinking more Good Omens and Coraline.” Yea so this is a silence. Best make haste. To the counter!

Checking Brian out for the proper next book in the series, plus those other three, you forego the attempt at small talk. However, this is Kepler and you live in the radio quiet zone...the dial up internet doesn't make this a fast check out on your electronic register.

You remember two of the other books had been paranormal, might be worth a shot to bring up Saturday Night Dead in an attempt to stall for the register.

“Did Tim let you guys know about Saturday Night Dead over at the Cryptonomica?”

“Yea, somethin' bout cheesy horror movies right?”

“mmhmm, normally they're the good kind of bad but this week kick starts months of horribly awful kind.” the computer has finally loaded.

“Jeez YN do you want people to come to the show or not.” Jake's laughing so he can't be angry that you're insulting the upcoming movie list.

Scanning the books through you don't look up when you state, “I just have the personal opinion that you shouldn't prey upon low income families and sell their nightmares for profit then run.” you do look up after bagging the books to say, “Allegedly. And your total's thrity-five o'seven.”

“What's the movie?” Brian inserts his card into the chip reader.

“Insidious.” you and Jake said it at the same time, but in two totally different tones.

“Not a fan huh?” smirking bastard, he is a fuck boy you decide.

“The movie's fine, the case file and the people who inspired it are not.”

Brian's removed his card and opens his mouth, probably to egg you on even more when Jake throws in his two cents.

“Yeah yeah YN. Hollis told me all about the powerpoint. How 'bout we save this rage for Saturday. It's only a couple weeks.”

“Jake....there are at least 10 Amityville movies.” That shakes his mood.

“...what?”

“There are three Annebelles, Conjuring, and Insidious movies. Don't forget The Nun, La Llorona, The Haunting in Connecticut, and by the time we finish all those, there could be another Nun movie or The Crooked Man will have come out.” it's so matter of fact and you dare any of them to challenge you on this. Sad thing is you aren't even sure if those make up all the case file movies. But you do know it's a majority of them.

“For someone who hates these people, you sure know their movies.” Nate calls from his stool as he resumes dusting. God damn him and his uncle ways.

“Nah I get it, lay all the facts out so it's easier to see the lies and deceptions.” Brian supplies the other two men. Reaching out for his receipt he smiles down at you...a bit more genuine you note. Like the one you saw earlier. You are on a roll with this guy.

Like a Vespa it hits you. The reason Brian seems so familiar and so frustrating. The reason he gets under your skin with just a look. You should have caught on sooner but you'd paid so much attention, or not enough attention, to everything around you both. Looking at his face you hand him the receipt. It isn't real. He isn't really him. He'd been lying. No not lying, acting.

Just as he crosses the threshold you call out, “Your mask is really fucking irritating!”

Through the windows you see him pause as your words catch up with him, and you watch as he turns to make eye contact with you. He smiles again, and it's a nasty thing. A twisted smile mixed with...not ill intent but definitely not a friendly grin. His hazel eyes have a lively gleam in them. And you understand what that smile means.

The game is so on. Fuck boy.

[moonamite]

Blinding Shadows: Chapter 8

Marx woke up in a large quiet room. Which was weird, because he didn’t remember falling asleep in the first place. Once his vision cleared, he looked around, trying to figure out where he was. He noticed how the place was built, and how the people were dressed and knew it was some kind of hospital-type place.  And then it all came rushing back at once- The fire, the smoke, the helplessness- Marx shook his head, pushing away that last thought. His mind shifted to a more important question- Where is Kirby? He remembered being dragged away by him, but that was where his memories ended. The others have to be here, right? I mean, i’m pretty sure after what happened it would make sense if Escargoon or SOMEBODY was hospitalized. He stood up, then almost fell down. Why are my legs so shaky? He cautiously walked out of his corner and stopped. There were a LOT of other people here. He worried for a moment, but then spotted Meta Knight’s cape sticking out of one of the patient corners. He walked closer and saw Kirby standing next to the knight, which made him unconsciously move a little faster. He stopped right behind them, but neither of them acknowledged him. Before he could say anything, he recognized the figure that lay before them. Escargoon laid completely still on a bed, while a doctor sat next to him, bandaging his burnt wrist. Marx managed to see a little glimpse of what was under the bandages, but he quickly wished he didn’t see anything. The flesh (Or what was left of it) on the snail’s wrist was completely scorched, and was a deep burnt-red that looked wrong on the rest of the mollusk’s lavender skin. There also appeared to be some blisters along the outside of the main injury. The image of Escargoon screaming in agony on the floor flashed through Marx’s head, making him shiver. Sure, Marx had died before, but at least when he crashed into Nova the death was quick and mostly painless. Maybe that was a good thing. Marx realized this train of thought was getting uncomfortable, so he broke the silence. “So... Is he ok?” He asked, despite the fact Escargoon was right in front of them, very much not ok. Meta Knight looked at him as if to ask ‘Why do you care?’, and to be honest? Marx didn’t know why. But, remembering the flames, and especially the screams, how could anyone not worry even just a little? Meta Knight finally responded, “He’ll live. We’re not sure if his wrist will ever fully heal, if it even can heal.” He looked back at the snail, and his eyes narrowed. “It would be a miracle for him to even keep his hand. The burns destroyed many of the nerves and muscles in that area.” He broke off into a sigh, and looked away. “Most likely, we’ll have to have it amputated.” Marx didn’t know what Meta Knight was feeling, but he assumed it was something along the lines of concern. People were hard to understand in general, but especially with Meta Knight, not only because he always wears that dumb mask, but his voice was about as expressive as a stone. Oh, right... isn’t ‘amputation’ that thing when doctors cut off your limbs? Marx would never experience that himself, since he had no arms to loose, but it sounded like it sucked. Marx saw Kirby move, which removed him from his thoughts. Kirby was nothing like Meta Knight. For a lot of reasons, but the main one was that he was like a wide-open encyclopedia of emotions. Every worried wrinkle, every confused head tilt, it was all there, and it spelled out in bold letters exactly how he felt, in every glorious second he was existing... But some emotions weren’t as amazing and exciting to see. Like the one Kirby was showing right now. It was unmistakably the look of worry, and maybe a hint of fear, and Marx did not like that. Those sad and droopy feelings were what made Marx want to pick Kirby up and whisk him away, and blow away anything that upset him like clouds. But right now, he felt something much stronger than that.

His mom- That horrible maggot-infested smoke-snorting son-of-a-toad... She was the one who was going to pay. He was going to take every ember of fire to the face, but he didn’t care about the pain, just as long as it meant he’d get to rip Victory in two. But he would need a little help. And he knew someone who was perfect for the job: Someone else who wanted Victory dead. And hopefully, just this once, they could put aside their differences and come to an agreement, for the sake of revenge.

[magicflowershop]

Kenma stared at his phone for the next five seconds, until a notification of a missed call popped on the screen. he immediately realized this as a mistake and pressed the answer button when another call appeared.

he braced himself.

“kenma!”

the voice from the call reflected loud and clear through his speaker. it was sweet yet vigorous. the excited tone bounced against him and around him, to have him feel the same.

he smiled to himself.

“hey, y/n.”

he hears you panting through the phone. “are you okay?”

“yes!” he heard you answer, breathing out the vowel of the word. “i’m sorry, but where are you right now?”

squeaking noises was heard out of the speaker. the boy assumed you might be out to look for him. his suspicions died down the second you replied that you were. Kenma called you stupid from the back of his mind, and excused himself from his team to go look for you too.

“i’m going to the garden,” he told you, walking his way down the stairs.

“garde- the garden?!”

Kenma winced at your yell that you soon apologized for. “i just walked passed the garden, geez. can you go somewhere else?”

“but i want to go to the garden.”

“stay where you are! i’m trying right now!”

“well, try to go to the garden.”

the sides of his mouth rose up to his cheeks as he rushed down the stairs, heading his way to the garden as he said. his grin grew wider after hearing whines from his phone speaker. the fun part of his life has come back, it seems. he wished for it to stay.

with this, he took a different route to the garden. that is in case he bumps into you, so the two of you can go together and he can make fun of you for running in the corridor like a lunatic. it’s one of his favorite hobbies now.

“wait!” you yelled from the other side of the call. he heard you gasp the next second and whisper, “i got lost i think. oh my god.”

at that moment, the most hearty and loudest cackle escaped from Kenma’s mouth. it was a split-second laugh. so loud that Kenma surprised himself. to think he was capable of laughing like that. if Kuroo were to hear, he would probably cry, Kenma thought and contained his enthusiasm. after all, the person on the phone can let out the same amount of enthusiasm for the both of them.

“what was that? can you do that again? i couldn’t quite catch it.”

Kenma rolled his eyes, chuckling. “i laughed.”

your gasp was the sharpest one he heard so far. “do it again! shit, oh no, i can’t record it. i’m calling you.”

this time he covered his mouth to not make his giggles audible. he was surprised to actually find himself giggling at something so simple.

the lad let you playfully babble curses at him while he remained quiet. if he continued speaking, he might not be able to stop. interacting with others is a tough job, so he took the time to look for you instead before going outside the premises.

it then hit him. “you’re not lost for real, are you?” he asked, looking left and right to see which way you might come from. he figured that since you both are college seniors, you could have been exaggerating to say you were lost. as you do liked exaggerating. the smile returned.

“i’m not familiar with the main building. the east and west buildings confuse me a lot.” she explained herself, sounding a lot more audible than previous times. Kenma looked up to the window and saw you taking a seat by the fountain, visibly tired to your wits. he took a sigh of relief before moving to sit beside you.

but his presence might have startled you that you had to stand back up. “you’re here!”

the lad nodded his head, smiling, and kept his phone back in his hoodie’s pocket. “yes, i am.” he saw the paint-stained apron she wore over her clothes. “you’re working hard.”

you looked down to your clothes, “this is nothing. i’m only doing my job. i didn’t want to just sit there and watch them work, you know.” and sheepishly smiled, tucking strands hair behind your ear.

“anywa-”

“why’d you-”

the two of you laughed after speaking at the same time. you gestured for the lad to say his piece before you, but he only wanted to ask why you called him just to see him.

you felt yourself flush from realization. “well, um, the text you gave me made me really worried, and i keep forgetting to reply since everything’s been really hectic on me lately. and i apologize for that.”

“there’s no reason for you to apologize.”

“also, you’re never a bother to me. what made you think that?” you asked him, tilting a head to the side in confusion, and continued, “if anything, it’s an honor to be your friend since i started as a fan of you...”

until Kenma retracted his hand back from touching the stain of paint on your chin.

you stared at him. you just stood there, staring at him. you gathered all the events that led to that action in your mind. meanwhile, the lad covered his face and looked away out of shame. he just invaded your personal space

and touched you.

“what was that?”

“you- you had paint on your- on your chin. it w- it was distracting so... yea.”

you watched him as he stammered like crazy, as if he has violated your rights as a member of society and as a woman of Japan.

did you just do that to Bouncing Ball Corporation’s CEO?

“i’m a painter. it’s normal i had stains like this on certain parts of my body. no worries... well, anyways,” you said, trying your very best to brush off what happened just now between you two. you sure hoped you weren’t blushing as hard as he did just now. but your robotic voice did not help, “we can sit. do you want to sit? i want to sit.”

so you sat by the fountain once again, and Kenma followed suit. the both of you sat beside each other for the next few minutes, relishing the air accompanied by the scent of the plants. the warmth around you two was too comfortable and too sweet that you literally cannot stop blushing.

you are sitting beside Kenma Kozume. you hadn’t let that sink in yet. it was too good to be true. he was hanging out with you. he touched your chin. HE.

“you’re more quiet in personal, huh?”

“who, me?” you asked in a rather dumb way, as he did startle you with a question. “i’m kind of the same.” you can never admit that you’re actually so star-strucked whenever you see him in real life that you just do not function at all.

you’ll come around, you say to yourself.

it’s only a matter of ti-

“want to go to horror mansion with me some time?”

you blinked at him. “yes?” you asked him to repeat himself, to make sure you weren’t just hearing things, although your yes trailed off so far that you forgot to rise the intonation.

“great,” a soft smile matched with his soft voice so well that you find yourself instantly melting.

“you got the tickets, right?”

“uh, yea.”

“okay. i’ll just ask the team if we can make the booth up to your standards.”

“up to my standards? what’s that mean?”

“you don’t get scared easily, do you?”

so you stand there, taken-aback, that this boy had the audacity to tease you again as if you did not just go around school just to hang out with him, again.

“i’m hungry. want to get some snacks with me?”

ღ take me to orbit

― note 10 ✧ working hard

ღ in which a part-time graphic designer receives an opportunity to work with their most favorite sugar daddy gaming youtuber. or perhaps, work isn’t the only thing that’s about to happen between them.

✧ previous 「masterlist」 next ✧

behind the stars:

since it has been officially stated, Kuroo immediately deleted the Kirby meme from Kenma's tweet to avoid suspicions.

❀ //

:D I’M BACK :D

― ✿ taglist: 《STILL OPEN! send me an ask to join 🧡》

@fear-fckeverythingandrun @mirikusashes @bestboitsukki @rachelexe @icaruskenma @lilidrawz @animatedrapture @lostmarimoismyhubby @paripedia @kac-chowsballs @aikochan4859 @beanst0ck @kac-chowsballs @ghost-of-todoroki @waitforitillwritemywayout @effmigentlywithachainsaw @hugscore @basically1kuromi @yn-tingz @a-applepi @shigarakiskitten @skylarkalchemist

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #246: GATHERINGS

August, 1984

Family feud! Guest-starring SERSI of the Eternals!

She comes!

A portent of times to come! I hear a faint rumbling of leather jackets from distant years...

Also, hey! She-Hulk! I missed you!

The Avengers have been through the Secret Wars and participated in the Wraith War! What’s next for our band of heroes?

Maybe parties? The cover makes it look like a party is going on before some Kirby-looking guys crashed.

But also? Vision’s vague scheming to raise the Avengers’ profile continues as he and Scarlet Witch take a trip to visit President Reagan and First Lady Reagan at the White House.

Weird thing is that we don’t get an unobscructed view of Reagan’s face. He’s either back to the ‘camera’ or cropped on the panel border. Weird, since this wasn’t a problem last time he appeared in this book. Y’know, the time some plant people tried to hold him for ransom? That time?

President Didn’t-Pay-for-the-Likeness-Rights thanks Vision for taking time to personally brief him on all the biz the Avengers have been up to.

President Reagan: “I wish we could talk like this more often! The National Security Council keeps me posted on your missions, but there’s nothing like getting the news firsthand.”

Vision: “I quite agree, Mr. President. In fact, I have a few suggestions for making the lines of communication between Avengers Mansion and the White House more... shall we say... direct?”

He suggests they speak in private which Reagan gladly agrees to, shooing Scarlet Witch and Mrs. Reagan out. To Scarlet Witch’s surprise because he sprang the trip on Washington on her and now he’s sprung this on her.

Also, every time Vision meets someone in private and the conversation takes place off-panel, they suddenly come around to his point of view so.... uh...

Well, I’m sure it’s fine.

Meanwhile, we get back to Captain Monica Marvel Rambeau’s subplot. Remember how she worried after getting back from Secret Wars that she had no explanation to give her family for being missing for several days? And was thinking of telling them about her secret superhero thing?

Well, she calls home to New Orleans and her presumably firefighter dad answers. I presume he’s a firefighter because there’s a firefighter hat and coat hanging up prominently in the background. We call that environmental storytelling.

Monica’s mom isn’t home so Monica asks for her parents to call her back when they’re both available.

Monica: “In a way, I’m glad momma wasn’t home. That gives me more time to figure out how I’m going to tell them that their ‘little girl’ is leading a double life... as an Avenger called Captain Marvel!”

... Geez, her costume looks so weird when there’s nobody in it.

Monica ponders just bringing it up casually by RECAPPING HER ENTIRE BACKSTORY! Which, in fairness, would be an appropriate way to handle it. But she decides that just going ‘yeah I was helping old family friend Professor LeClare investigate a secret lab on an oil platform, punched a machine, got powers, and then joined the Avengers’ would sound crazy and that there must be a better way to tell them.

I say, take it slow and ramp up. Start from ‘I have superpowers’, do a little pew pew flashlight beam and let their questions guide your explanation.

Meanwhile again but elsewhere, Wasp van Dyne is just chilling at Avengers Mansion, bumming herself out rereading the World According to Garp, and receiving a phone call from West Avengers Chairman Hawkeye.

He tells her that he found a great HQ for the new West Coast Avengers, some old silent film star’s home, and he’s overseeing renovations now.

This ongoing Hawkeye real estate subplot is to get you excited for the upcoming West Coast Avengers series. Are you?

I dread it.

Anyway, Starfox comes in after the phone call and recognizes that Janet is in a Mood. A very bored mood. A post-chairperson funk.

Wasp: “It’s just that Wanda and the Vision are in Washington... Hawkeye and his new wife are setting up a new team in California... Cap and Thor are away on missions of their own... Everybody’s doing something! Everybody but me! It’s funny, after all we’ve been through lately, especially with that horrible Magneto, you’d think I’d appreciate a little leisure time. But instead, I’m bored out of my mind!”

Magneto kissing her really teed her off if that’s what she’s focusing on from the whole Secret Wars thing and not having died.

Starfox has just the answer for Wasp’s post-Magneto-kissing blues though.

PARTY.

He was on his way to a great party and Wasp can be his plus one!

Meanwhile, on the Washington to New York plane, Vision and Scarlet Witch.

She’s confused why they didn’t just take the Quinjets that they have instead of flying on a commercial airline but Vision says that getting out among the people is just good public relations.

I mean, he’s not wrong. But also flying in public, in your costumes, seems like it runs the risk of aggroing a supervillain attack.

It doesn’t happen but I wouldn’t have been surprised if it did.

The flight attendant asks Vision if he drinks before course correcting into asking him if he wants a drink.

I don’t know what’s more amazing here. Wanda going ‘he never has coffee at home’ like that coffee ad that Airplane spoofed.

Or Vision patting himself on the back for connecting to the common man with his drink order.

Simply superb.

Back at the casa Rambeau, Maria Rambeau returns and then returns Monica’s call. Monica says she’s going to come over for dinner and then a panel later, she’s knocking on the door.

Her parents are confused because it’s a twenty-minute drive between Monica’s house and theirs but that’s just part of what Monica wants to explain to them.

I see Monica decided to just jump into her explanation.

Back in New York, Janet frets over whether she’s dressed right for the party but Starfox just dismisses that as one of Earth’s weird mores. Why, he only wears the one outfit and that’s just gonna have to be good enough.

They arrive at the party and it seems to be a hobnobbin’ sort of event, with people discussing court settlements and acting. Also, She-Hulk is there. Hi, She-Hulk!

Glad Stern found another excuse to include you after Byrne stole you away to the land of the Fantastic.

She-Hulk says she met the host at an exotic bakery shop just last week and that’s how she scored the invite.

I wonder what made these baked goods so exotic. And I’m wondering if it wasn’t actually erotic. Do I think that She-Hulk would purchase a butt cake? Yes, yes I do.

She asks Starfox how he knows the host and, well, he doesn’t. He heard about the party and decided to invite himself (and Wasp) along. I.e. crash.

But the host...

ITS SHE!

SERSI!

SHE COMES!

But the host, Sylvia Sersi, isn’t too bothered by the pair of party-crashing Avengers and has She-Hulk introduce them.

Starfox is enchanted to meet Sersi and she likewise but they’d best not be too enchanted to meet each other because I’m pretty sure they’re not too distant relations.

Mentor founded the Titan colony of the Eternals and the Eternals have all been around a while so there’s not that many branches between Starfox and Sersi, I don’t think.

Anyyyyyway.

A drunk man pauses before a mirror to tidy up his tie and gets a startle when a Watcher-looking guy that isn’t the Watcher because he has hair appears in the mirror instead of his own face.

When Sersi comes over to investigate she tells him he must have imagined it and sends the guy away for some air but then interrogates the mirror face man and calls him Domo.

Domo, in the mirror: “We need you here in Olympia! Everyone is needed for the final decision!”

Sersi: “I told you before, I don’t care! Go ahead and make your big decision! It won’t affect me, because I intend to go right on doing as I please!”

Then she turns the mirror into a picture of penguins??

Her powers are great indeed.

Although her investment in the community is less so.

Whatever this mysterious decision everyone is voting on, it is clearly less important than this rockin’ party. This party has a She-Hulk!

Back over at the Rambeaus, Monica decides to just rip off the band-aid and tell her parents that she’s Captain Marvel. They find it hard to believe so she just pulls out her costume and lightspeeds into it.

Harder to hold doubts when your daughter glows with an awesome power.

Frank Rambeau: “It’s true... my little girl’s an Avenger. Hey, that means... you’ve met Captain America!”

Frank jumping right to the important points.

Thankfully, Monica’s parents are very supportive. And actually like the Avengers. You have cool parents, Monica.

Frank Rambeau: “Monica, I don’t know what to say! The Avengers are heroes... like Cap and the Black Panther and Thor... They’re like a legend! To think that you’re one of them -- !”

Maria Rambeau: “We’re very, very proud of you, dear... Prouder than we ever thought possible!”

Very cool parents.

Meanwhile, back at the party, mirror spooked guy (apparently Harry) goes out for air like Sersi suggested and then sees something else which spooks him even harder!

He runs from the party babbling about seeing things or not seeing things and not sticking around to sort out which.

Then a bunch of goons crash the party by flying through the terrace doors.

Look at these total goons.

Starfox steps forward and tries to defuse the situation both by words

Starfox: “Easy, my friends! I’m sure you don’t want to hurt anyone!”

And by shooting pleasure beams from his mind.

Predictably, his pleasure beam, besides being creepy, can’t be allowed to be too effective.

If it actually worked we wouldn’t have conflict and plot.

So like the Hulk in Incredible Hulk #300, these dudes called Delphans just slap Starfox out of the way.

Then superhero number two steps up.

One of the Delphans say that they need to get “that witch” before she can cause them any grief and She-Hulk was in proximity and assumes they meant her and takes exception to that.

She-Hulk: “‘Witch’, huh? You wouldn’t mean me, would you? That’s a bad choice of words, but you’re right about one thing... I can give plenty of grief!”

The Delphan just immediately hits her with an energy pole which just pisses off She-Hulk and ruins her party dress. Thankfully she had the unstable molecules FF costume on underneath.

She dresses in layers.

Delphan: “You’re still standing? But that photon-burst would have stunned the mighty Karkas!”

She-Hulk: “You stupid jerk! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find nice things in my size?!”

She-Hulk and Starfox start beating on the Delphans but its Sersi’s party and she can shoot eye beams if she wants to, eye beams if she wants to.

Sersi: “I should have known Domo would send you Delphans after me! Well, it won’t work! You’re not taking me away without a fight!”

Not just eyebeams but apparently a piggifying beam!

A singing piggifying beam!

Oh, sure, the Delphan says that its a transmutive ability but I know whats what.

Her name is Sersi, which is like Cerci, and she can shoot pig beams at people, especially Greek soldiers.

Unfortunately, like other witches before her, she needs some wrist range of movement to do her business and grabbing her by the arms will just nullify her.

Sigh.

If only he didn’t have armored outpanties, she could kick him in the business.

But fortunately, Wasp “can blow up a small house” van Dyne won’t be stopped by armored outerwear and shoots the Delphan grabbing Sersi right in the butt.

That is, Wasp shoots him in the butt, not that he’s grabbing Sersi in the butt.

Meanwhile, over in the Vision and Scarlet Witch subplot, their plane lands at LaGuardia and they’re instantly accosted by journalists who wants Vision’s take on rumors that the president is going to make chairmanship of the Avengers a cabinet-level post.

Vision coyly tells them that he and the president discussed many things but he’s not at liberty to confirm anything.

Hmm.

Then Vision excuses himself, saying that he and Wanda have to get back to Avengers Mansion.

Scarlet Witch: “We certainly do!” And when we get there, we are going to have a little talk!

Seems Wanda is annoyed at all this being left out of the loop.

Back at the A-plot, where A stands for Avengers go to a party and then get into a fight, Sersi gets fed up with these shenanigans and threatens to turn the Delphans into worms but she gets grabbed by the wrists again, this time by power-dampening chonky handcuffs, and dragged away by the Delphans to their spaceship that was hovering right outside the party.

Starfox and Wasp fly out in pursuit, with non-flying She-Hulk complaining about being left behind.

Wasp: “After them, Starfox! We mustn’t let them get away!”

Starfox: “I quite agree! Hostesses such as Ms. Sersi are all too rare!”

Wasp: “No kidding! Once we rescue her, I want to find out how she does that trick with her eyes!”

... Really.

The eyes specifically? Not the singing pig beam?

Huh. To each their own.

The ship takes off shortly after Wasp and Starfox stow aboard and the two heroes resume beating Delphan ass to try to save Sersi.

Lead Delphan: “We have the advantage in number, but they’re still making us look like idiots! We can’t let them beat us now! Have to initiate transport... while there’s still a chance!”

The ship then disappears with a FWOF!

And reappears above the mountains of Northern Greece.

Apparently, Eternal transportation is like the kind in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy because Starfox and Wasp are discombobulated and nauseated by the transport.

The Lead Delphan seizes the opportunity while the bull is hot and pulls the lever to make the ship just completely disassemble.

The Delphans take advantage of the heroes startlement to beat the shit out of Starfox in midair.

Clever. But rude.

Sometime later, Starfox comes to in Olympia to discover that he and Wasp are completely surrounded and in the shit.

Domo: “Citizens of Olympia!! At last, we all stand together... reunited with our Polar and Pacific cousins! Our destiny beckons! But before the ritual may begin, we must first deal with these two... who have intruded into the affairs of the Eternals!”

Hey, dick! They don’t come to a party you’re crashing and slap the host!

But I guess we’re going to meet all the Eternals next time.

What a fun coincidence that I’m hitting this point of the story when the Eternals movie is just a few months away.

Follow @essential-avengers​ because one day I’ll read comics about Sersi wearing a leather jacket. Like and reblog for the same reason or for different reasons.

[dixie12]

so much angst

why do some real work when i can write 1700 words of angsty jonny in the aftermath of pat’s 400th goal!

Jonny had spent the last three days practicing looking and sounding excited. He knew Patrick would be calling him to celebrate after his 400th goal, especially since Chicago was still mostly on lockdown, and it wasn’t like he could go out and party with the guys. He was determined not to bring Patrick down, not to make yet another conversation about him and his issues. Patrick deserved to be the center of attention, and Jonny was damn well going to give him that.

He texted with Sharpy a bit before the game, predicting when they thought Pat would score. After the frustrating loss in their last game, Jonny had has money on Patrick scoring early. Thankfully, Sharpy didn’t ask how he was feeling; he must have known that he wouldn’t get much of an answer out of Jon, anyway. 

Jon watched the game with increasing tension as time wound down and Pat still hadn’t scored, his body moving unconsciously on the couch as he deked along with Patrick. When the puck finally found the back of the net, after that beautiful hesitation move, Jonny whooped in joy, throwing his arms up before he even realized what he was doing. Not like he had any neighbors to bother, though, tucked away in isolation at his cabin. He pulled out his phone and sent Patrick a quick text, even though he knew Pat would be overwhelmed with congratulations over the next few days.

Jonny pulled up Twitter and watched the goal a few more times, scrolling through reactions from the Blackhawks, NBC sports, the NHL, other Chicago athletes, and pretty much everyone involved in hockey. 

As the accolades added up, a familiar heaviness settled into his chest, weighing down his excitement. Patrick was somehow getting better with age (“like a fine wine, baby,” Patrick had teased him, once), and while Jonny couldn’t be prouder of him, of what they’d accomplished together and what Patrick was continuing to accomplish on his own, he couldn’t help but compare himself to Patrick, and it wasn’t pretty.

Everyone knew that the organization was grooming Kirby to take over for him. If it hadn’t been for that freak injury at World Juniors, the kid would be out there centering the first line right now, in the spot that had belonged to Jonny since 2007. Jesus, Kirby was six when Jonny started his first game in the NHL. How was he supposed to compete with that? Sure he had the “respect of the room” and the experience, but Jonny himself had taken on the captaincy before he turned 21; there was no reason Kirby couldn’t do the same.

He tried not to check message boards too frequently, but sometimes even his willpower wasn’t enough, and he was already feeling sorry for himself, brief elation at Kaner’s goal subsumed into the ever-present anxiety he felt these days. He poured himself a few fingers of whiskey, knocking them back quickly and setting up a refill before he opened up a thread on Reddit talking about the salary cap and bad contracts.

It wasn’t as bad as what Seabrook got, but the general consensus, Jonny learned, was that he was way past his prime. There were a lot of posts that “wished him all the best” but pointed out how much cap relief the Hawks would get if Jonny never came back. “I’ll never forget what he did for Chicago, bringing hockey back with Kaner,” one poster wrote, “but Toews should recognize that his contract is a fucking albatross on the team.”

Albatross. Decline. Overpaid. Lost a step. Lost a lot of steps.

Jonny kept scrolling, barely reading the individual words anymore. Six months ago he may have laughed them off, would have turned to Pat to show him the most ridiculous comments. Now, though. He was pretty sure they were right, and he didn’t really know what to do with that.

The ringing of his phone, signaling an incoming FaceTime call, startled him out of his spiral. Oh fuck, that was Patrick. He hadn’t realized how much time he’d lost reading, nodding his head in bitter agreement as poster after poster pointed out all of his flaws. 

Showtime, he told himself. This was what he’d been preparing for. He hit accept, willing his smile into something bright and natural.

“Congratulations, babe!” he said, a little too loud to his own ears. Maybe the volume would make up for any lack of enthusiasm. “That goal was a beauty, Patrick,” he continued, more quietly and more sincerely. You can do this, he repeated in his head. Do this for Patrick. Be there for him.

Patrick just stared at him for a second, worn out from the game and all the post-game media, probably, but then he broke into a grin.

“Yea, you liked that, didn’t you?” He replied, letting himself be way cockier than he’d act to the press.

“You know I did, Peeks,” Jonny told him truthfully. “Was so stressed just watching, can’t imagine how you held it together out there.”

“Just imagined you were there yelling at me, telling me to keep my head in the game. I told you to fuck off a few times, just fyi.” Patrick was still smiling, now chugging a Gatorade and stripping out of his suit while they talked.

Jonny was distracted by the broad lines of Patrick’s shoulders, his strong chest and arms now visible as Pat settled down on his bed. Without thinking, he mumbled “better get used to imagining it, man.” He felt his face flush as the words came out. Ugh he sounded pathetic. Patrick deserved so much better than this, especially tonight.

“What do you mean, Jonny?” Patrick asked immediately, languor gone, tension snapping into his muscles as he sat up.

“Nothing, nothing,” Jonny hurried to add. “You can imagine what you want, but I’m imagining being there in your bed right now,” he tried, desperate to distract Patrick and get the evening back on track.

Patrick looked like he might push it, but Jonny took his momentary silence to strip off his shirt, as well. He saw Patrick’s eyes flick down to his chest and abs, and yea, at least he was still able to work out enough that Patrick still thought he looked good. 

Unless. Unless he was looking at Jonny and judging. Looking at Jonny and thinking of how much better he’d look if he were training full-time. How much better Jonny used to look, when they shared the rink and the locker room and the gym, not just each other’s phone screens. 

“Jonny..” Patrick’s voice sounded hesitant. Focus up, he told himself fiercely. 

“Just thinking about your goal, Pat. Gets me hot,” Jonny said suggestively, letting his voice drop lower, one hand drifting down to his chest, fingers sweeping over a nipple like Patrick liked to do.

It wasn’t the best phone sex Jonny had been a part of, though Patrick seemed to enjoy it well enough, based on how hard he came, and how quickly he hung up afterwards, telling Jonny he was about to pass out. Jonny had to work way more than usual at just getting himself hard, getting himself off, but he got there eventually, a minute or two after Patrick.

He usually slept pretty well after an orgasm, and he’d actually been jerking off more often lately just to get himself to sleep. Tonight, though, every time he closed his eyes those comment threads started running through his head. He laid in bed for close to an hour, trying to force himself to sleep before giving up, throwing off the covers and wandering into the living room.

He opened his laptop, even though he knew that if he couldn’t sleep, he shouldn’t be messing around on his computer, either. Nothing good would come of it, not at this hour. 

Instead of message boards, he opened YouTube, pulling up old highlights of himself. He watched his hands, his edges. He watched himself lift the cup three times, remembering the roar of the home crowd that third time, how he felt on top of the world.

His eyes were burning, suddenly. He rubbed at them, clenching his jaw and fighting back tears. He was so tired. Tired of the uncertainty. Tired of the tests. Tired of the well-meaning questions. Tired of being left behind as Patrick continued to exceed all expectations. He didn’t cry, not quite, but it was a close thing. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, breath coming in gulps as he fought for control of his body.

He spent the rest of the night like that, sleep never quite finding him, but not really awake, either. 

The doorbell rang at 7:00, making him jump. Only a few people even knew where he was, and none of them should be showing up this early on a random Monday morning. He stumbled to the door, the old afghan from his couch wrapped around his shoulders. He was probably a mess, but he couldn’t really find it in himself to care.

He opened the door slowly, not sure who to expect, and then he saw the flash of Patrick’s curls. Patrick shouldered in, not even waiting for Jonny to finish opening the door.

“Patrick, what-” he started, but Patrick cut him off right away.

“Jesus, Jonny, you look terrible,” he said, reaching one arm out as he spoke, pulling Jonny in towards him. Jonny tripped, feet heavy with exhaustion, but Pat supported him like it was nothing. “You’re still a terrible actor, man. You were messed up last night, don’t even try to lie.”

Jonny didn’t know what to say to that, brain moving too slowly. Patrick was here. The Hawks had a three day break, their last one of the shortened season, and instead of getting some rest, or maybe seeing his family, Patrick was here. He wasn’t even sure how Patrick had managed to get here this early in the morning.

“How,” he tried again, but Patrick just tugged him in tighter.

“Shhh, Jonny,” he said, stroking one hand over Jonny’s neck. “You look like you’re about to fall asleep on your feet. Let’s just get you to bed.” Patrick started walking Jonny back towards the bedroom, steering with the weight of his hand on Jonny’s neck. 

They stripped quietly, not bothering with pajamas. Patrick settled them on their sides, facing each other, foreheads almost touching. Jonny finally felt his body relax, muscles sinking into the bed. Here in this space, sharing breath with Patrick, he let the tears come.

[vanessakirbyfans]

Defying expectations, challenging Hollywood’s norms and facing one’s own fear of failing emerged as central themes when Michelle Pfeiffer, Kate Winslet, Rashida Jones, Vanessa Kirby and Andra Day met virtually in December for The Envelope’s Actress Roundtable. Collectively, they represent four decades in film and more wild experiences than we can fit in one discussion — and they’re also behind some of the most complex characters in film right now.

Pfeiffer is eccentric, wealthy New York widow Frances Price in the quirky drama “French Exit,” which opens this week in limited release. When Price blows through most of her inheritance, she flees to Paris, where she attracts an odd assortment of friends. Winslet is rough-hewn paleontologist Mary Anning in “Ammonite,” a period drama that explores the hardships of a female pioneer in 19th century England’s patriarchal science world and the challenges she faced hiding her love for another woman.

Jones is Laura, the dutiful daughter of an eccentric father in the comedy-drama “On the Rocks.” Despite their complicated history, daughter and father embark on a covert mission to find out if her husband is cheating, but self-discovery may just be the biggest reveal. Kirby conveys anger, sorrow and grief following the death of her newborn baby as Martha in the emotionally wrenching “Pieces of a Woman.” And singer Day makes her film debut in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” a period drama streaming on Hulu later this month that chronicles Holiday’s battles with law enforcement, drugs and the crush of systemic racism.

Their conversation here has been edited for length and clarity.

Your films are built around narratives of complex women, many of whom face challenges that aren’t often explored on screen. “Pieces of a Woman” is a great example of a film that is so specifically female, it would have never made it to the screen in the past.

Vanessa Kirby: It definitely feels like a different time right now ... we want to represent women that we identify as being us and the weird parts of us. In the movie, my biggest intention was to make it not a sanitized, movie version of a birth. So [she] felt super sick and burped a lot. She was really nauseous ... things that we might think are unpalatable or not comfortable. That’s all the facets of being human, and particularly being a women. I’ve read so many scripts where it was a version of a woman that I don’t know. It was a film version as opposed to my sister or my best mates or me.

Kate Winslet: That’s what is great about now ... the world is making space for all of these stories. We’ve always tried to tell these stories, but the world is more receptive to hearing them now. That is a shift.... It’s such a moving, seismic time to be doing this job.

Michelle, your character Frances Price is the perfect example of an imperfect female protaganist. She is a mess, and fantastic, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Michelle Pfeiffer: I was just was so curious about this woman, and I thought she was so odd and not like a character that I had seen or that I had played. And then the dialogue is very stylized. So you have to give in to it but, at the same time, not too much. It was made up of these disparate tones of absurdism and melancholy, and it was funny, and it was tragic — these oddballs sort of living on the fringe of society and trying to make some sort of human connection, all of them, in some way.

Rashida, in “On the Rocks,” you play a reserved writer with a charming, flamboyant father. Your real father is Quincy Jones. What sort of parallels did you feel playing Laura?

Rashida Jones: I very much related to this idea of coming of age with a larger-than-life father who commands presence and changes the atmosphere of any room he walks into, and how that in itself can be something you have to untangle from. Because in order to be your own person, in order to find your life, in order to figure out who you are in the world, not relational to anybody else, you have to separate yourself from all that charm and the warm light of your father’s love. That part of it I very much related to. But Laura is unlike me in the sense that I’m pretty outspoken. This character, I think, has a lot of restraint. That was a challenge.

Andra, stepping into the shoes of Billie Holiday must have been a huge challenge, and this is your first film!

Andra Day: It was definitely terrifying. First of all, I’m a fan of hers. And I’ve always loved movies and had such a great respect for the craft of acting. My biggest terror was that I was going to suck. So I was like, “OK, I’m going to take two to three years off of music just to study and focus on acting.” I auditioned at the end of 2017, landed the role at the beginning of 2018, and then we shot at the end of 2019. So I had time to really live in her [shoes]. The film isn’t a sanitized version of Billie Holiday. She is raw. She is a fighter. She’s a hero, in all of her real humanness, even as a fractured figure. All of the emotional pain. It was the most challenging and rewarding thing I’ve done in my life — and the most terrifying.

Winslet: It never goes away.

Day: That’s actually my question. I mean, do you ever really, really shed all of it or let it go?

Winslet: Honestly, it does not go away. But I feel so excited for you, Andra, that in this moment you are connecting with other people, having these kinds of conversations, because we all learn on the job. All of these experiences that we are sharing are the things that will hold you up and buoy you through, and this is a time when we have to hold each other up. But it doesn’t get any easier. And I’m afraid you will always be terrified. I f—ing am.

Pfeiffer: When I first started acting, probably for the first 10 years, I literally on the first day would shake so terribly that I was sure you could see it on film. Fortunately, you couldn’t. I don’t shake any more, but I still have those jitters. I still think the first week of shooting I’m going to be fired and replaced.

Jones: Yeah. So congratulations on that, for a lifetime.

Day: This is a roundtable, but also a therapy session.

Let’s talk about the risks that jangle those nerves. Those of you who have been doing this a while have tackled a wide variety of characters and survived, and thrived. That’s unusual in Hollywood, especially for women.

Pfeiffer: Like all actors, you sort of choose the best of what is available to you, and go for as long as you can without working, until you need a paycheck. It’s also that thing where, depending on what your last role was, that’s how the industry sees you. It’s really up to you to try to find those things that shift it in the direction you want it to go. I did “Grease 2,” and that was one thing, and then was lucky enough a year later to get cast in “Scarface.” People were very upended, because nobody expected that turn. And then when I did “Married to the Mob,” that [was] another seismic shift, like, “Whoa, wait a minute; who’s that?” I remember when I met Marty Scorsese for the first time, he expected this dark-haired girl from New Jersey to walk in. That was one of the most flattering things anyone ever said about my work. It’s just looking for those opportunities, and sometimes they’re very small, but those small opportunities end up having the biggest impact on the direction that your career goes in.

Jones: I just want to interrupt and say how cool this is. Michelle, obviously, you’re an icon and a legend, but the fact that you did [those films] back to back; such different things, such different audiences, such different characters. To me, that is the success of the art form.

Pfeiffer: Well, thank you. I spent lots of time being unemployed and waiting and really stretching it out, but it is, for me, the most exciting thing about being an actor. And that’s why we’re always terrified, because we’re always trying to do something different.

Day: As music artists, people are always trying to put you in a box, like, “This is what you do,” and we’re constantly rebelling against that, because life’s not like that. I can’t be the same. This role changed me, and I wouldn’t have been the same [person] as three years ago anyway. As a fan of yours, [Michelle], it’s exciting not to know what you’re going to come out with next.

Kate, your recent leap into the unknown is playing Mary Anning.

Winslet: She was a woman of scientific brilliance who made pioneering discoveries in the fossil world. But she was an unsung hero, because she lived in the early 1800s, and the world of science and geology was, like so many worlds back then and still now, dominated by men. And those men would buy her finds and claim them as their own discoveries, actually put their names on them. But there was something incredibly stoic and accepting of her lot in life. Mary was self-taught. She was extremely working-class, actually impoverished, lived a very harsh life. I just loved her even though she is cantankerous at times and quite difficult.

Vanessa, in “Pieces of a Woman,” Martha is emotionally distant and hard to read even after going through significant trauma. Was that challenging?

Kirby: In her nature, [Martha] tries to never show anything she’s feeling. So I was really scared, because I thought, “Oh, my God, what if it looks like I’m feeling nothing or nothing’s going on?” I just had to trust that if I really felt it, and I really thought those thoughts [it would come through]. I’ve never given birth ... so a lot of women spoke to me about their experiences of miscarriage or stillbirth or losing children. I owe them everything, because they allowed me to sit with them and try and understand how it really felt. At the end of the shoot, I was like, “I hope it’s done them justice,” because it’s definitely something that’s not spoken about. There’s so much silence around it. I hope that the film will help start conversations that really need to start happening.

Andra, Billie had an exceptional life that was also quite brutal. How did you go about trying to convey that while still honoring her greatness?

Day: She is musically, my foremost inspiration. I already knew a lot about the government going after her. The early war on drugs, and the subsequent wars on drugs, were wholly entrenched in race. I was aware of that, but I didn’t know about how deeply they went after her, even up to her death. Yes, she was an addict and, yes, alcohol and drugs ... but they wanted her to die. And not just kill her, but to actually eradicate her legacy. It’s why I call her the godmother of civil rights, because she was doing it alone. Her singing “Strange Fruit” and the death of Emmett Till reinvigorated the civil rights movement. She was innately a fighter, a character with resilience and tenacity.

Kirby: Kate, can I ask what it was like being so young in “Titanic”? Did it like blow your mind after it came out and you realized that that many people were watching you in the cinema? Did you know at the time when you were making it —

Winslet: I didn’t. I was playing an American for the first time. And working with Leo, who I’d seen in "[What’s Eating] Gilbert Grape” and “Basketball Diaries.” So it was like, “Oh, my God, I’m Kate from Reading.” I was the overweight girl who would always be at the end of the line. And because my name was a W, sometimes I wouldn’t even get in the door of the audition because they’d run out of time before the Ws. And I was in “Titanic.” It’s mad.

Jones: How were you smart enough to know, even with all of that pressure and then getting hit with all of that fame, how did you know to back off and not take the big paychecks? You were so young. How did you know to shoot for longevity?

Winslet: The honest answer is I was scared of Hollywood. A big, scary place, where everyone had to be thin and look a certain way. And I knew that I did not look that way or feel like I fit there, so if I was ever going to belong, I had to earn my place. And to me, I hadn’t earned it. “Titanic” might have been a fluke. I had done “Heavenly Creatures.” I had done “Sense and Sensibility,” which I was nominated for an Academy Award for at the age of 19, but still I had this feeling of “maybe that was just luck.” When I became a mother at 25, all of that stuff evaporated completely. Then two years after she was born, I was asked to do “Eternal Sunshine [of the Spotless Mind].” I do believe that was a huge turning point in my career, because from then on people suddenly went, “Oh, she can do that?!”

Kate, what if anything did you learn from “Ammonite”?

Winslet: It really opened my eyes to wanting to take responsibility for this sort of shared voice that we have as women. To try harder to not be objectified.

Jones: But we take it for granted that things will be the way they’re supposed to be. And that’s what’s been cool about the last five years is there has been a complete and utter subversion of just having that existential moment of like, “Wait, what is it that I’m supposed to do? What are the societal norms? What are the professional norms that I’ve agreed upon that actually don’t feel comfortable?”

Kirby: I remember when I first started reading scripts, the character descriptions. The man, it would always be “articulate, intelligent, high-powered.” And then the woman would be “attractive, dark, beautiful hair, and all eyes look at her when she comes into the room.” It was so subtly objectifying. Often, the woman would be just ever so slightly moving the man’s story along, rather than necessarily having her own journey.

Day: I think we so often write this [young] generation off as like, “Oh, it’s the social media generation, and all they care about is selfies and dah, dah, dah.” But I think we can partly attribute this shift to them. I don’t think this generation wants the glossy, clean, the sanitized version of life. Also, with the internet and social media, everyone’s still connected; the globe is so much smaller now.

Rashida, you’ve not only acted, you’ve written, produced and directed. Do you think that kind of representation behind the camera is making a difference in what we are seeing?

Jones: The good news now is there definitely is an appetite, at least within Hollywood, for female content creators. And what’s nice is what all of you have been saying is the more women there are around, the more comfortable women feel advocating for themselves. If you don’t have that representation around, you’re less likely to speak up, because you don’t feel like you have any backup.

Day: One of the things we learned is that certain audiences would wince at [Billie] getting beat, but I was like, “If we don’t have that in there, then we’re continuing to retool her narrative, the thing that she’s been a victim of her entire life.” Suzan-Lori Parks cowrote this movie with Lee Daniels. Women’s stories have always been told through the lens of masculinity, through how they view us or how they want us to be. Most of our stories need to be told by women, written by women, done by women. Not to write men out of the picture, but for them to understand that it is a collaborative effort.

[prettyboyjackhughes]

-Little Crosby- |D. Cozens| [Epilogue/Part 8]

This is the end of Little Crosby and I don’t think I've ever been this sad for one of my fics to end. I fell in love with Dylan and Ava’s story and I absolutely loved getting to write this with @prettyboycozens​. This story turned into something I never thought it would and I am so thankful to everyone who supported, encouraged and got to read this story! So thank you for all the love and support for Little Crosby! Enjoy the last part!

“Momma?” I hear Wes call from the top of the stairs as Dylan tugs me down onto the couch next to him.

“We’re down here, Baby!” I call, relaxing into Dylan’s arms. Wes is 4 now and looks just like Dylan. Dad says he acts just like me though. He’s your typical little boy, all dirt, loud and hockey. He loves hockey, of course, and getting to go to his dad, grandpa and uncles’ games and spending time with all of his family. He’s grown up surrounded by cousins which he absolutely loves, even if they are 3 hours away.

“We have to leave for dinner in about 15 minutes. Are you ready?” I ask, looking up at Dylan. He shrugs and I move off of him, letting him get up.

“I need to change and let the dog out, then we can leave.” He says, heading back to our room. Wes runs out of his room. He rushes down the stairs and jumps up onto the couch, a Sabres jersey hanging off of his already tall and skinny frame. As he jumps, I see a flash of black and I smile. Underneath the Cozens jersey he has on is a Crosby jersey; the one Dad got him for Christmas last year. When he knows he’s gonna see Dad, he always wears both jerseys.

“Hey Buddy, why don’t we pick one jersey to wear tonight? You’ll want the other one clean for tomorrow’s game.” I say, walking over to the couch and sitting down as he bounces over to me.  

“We’re gonna see Grandpa! We’re gonna see Grandpa!” Wes yells, still jumping on the couch.

“Yes we are. Why don’t we take Daddy’s jersey off and you can wear it tomorrow. Wear Grandpa’s tonight.” He finally stops and lets me tug the Sabres jersey over his head, leaving the black Crosby jersey on.

It’s been 6 years since the Canada trip that Dylan and I met on. Dylan and I have been living in Buffalo for 5 years, having just moved into a new house right before Wes’ last birthday. We still haven’t gotten married but the ring Dylan gave me all those years ago, that still has a place on my finger, still reminds me and him about the promise he made, what seems like forever ago in that hospital bed. So we’ll get around to getting married one day. Everything’s been going wonderfully in Buffalo. Dylan’s been playing well, Wes is loving preschool and I’m working at a doctor’s office as a pediatric nurse. With it being the first time I’m more than 20 minutes away from Dad and my family, even after 6 years, it’s taken a while to get used to planning weekend trips to Pittsburgh and Chicago to visit Dad and the uncles, along with Kirby and Carter.

Carter and Kirby stayed together while Carter was in college on the west coast, and are talking about getting married now that she’s graduated, which is really exciting. My uncles’ kids have all started to grow up and become actual humans, which has been really fun to watch. They’re all happy and living life. The biggest change has been that Marc and his family moved back to Pittsburgh. He ended up getting traded back to Pittsburgh, which meant our not so little family was all together again, at least when Dylan and I come to Pittsburgh. He plans on retiring in Pittsburgh with Dad, Kris and Geno, when the time comes.

“Come on Dylan! We’re going to be late for dinner!” I call as Wes returns to bouncing on the couch. Dylan finally comes out of our bedroom, our dog following behind him.

“Let me let Milo out then we can leave.” He calls as he opens the back sliding door and Milo runs out, barking. Dad had called a family meeting while he and my uncles were on a road trip to Buffalo. He usually only calls family meetings when something important happened so I was a little nervous to see what he needed to tell us. We were meeting at a restaurant about 20 minutes away from the house with a big room since there were going to be all 16 of us together in Buffalo, for the first time since Christmas. Dad hadn’t mentioned anything happening the last time he and I had talked on the phone earlier this week but maybe something had happened since then. Wes climbed into my lap and snuggled into my chest. I knew he wouldn’t stay this little forever but I wanted him to. I loved how his big brown eyes somehow managed to get bigger when he was talking about something exciting. I loved how he talked with his hands, waving and pointing to make sure everyone understood exactly what he was saying. Most of all, I loved how he called me “Momma” and loved to cuddle and be cuddled. Dylan and I had talked about having more kids, which I loved the idea of, but I was savoring every minute of it being just the 3 of us.

“Okay Baby, let’s get going.” Dylan says as he lets Milo back inside and gets him into his cage.

“I’m nervous, why am I nervous?” I ask as Dylan tugs his coat on then kneels down to help Wes zip his coat and put his shoes on.

“Because the last family meeting your dad called was when we told your uncles you were pregnant?” I roll my eyes and zip my coat up.

“You’re really not helping.” Dylan laughs as he picks Wes up and we head out the door.

“Maybe he’s retiring?” Dylan offers as I climb into the passenger seat and he straps Wes into his carseat. Wes is preoccupied by his ipad, oblivious to what Dylan and I are talking about.

“He would’ve told me first. If it was something that big. But I really have no idea what it could be.”  Dylan shrugs as he gets into the driver’s seat.

“Babe, it could be nothing. Maybe he just wants us all together. Don’t think too much into it.” He says, softly kissing my cheek before starting the car. We drive in silence, the only sound in the car is Wes’ ipad. As we pull into the parking lot of the restaurant, I see Carter and Kirby heading inside.

“Okay this must be really big. Carter and Kirby are here too.” I say, trying to fight the building anxiety rising in my chest. Dad wasn’t old, only 39, but he had been playing in the NHL for 21 years. Maybe he really was retiring. Or maybe something else had happened.

“Momma! I’m hungry!” Wes cried from the backseat, his ipad now forgotten on the seat next to him.

“Alright Buddy, we’re gonna go inside and see all your cousins and aunts and uncles, and Grandpa. It looks like Aunt Carter and Uncle Kirby are here too!” I say, turning around and smiling at him as Dylan puts the car in park. Wes bounces excitedly in his seat, waiting for Dylan and I to get out and unbuckle him. Carter must’ve seen us because she and Kirby are waiting in front of the restaurant for us.

“Whatever Dad tells us, promise me it’s gonna be okay?” I ask, looking over at Dylan before climbing out of the car.

“It’s gonna be okay. Everything’s gonna be fine.” He says, watching me with intent eyes. I nod and open Wes’ door, unbuckling him and holding him close.

“I wanna go see Uncle Kirby, Momma!” He shouts, excitedly. So I let him down once we reach the sidewalk and he runs to Kirby who scoops him up and tickles him. Dylan’s hand finds mine and we meet up with Carter and Kirby.

“Any idea why we got told to come to Buffalo for the weekend?” Carter asks. I shrug and she grimaces a little.

“Are we in trouble?” She asks, taking Kirby’s hand as Wes runs ahead of us and waits at the door to the restaurant.

“Not that I know of. Why, did you do something to get us in trouble?” I ask, nudging her and laughing. She shakes her head and leads the 5 of us into the restaurant. The hostess leads us back to the room where my 3 nephews are running laps around the table while my nieces are huddled in the corner with one of my aunts. Wes runs to join the boys and I spot Dad on the other side of the room with Kris. We exchange a wave and I notice a woman I’m not familiar with next to him. Geno and Marc are sitting at the table, making sure the boys don’t break anything.

“Who’s the lady?” Kirby asks, attempting to hide himself pointing at the woman next to Dad.

“Your guess is as good as mine, Kirbs.” I say, shrugging as Dad walks over to me.

“Hi Sweetheart, good to see you!” He says as my hand slips out of Dylan’s and he hugs me. No matter how old I get, my anxiety seems to melt away whenever Dad hugs me.

“You know, you’ve had me freaking out ever since you called me to tell me about dinner.” I say as Wes jumps into Dad’s arms.

“Hi Buddy! I told you on the phone there was nothing to be worried about, Ava.” I cross my arms and look up at him.

“Uh huh. You know how I get, Dad.” He nods and wraps an arm around my shoulders.

“I think you’ll like this announcement.” I groan internally but nod. Dylan’s hand has found its way back into mine and he leads me over to where my uncles are now all sitting.

“Who’s the lady with Dad?” I ask as we sit down with the 3 of them.

“Kathy? You’ve met her, Ava. She works for the team as a physical therapist.” And as Kris answers, I start to realize he’s right.

“Oh yeah yeah I remember her. But that doesn’t explain why she’s here.” I say, looking between her and my 3 uncles sitting around me.

“She always travel with us.” Geno says, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

“I’ve told her about 10 times that she shouldn’t be freaking out but she doesn’t listen to me.” Dylan injects, his arm resting around the back of my chair.

“Hey you’re the one who reminded me that the last family meeting we had was to tell everyone I was pregnant so now my mind is going all sorts of places.” Marc laughs and shakes his head.

“I don’t think it’s anything that big. Just calm down Ava.” I shrug and look around the room, watching Wes, who is still clinging to Dad, talk animatedly to his cousins gathered around them. Kathy is standing with Veronique, Marc’s wife, talking. I watch her glance at Dad whose eyes are already on her. There’s definitely something there but I can’t put my finger on what. Dad finally lets Wes down and he wanders his way over to Dylan, climbing up onto his lap.

“Daddy I’m hungry. Is it time to eat yet?” Wes asks, cuddling into Dylan’s chest.

“Almost. I think Grandpa has to tell us something and then we’re gonna eat dinner. Did you have fun with all your cousins?” Wes nods, playing with the hem of his jersey.

“Did you show Grandpa that you’re wearing his jersey?” I ask, smoothing Wes’ hair down. His hair is dark, just like Dylan’s and is in a constant state of bedhead.

“He liked it. He told me a story about when you were little and had one of his jerseys, Momma. Daddy, I’m wearing your jersey for the game tomorrow.” Dylan smiles as Wes slides off his lap. He runs over to Dad, who is now standing at the head of the table.

“Hey, if you wouldn’t mind, I think it’s time for my announcement.” He says he picks Wes up and everyone starts to sit down.

“It’s great getting to see everyone here, together. Especially with the news I’m about to share. Everyone, this is Kathy. Ava and the guys know her. But she’s one of the physical therapists that works for the team. Um, she and I have been dating for the past 3 years. I asked her to marry me a little over a month ago and she said yes. So...We’re getting married.” My mouth drops open and Dylan glances at me, trying to gauge how I’m handling this news. As I glance around the room, trying to figure out if I heard that right, everyone’s faces look the same as mine.

“You didn’t know about this?” I whisper, turning to look at Marc with wide eyes.

“We had no idea! He doesn’t tell us things!” Marc says, his eyes as wide as mine. It takes Dylan’s hand finding mine to keep me in my seat and somewhat grounded.

“I know this is a shock but we’re very happy. And we want you all to be a part of our wedding.” It’s like everyone gets snapped out of a trance. Everyone is up, congratulating Dad and Kathy and I’m still in my seat. I’m frozen, unable to move from the shock. I see Dylan glance back at me, before talking to Dad. Kris comes to check on me, kneeling down in front of me.

“You okay, Kid?” I shake my head and he stands, tugging me to my feet and into a hug. Wes runs up and hugs my legs.

“Momma! I’m gonna have a grandma! Does that mean she’s your momma now?” He asks, his eyes bigger than dinner plates. Somehow, that manages to snap me out of my trance and Kris lets me go. I bend down to Wes’ level and he puts his hands on my shoulders.

“Sorta. She’ll be my step mom, Baby. Have you told Grandpa congratulations?” He shakes his head and I gather him in my arms.

“No! I wanna tell them ‘gratitations!” He says, bouncing in my arms. I smile at his mispronunciation of the word and start to walk in the direction of Dylan and Marc.

“Let’s go find Daddy and then we’ll go tell Grandpa and Kathy congratulations.” Wes rests his head on my shoulder and wraps his arms around my neck. My family has always been a comfort to me, and it’s definitely one I need today. I’ve always wanted Dad to find someone and fall in love. But it’s just been him and I for so long, even with my uncles and aunts, cousins and now Dylan and Wes. My heart hurts a little, thinking about letting Dad go, but I see how happy Dad is and I can’t help but push those feelings aside for him to be happy. He’s put so much on hold for me, waiting until I was ready and on my own, I can’t help but do the same for him. But there’s still a part of me that’s not sure about all of it. A part of me that’s terrified about losing my dad. That fear keeps me from being able to be as happy as Dad deserves me being.

“Hey Baby.” Dylan says, his arm automatically going around my waist and pulling me close. Wes squirms out of my arms and runs to Dad who is now walking over to us, Kathy in tow. He presses a kiss to the top of my head and ruffles Wes’ hair.

“Congratulations Dad. Kathy, I can’t wait to get to know you better!” I say, trying to hide the other emotions threatening to break through.

“Thank you so much, Ava. I’ve heard so much about you and the last time I remember seeing you was probably when you were in middle school. You’ve grown up so much. And you must be Dylan.” Kathy says, reaching out to shake Dylan’s outstretched hand. He nods, the smile on his face genuine, unlike the fake one I’m trying to pass off as real. Dad keeps glancing at me, probably because he can see right through the fake smile.

“And you’re Wesley. But you like being called Wes, right?” Kathy asks, bending down to Wes’ level. He grins shyly and leans against my legs.

“I’m Wes. Momma, can I say ‘gratitations now?” He asks, looking up at me with big eyes. I nod and he grins.

“Gratitations! Are you gonna be my grandma now?” He asks, looking up at Kathy.

“I’d like to be your grandma. Is that okay with you?” He nods and launches himself at her, hugging her. She smiles, hugging him back and then returning him to my arms.

“I think we should definitely think about doing dinner or something soon. Maybe before you guys head back to Pittsburgh.” Dylan says, looking down at me. His hand slips into mine, stopping me from twisting my ring. It’s been a habit since he put it on my finger, usually one that’s a sign of how anxious I’m feeling.

“We definitely can do that. I’d love to see your house.” Kathy says. I’ve spent the last few minutes just watching Dad. He’s been focused on Kathy and the look in his eyes says everything. He loves her, which should make me happy, to see Dad this happy but it’s still tearing me up. This is so much harder than I ever imagined it would be.

“We have a puppy. His name is Milo! He likes to play hockey with me.” Wes says, obviously warming up to Kathy already. He’s not really shy, usually he talks strangers’ ears off, so it doesn’t surprise me that he’s comfortable with her already. Dylan and I have had to talk to him a couple times to get him to understand the whole stranger danger thing. It doesn’t make sense that both Dylan and I are pretty reserved, quiet people and somehow we end up with a kid who is the most outgoing child ever.

“Well I would love to come over and meet Milo.” Wes suddenly runs off, calling goodbye to Kathy,  going to play with his cousins.

“He’s a sweet boy. He looks just like you, Dylan.” Dylan smiles. Kathy and Dad share a sweet smile and I stay quiet.

Eventually, everyone sits back down and we have dinner. Everyone laughs and talks. Carter, Kirby, and Dylan won’t stop checking to make sure I’m okay, even though I’ve told them all a thousand times I’m fine. We make it through the evening and head back home. We’ll see everyone tomorrow at the game so it’s just a few quick goodbyes. Carter and Kirby come over to the house and Wes ropes them into watching Cars 2 with us. The day has taken a lot out of me and I fight sleep the whole movie.

I feel Dylan get up from beside me, taking Wes from where he was laying, cuddled between us. Carter and Kirby left a little while ago, whispering goodbyes since Wes fell asleep about halfway through the movie. The play menu for ‘Cars 2’ lights up the living room and I sit there, lost in thought. I need to call Dad, talk through today. But I can’t bring myself to grab my phone off of the table and press call on his contact. I’ve only ever wanted Dad to be happy, that’s what he’s always wanted for me. After spending most of the evening talking to Kathy, I know how in love she is with Dad and that she’s good for him, it’s just hard letting go of my dad.

As I’m sitting there, contemplating calling Dad, my phone starts to ring. It snaps me out of my thoughtful state and I rush to check to see who’s calling. Dad’s name stares back at me as I pick my phone up. I take a deep breath and press the answer button.

“Hey Baby.” Dad’s voice breaks through the noise in my head.

“Hi Daddy. It’s late, why are you still up?” I ask, tugging my knees into my chest and running my free hand through my hair.

“I’ve been thinking about you. You seemed off tonight. You okay?” I sigh and lean my head against the back of the couch.

“I’m-I’m okay. I was just a little surprised with your announcement, that’s all.” His voice sounds tired.

“I know Sweetheart. I wanted to tell you sooner. I wanted you to meet Kathy before I told anyone, before anything happened. Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Dylan suddenly appears in the doorway without Wes. He must’ve gotten Wes into bed pretty easily. He raises an eyebrow, making sure I’m okay and I nod. He comes over to me, dropping a kiss on my forehead and whispering he’s going to bed. I nod, squeezing his hand as he walks away.

“I just wasn’t expecting it. I’m really happy for you both, Dad. There’s plenty of time for me to get to know Kathy before you get married and even after you guys get married. You put so much on hold for me while I was growing up. But I’m all grown up, now it’s your turn. I’ll always be your little girl, no matter what, but I have Dylan to take care of me now. You need someone else to take care of now, and that person is Kathy now. So don’t worry about me, Daddy. I’ll be okay.” And as I say I’m okay, it's the first time in a few hours that I’ve actually felt okay and haven’t been lying. I hear Dad sniffle a little on the other end of the call, which of course makes me tear up.

“Baby, you’re absolutely amazing. You’re a wonderful mom to Wes, you love Dylan so much and I would never trade being your dad for anything in the entire world. You’ve been the highlight of my life. Not winning the Stanley Cup, not playing in the All-Star game. You are the reason for all of it. Getting to share you with our family and now with Kathy is beyond a dream come true. Thank you for being so supportive.” His voice breaks a little and I’m full on crying now.

“I love you Daddy. I’m happy for you. Dylan and I are happy for you. And I know Wes is so excited for Kathy to be his grandma.” Dad clears his throat and I try to control the tears running down my face.

“I love you too, Ava Grace. Now you probably need to head to bed so I’ll let you go. Good night.” He lets me say goodnight then ends the call. I lean my head against the back of the couch and take a deep breath. The tears slow and I regain my composure.

“Hey Avs, you okay?” Dylan asks, sitting down on the couch next to me and pulling me into his lap.

“I thought you went to bed? But I’m okay.” He kisses my forehead and relaxes into the couch.

“I could hear you on the phone. I wanted to make sure you were okay.” I snuggle into his chest and sigh.

“It’s been a long, surprising day but I think I’ll be okay.” I can feel him smile and he moves so we’re laying down on the couch, me resting on his chest.

“Your dad is happy. He’s going to have what all your uncles and we have. I think it’ll be fun to plan a wedding with your dad. Speaking of, we need to talk about us getting married.” Dylan says, looking down at me. I sit up a little, resting my chin on my hands and looking into his eyes.

“Oh I like when we do this. I want a big wedding.” I say, punctuating my sentence with a kiss on his lips.

“With all of our friends and family. And Wes as the ring bearer.” He says, twisting a few strands of hair between his fingers as I smile.

“Oh he’d be so cute in his little suit!” Dylan smiles and I settle back down on his chest again. We spend pretty much the rest of the night talking about our wedding and everything the future would bring, including siblings for Wes and in the morning, Wes finds us cuddled up on the couch and joins us, snuggling into Dylan’s side.

Dad calls a little after breakfast and asks to take Wes for the day, giving him some time to get to know Kathy. I agree and he picks him up, Kathy sitting in the passenger seat of his car. I wave from the doorway and she smiles, waving back. As I close the front door, Dylan scoops me into his arms and we head back to our room for his pregame nap, even though the game isn’t till later tonight. We end up sleeping until right before Wes gets home and Dylan needs to leave to be at the rink. Wes ends up laying down for a nap, which gives me some time to pick up the house a little and start getting ready for the game tonight. I love getting to spend games with my aunts and the rest of my family. It’s also nice to see all my uncles, Dad and Dylan all on the ice together.

Wes wears both of his jerseys, like he always does for Penguins-Sabres games, and is so excited to leave and head to the arena. Since I wear Dylan’s jersey for every other game, my tradition is to wear Dad’s jersey for games when he plays Dylan. All of the aunts, the kids, Wes and I hang out in a box, the kids running all over the box and back and forth with the other wives’ boxes for both the Sabres and the Penguins. It’s nice getting to sit and talk to my aunts. I don’t get to spend as much time with them as I do with my dad and uncles. We spend the whole game talking, making sure the kids don’t get too rambunctious while also watching the game at the same time. The game ends with the Penguins on top, 3-2 but Dylan scored and Dad did too with an assist from Geno. We all celebrate with dinner and drinks back at our house, giving me a chance to give my aunts an official tour, not over facetime. Wes shows off his playroom, bedroom and rink down in the basement that Dad and Dylan built him for his birthday. It’s the perfect ending to a family-filled day.            

Thank God Dad waited till the off season to get married. I couldn’t imagine planning a wedding during the season. But if I see one more sports website or magazine with the title ‘Sidney Crosby to Marry Team Physical Therapist! Letang, Malkin, Fleury, and Cozens among those in attendance’ or something like that, I will scream. It seems like this is the event of the year and it’s all anyone can talk about. Kathy and I have spent months, along with my aunts to plan the perfect wedding for her and Dad. The boys had been no help at all, being typical boys. Kathy and I had tried to get Dad involved in the planning but he had just kissed Kathy’s forehead and told her to do whatever she wanted. That night, I had gotten off the phone with the caterer for the wedding and collapsed into bed beside Dylan.

“I swear, if you don’t help me plan our wedding, I might break up with you before the wedding even happens.” I groan, rolling over to face him. He smirks and rolls over, eyes locked on mine.

“How do you manage to still be absolutely adorable while threatening to break up with me?” He asks, gently kissing me.

“Because you love me.” I say, smiling and letting him pull me closer.

“You’re right. I love you very very much.” He says, his forehead pressed to mine and his eyes wide.

“You’re cute, Babe. Now go to sleep. I have to fight with the florist in the morning.” He laughs but doesn’t say anything else. I manage to fall asleep, a list of what we still need to do for the wedding playing over and over again in my head.

The time between that night and the wedding flies by and before we know it, it’s the rehearsal dinner and I’m having to make a speech. And as I stand in front of my family and a few other people, I realize just how lucky I am.

“Hi everyone. You all know who I am so we can skip the introductions. But anyways, Dad and Kathy, congratulations. I had been waiting for the day that Dad told me he was getting married. And honestly, I was a little worried it would never come. But then Kathy came into the picture. She turned Dad’s world upside down and with that, turned everyone else’s lives in our family upside down. And I will always thank her for that because of the light and love she has brought into our family. Our family is complete now with her in it. So Kathy, I just want to say thank you. I can’t wait for you to officially join our family tomorrow. So here’s to Dad and Kathy, enjoy your last night apart.” I say, raising the glass of wine I’ve been sipping on all night. Everyone filling the dining room does the same and we all drink. The rest of the evening is carefree, enjoyable and fun. We all leave the dinner exhausted but excited for tomorrow. I collapse into bed and manage to sleep without having to worry about wedding plans.

The next morning is complete chaos. Everything that could be going wrong, seems to be going wrong and everyone is panicking. And as I try to get everything figured out so Dad and Kathy don’t have to worry, Dylan pulls me aside and kisses me softly.

“You’re doing amazing, Baby. The wedding is going to be perfect, don’t worry.” He says, running his hands up and down my arms, eyes locked on mine. He automatically calms me down and I’m able to finish getting everything worked out.

Thank God the wedding went off flawlessly. Dad only cried a little, I cried a little; everybody cried a little. Wes made it all the way down the aisle, only getting distracted by his cousins sitting in the front row and he looked adorable in his little tux. Dylan and I walked down the aisle together, being the maid of honor and Dylan being a groomsman. The whole time we’re walking down the aisle, in front of everyone, Dylan is whispering goofy things in my ear and making me giggle. Wes keeps looking up at Dylan, making silly faces throughout the whole ceremony. And as soon as we walk back down the aisle, he’s off and running with his cousins. Everywhere I look during the reception, there’s a hockey player. Which is something I should be used to, after being the kid of a hockey player and now dating a hockey player but I’m not. The later it gets, the more everyone drinks and the louder the music gets. After Dylan and I have both had a few drinks, Dylan pulls me out onto the dance floor and we dance the night away.          

A few weeks after Dad and Kathy’s wedding and honeymoon, he and Kathy drive up to Buffalo to spend a couple weeks with us. It’s wonderful having them at the house with us, giving Dylan and I a little break from Wes. One night, we’re all having dinner when Dylan turns to look at me.

“We’ve been together for how many years now? 7? And you know what? I still get butterflies every time you look at me.” Dylan says, looking deep into my eyes. I smile, watching him and trying to figure out what’s going on with the sudden outburst of mushiness.

“What I have with you? I don’t want it with anyone else. I choose you and I’ll choose you over and over again. You and Wes are the best things I could’ve never planned. I’m getting the future I’ve always wanted, with the girl I always wanted it with.” He says, taking my hands and pulling me to my feet. Dad sits behind us, Wes in his arms and Kathy holds close to his side, watching everything.

“I know I’ve done this before but we were young. So I’m doing it right this time. Ava Grace Crosby, will you marry me?” Dylan asks, slowly getting down on one knee and opening a ring box. My mouth drops open and I know I shouldn’t be surprised since we’ve already done this once but after what he said, I can’t help it.

“Are you kidding me? Yes!” I cry, pulling him to his feet and kissing him, my hands cupping his cheeks. I can hear Wes and Dad cheering, Kathy clapping. I pull away from Dylan, laughing and resting my cheek against his chest as his arms encircle me. Dad lets Wes down and he runs to us. Dylan scoops him up and he’s giggling, clapping his hands.

“Gratitaions Momma! Daddy!” He shouts. Dad and Kathy both join us and hug us. As I stand there, surrounded by my family, I think about how I’m getting the happy ending I’ve always wanted. I have the future with Dylan that I’ve thought about since we met, a son who I love more than anything in this world, the most amazing, supportive, and loving family. It’s everything I could’ve ever dreamed of and I’m completely in love with my life.

Tag List:

@theblushinglittle

@2manytabsopen

@nhlboyshavemyhart88​

@kirbyy-dach​

[starrybethany]

Kirby Dach: If I Can’t Have You By Shawn Mendes

Word count: 2629

Music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTJ-oqwxdZY 

Lyrics video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6_9CF1ucoI

I can’t write one song that’s not about you

Can’t drink without thinking about you

I don’t drink often. I tell my friends that it’s because I’m afraid to lose control and I don’t like the feeling of waking up with no idea of what happened the night prior. That’s part of it, but really, the main reason I don’t like to drink is because of Kirby Dach.

Everytime I drink, all I can think about is Kirby. What is Kirby doing right now? I wonder if Kirby scored tonight. What do you think Kirby ate for dinner? How long do you think Kirby’s hair is compared to the last time that I saw him?

I can’t get Kirby out of my mind as soon as a drop of liquor is in my body.

Is it too late to tell you that

Everything means nothing if I can’t have you

He and I decided to keep it lowkey. We decided that since he’s going to be focused on hockey in Chicago and I’m going to be focused on school in Toronto, it wouldn’t be good for either of us to enter a committed relationship.

That was eight months ago. And slowly, text by text, FaceTime call after FaceTime call, my feelings towards him have started to change. I feel more attached to him, I want to hold his hand and pull him around Toronto and show him all of the landmarks.

I want to tell him about my classes and hear about whatever stupid thing Adam said today, but it’s too late. This ‘no strings attached’ situation has set in by now. He thinks we’re both content where we are, so I don’t want to rock the boat.

I’m in Toronto and I got this view

But I might as well be in a hotel room (Yeah)

It doesn’t matter ’cause I’m so consumed

Spending all my nights reading texts from you

Toronto is a beautiful city. From the needle to the towering buildings to the bustling streets, there’s so much activity and always something to look at. And I remember that  once in a while, if I’m not too busy looking at my phone.

I’m either waiting for a text from Kirby, which is far and few between these days, or reading old conversations that I’ve had with him. Some of them still make me laugh. Most of them just make me miss him even more.

Oh, I’m good at keeping my distance

I know, that you’re the feeling I’m missing

You know that I hate to admit it

But everything means nothing if I can’t have you

Kirby: We’re in Toronto for a game soon. Do you wanna go and hang out after? ;)

I bite my lip, trying to find the best way to let him down. I can’t see him in person, I know that if I do he’ll see all the love in my eyes and that can’t happen. So I just need to slowly cut him out of my life, and that starts with the hookups everytime he comes into the city.

Y/N: Can’t

My phone instantly vibrates with an incoming call from him. I hold it in my hand, watching as it buzzes. It stops just to start again with another incoming call. I want to answer, everything in my bones is screaming at me to answer, but my brain is telling me that I shouldn’t.

I can’t write one song that’s not about you

Can’t drink without thinking about you

Is it too late to tell you that

Everything means nothing if I can’t have you

“He’s been calling me forever,” I whine to my friends later that night, the fourth or fifth or  sixth alcoholic beverage in my hand.

“Just answer already, tell him how you feel!” Another friend just as sloshed as me tells me.

I nod, clicking the answer button as soon as Kirby calls again. “Kur-bye, you-ou keep calling me.”

“Yeah, I’m trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with you,” he responds. “Are you drunk?”

“Wasted,” I laugh.

“Oh my god,” I hear him groan.

“Well I wouldn’t have to get drunk if you just, if you would just, date me,” I stumble through the sentence.

“What?”

The familiar tune of a song that I’ve had on repeat blasts through the speakers of the nightclub that I’ve been spending my time in. I gasp in excitement, “I love this song! Bye, Kur-bee.”

I can’t write one song that’s not about you

Can’t drink without thinking about you

Is it too late to tell you that

Everything means nothing if I can’t have you

My head is throbbing when I wake up and I groan, reluctantly reaching for my phone. I just want to check and see if my school or boss sent me anything that I need to respond to immediately before burrowing back into my sheets, but I freeze when I see the multiple texts, phone calls, and voicemails left from the one person I was drinking to forget.

Kirby: Can you answer your phone? We need to talk about this

Kirby: I’ve called you five times now please answer

Kirby: I’m guessing you went to bed by now. I’ll call you tomorrow to talk

The last thing that I remember about last night was coming back from the bathroom to the girls giving me my fourth drink of the night. What do we need to talk about? What the hell happened last night?

There are two voicemails so I nervously click the speaker button on the first one, noticing it’s only a couple of seconds so it can’t be too bad.

“Hey Y/N, just answer your phone. I just want to talk things out with you, please. Come on.”

He sounds like he’s almost pleading in that one. I must have said something really wrong to get Kirby to sound like that- he’s usually a very confident and cheerful person.

Then I click on the next one. “Um, so I don’t know if you’re avoiding me or sleeping or if you’re sleeping with someone else… we really should discuss what you told me on the phone tonight. I know you sounded drunk but uh, you know what they say, drunk words are sober thoughts. Call me back, or I’ll probably call you back, but please come to the game when I’m in Toronto so we can talk about what happened tonight. Okay. Bye.”

My heart breaks word by word. I have no recollection of what I said to him while plastered last night. What did he mean by drunk words being sober thoughts? I wonder if I told him about my feelings for him that he doesn’t return and he just wants to talk to let me down slowly. That’s probably it, he just wants to tell me, “It’s not you, it’s me.”

But it is me. It was me who had to catch feelings for him. It’s me who has yearnings to explore Chicago with him and sit with the other wives and girlfriends at the games.

So I don’t need to hear his excuses. There is no need to talk to Kirby Dach anymore.

I’m so sorry that my timing is off

But I can’t move on if we’re still gonna talk

Jay is not Kirby. Jay has some similarities to Kirby- they both like the Edmonton Oilers and having sex with me. But Jay is far from Kirby. He doesn’t ask me about my day like Kirby did or listen to the stupid jokes I would tell just to hear his laugh.

But Jay is enough right now. He sits beside me on the couch, watching a YouTube video with me on my phone. It’s two weeks into our relationship and slowly, Kirby has taken my hint of not wanting to talk to him. He called multiple times a day for the first couple of days, then it slowed to once a day, and now it’s every couple of days.

I’m waiting for the day that the calls stop.

But I’m not waiting in a good way.

The video suddenly stops as an incoming call from ‘Kirby Dach’ pops up. It definitely doesn’t help that the screen is of a picture I took cozied up with him after a great night.

Is it wrong for me to not want half

I want all of you, all the strings attached

Oh, I’m good at keeping my distance

“Why is Kirby Dach calling you?” Jay asks sternly.

I shrug, avoiding eye contact with him. I feel like it’s too personal to tell him- my relationship with Kirby was always very personal. “We’re friends.”

“You can’t be friends with a Blackhawks player,” his tone is laced with disgust and I lift my eyes, narrowing them at him.

I’m already pissed off by the fact that he thinks that he can tell me who I can and can’t be friends with, but I decide to entertain him. “Why not?”

“The Blackhawks are such a dirty team. DeBrincat laid that dirty hit on Bear…” He drones on and I stop listening to him. This conversation is ridiculous, Jay is ridiculous, this relationship is ridiculous, this whole situation is ridiculous.

“Get out.”

“What?” He asks in surprise.

“Get out. You’re not going to sit here and talk about him and his teammates like that,” I holler. I think we’re both shocked by the amount of rage that my voice holds. “He was drafted third overall, he’s very talented, he’s playing for a team packed with Stanley Cup winners. Get out if you’re going to disrespect Kirby like that.”

Jay leaves with little protest. And funnily enough, all that I want is Kirby’s arms wrapped around me.

I know, that you’re the feeling I’m missing

You know that I hate to admit it

But everything means nothing if I can’t have you

It’s been a month. Kirby hasn’t tried to contact me since he called me while Jay was there. I know it’s my fault for losing him- I should’ve answered his calls, returned his texts, and FaceTimed him when I needed him.

I should have gone to his game. I regret staying home and eating ice cream instead.

When the Hawks are playing the Leafs, he likes to see me in the crowd. He likes to see the one red jersey in the sea of blue, he likes to pass the puck with Alex in front of where I’m sitting, he likes to look at me with his eyes sparkling whenever he gets a goal or assist.

I avoid seeing the score of the game. In fact, I avoid social media as a whole. I don’t want to see how happy Kirby is without me. I don’t want him to be miserable, of course, but I’m just not ready to see that beaming smile on his face that should be directed at me.

That would be directed at me if I didn’t stop talking to him. But it wouldn’t be in the way that I want him to be smiling at me.

I can’t write one song that’s not about you

Can’t drink without thinking about you

Is it too late to tell you that

Everything means nothing if I can’t have you

A warm bath and a glass of wine have always helped me relax. I’ve used it as a way to clear my mind, a way to discover how I’m truly feeling about everything.

The wine in my glass tastes bitter as I stare down at the burgundy liquid. I feel like I’m always drinking. If I’m not drinking to forget, I’m drinking to feel something.

And all I can feel right now is longing. I miss Kirby. Even if I would be friendzoned it would be worth it just to have the brunette in my life. Kirby gave me so much more happiness than I realized he did- through ‘good morning, how are you?’ texts to funny memes he would find on Instagram. I would always smile when I saw his name on my phone.

Now I feel like I just have my phone and a missing piece of my heart.

I can’t write one song that’s not about you

Can’t drink without thinking about you

Is it too late to tell you that

Everything means nothing if I can’t have you

It’s two months too long without Kirby. And he tried to reach out to me for a month, so how much longer do I have before he forgets me completely? Before he finds another girl to make smile or laugh?

How much longer do I have to win Kirby’s heart? My eyes widen in horror at the thought of it already being won by someone else. My heartbeat picks up and it’s then that I know.

I’m in love with Kirby Dach. And I need to tell him. I need to woman up and stop ignoring him. I need to communicate and tell him my feelings like an adult, even if it might crush me in the end.

My wet hand reaches over the side of the bathtub for my phone, ignoring the fact that I’m getting water all of it before pulling up Kirby’s contact. It rings and rings for what feels like years. He never answers.

I know what I need to do. I need to go to Chicago.

I’m trying, to move on, forget you, but I hold on

Everything means nothing, everything means nothing, babe

I stare out the window of the airplane at the vast blue sky and the few clouds in it. I just know my friends would call me crazy if they saw me right now. They would tell me that the best way to move on is to get under someone new, and I tried that with Jay, but I can never get over Kirby.

At least not without closure.

I don’t think I want someone new. Kirby is familiar but he’s comfortable. I know who I am with Kirby and I know who he is too.

I’m trying, to move on, forget you, but I hold on

Everything means nothing if I can’t have you

I can’t write one song that’s not about you

Can’t drink without thinking about you

He gave me his address once when I wanted to send him a care package. I found some socks and soaps that I thought he would love, so he told me the address of Brent and Dayna Seabrook’s house and opened the box on FaceTime with me.

I remember his cheer as he saw the pug faces on the socks and the satisfied sigh when he smelled the vanilla of the soap.

I smile at the memory, nervously fumbling with the seatbelt of the Uber I’m taking from the hotel I’m staying at to the Seabrooks’ house. I should’ve checked the Hawks schedule before even booking my ticket, but I remembered to do it on my flight and was relieved to find that they had two days off starting today.

So if all goes well, Kirby has two days to spend with me. If all does not go well, I have two days to explore this city by myself.

I hope it’s the first option so much I cross my fingers so tight that they’re white.

Is it too late to tell you that

Everything means nothing if I can’t have you

I knock on the front door anxiously, balancing from my heels to my toes as I wait for someone to open the door. I hear footsteps and a beautiful brunette pulls the door open, giving me a questioning smile.

“Um, hi, um, is Kirby here?” I inquire, shoving my sweaty hands into my pockets.

“Yes, he is. Who are you?” Her tone sounds more curious than accusatory, so I’m assuming Kirby doesn’t have many girls around here. I’m relieved about that fact.

“Y/N,” I answer.

“Oh! Yeah, I know you, Kirby’s talked about you,” she connects the dots and her smile fades a bit, “Why aren’t you in Toronto right now?”

“I need to tell Kirby that I love him in person,” I blurt out before I can stop myself. “Oh, I’m sorry-”Her giggle cuts me off. “No worries, I’ll go get him for you. Please, come in.”

I wait in the foyer of their gorgeous house, looking around with wide eyes. So this is where Kirby spends most of the year. He eats in this kitchen, plays with the kids in the living room, and practices stickhandling in that backyard.

My thoughts get cut off by the sound of feet coming up the stairs from the basement. I feel my eyebrows twitch and I bite my lip in anticipation. It’s now or never.

I can’t write one song that’s not about you

Can’t drink without thinking about you

Is it too late to tell you that

Everything means nothing if I can’t have you

“Y/N?” His hair does look longer. It’s covered by a hat put on backwards, and a baggy sweater that I’ve worn a time or two before covers his torso. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have a big project due next week?”

My heart swells at the fact that he remembered that. “I do. But I need to tell you something.”

“Okay?” He urges me to continue.

I take a deep breath. “I love you.”

A wide grin spread across his face. That sparkle that I’ve been dying to see returns to his eyes and he takes a step closer towards he then stops, like he’s in disbelief. “Really?”

“Really,” I breathe out. Unable to stop myself, I take a few steps forward, closing the gap between us, and lift my lips to meet his.

Even though we’ve kissed before, this kiss is different. This kiss holds so much meaning, so much passion. We know how we feel about each other now, we no longer have to hide it.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” he whispers against my lips.

“Me too.”

[coffee-n-bagels-comic-universe]

No Matter What or A Deadly Combination

Quick Tag List: @kuruumiya @spacelizardtrashboys @enigmaticandunstable @nattinngrst @stupidbluegirl

This Passage contains potentially: swearing, violence, blood, whump, fluff and smutty content.

Summary: Kirby and Roddy spend a while together, even planning to fly back to Cardiff together and meeting Kirby's parents while Rod poses as just a 'close friend'.

Kirby's POV:

"Well, unless it doesn't work out that way, yeah, I'd love you until the end of time. I'd die for you, hell, I might even kill for you."

"Roddy, I fly back to Cardiff in a week, I can't deal with all this change at once, it's overloading."

Roddy instantly sat up on my lap, like an excited puppy, "I'll fly there with ya, just as friends. I've never been to Cardiff."

"Rod, if you come with me, there will be questions."

"Like what?"

"Like why I suddenly gained a male friend after talking to my mam about previous men in my life and 'that feeling when you find the one'."

"Oh, so your parents might think that I'm there for, other, reasons."

"Yeah, and my uncles live near my parents, so if you start shit, the whole of my dad's side of the family might not take too kindly to you."

"Why would I start shit with your dad?" he questioned before leaning in to kiss my neck.

"Because you started shit with Damien, and- ." I stopped all of a sudden feeling Roddy's teeth against my neck.

"Family's off limits. Damien's not your real dad." He stated flatly, switching to kissing the opposite side of my neck.

"How come you hate him so much though?"

"Because he's such a dick to other guys, he yelled at me down the phone to 'get the fuck out of' your room before he 'finds a way to end my career'."

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Roddy, I'm so sorry," I whispered to him, trying to be as comforting as possible.

"ROD!" I yelped, clawing my nails sideways down his bare back as he bit against the flesh covering my collarbone, hearing him groan against my skin.

He let out another deep, guttural growl before getting off of me, "I uh, I needed that … and now I need to change my kilt, and wash it, and myself."

"There is a shower in the bathroom, and now, potentially cold coffee on top of the mini fridge and ice cream in the mini fridge." I said, getting up and looking down at the Rowdy Scot.

"How much ice cream?" He cocked an eyebrow before whipping off his kilt, and like a 'true' Scotsman, he had nothing on beneath it.

"You don't need to know and could you, at least, get in the bathroom before you show me your 'Loch Ness Monster'?" I asked, shielding my eyes.

He let out a gentle chuckle, before kissing me on the cheek, "could ya get me some other clothes? my stuff's in the duffel bag in the back of the Paul's car in the parking lot."

"Sure," I tried to sound as sarcastic as possible, "Would you like me to get you a box of condoms while I'm at it?"

He winked at me, "Only if ya want to ride the Hot Rod, baby." He gestured to his groin.

I jokingly fake heaved before leaving to get Roddy some trousers, and hopefully a pair of boxer shorts or briefs, while I'm out there.

I saw Orndorff while I was out and told him about Piper's plans to ride with me, he let me move Rod's duffel bag into the back of my D200.

Coming back to the room, I was shocked to see Roddy, fully naked with a towel underneath him on the bed, looking through my sketchbook and stuffing his face with ice cream. I practically slammed the door behind me, making Roddy jump and look over at me.

"You alright, beautiful?" He was caring, cautious even.

The blush on my cheeks was full on scarlet by this point, I'm certain. I gulped down a mouthful of air and saliva before approaching the bed and to give Roddy a pair of his jeans and black boxer briefs.

"What's wrong, Kirby?" he put everything down and stood up next to me, taking the clothing from my hands before leaning up to kiss me.

"Roddy, why are you so intent on snooping through my stuff?"

"I only look through your sketches, nothing else. I can't believe that you don't seem to show anyone else your drawings?"

"Because most of them are personal."

"Oh, like the ones at the back?"

I stared at him for a moment, "You looked at those."

"Yeah, why? was I not supposed to?"

I slowly shook my head 'no'.

He put his boxer briefs on and then the jeans before once again leaning up to kiss me, I leaned down into the kiss and put my right hand on his chest, feeling his chest rise and fall as he breathed, feeling his heartbeat before moving my hand down to his left hip, and lifting his leg up, supporting his weight with my left arm, I felt down to where the cut had been and where a long thin scar was forming, feeling Roddy's left hand squarely on my ass and his right hand travelling up my shirt to where my bra clasp was, before hearing a small 'thump' as the two sides of the bra separated themselves and hit my back. I let his leg down and pulled away, swiftly removing my shirt and bra and searching for a new, clean bra in my suitcase, before hearing Roddy's voice.

"Holy Mary mother of God, you're stunning." He reached out to touch me and I swatted his arm away, not wanting to end up in bed with him without knowing how deep his commitment truly was and definitely not wanting to become anybody's one night (or day) fling.

"Sweetheart." He cooed, suavely.

"Nuh-uh, hell no." I flatly stated.

"Fine, fine, you get dressed, we got a long week ahead of us."

"You have a long week ahead of you, since when did this become an 'us' thing?"

"Since I said it was, you are my lady, aren't ya?"

I blushed, hurriedly putting on a peach toned bra and a black tank top, "You, you really want me to, but you, and I, but we, we uhm, we wouldn't work."

Rod pulled me closer, kissing me roughly and biting my lower lip, "Really," His voice rough with a mix of anger and passion, "We wouldn't work." He pulled me down into another rough kiss and slipping his tongue into my mouth for a moment before pulling away.

"Rod I can't just jump into a relationship."

"I understand, but you can spend at least a week with me, and that trip to your parents and then decide if you want to be with me."

"True and if you don't like my family, don't start shit, agreed."

I held out my hand for a handshake agreement and he took it.

"Agreed. which car are we taking?"

"Mine, because I won't fit in your small-ass rental." I stated, packing my stuff into my bags and lifting both the duffel bag and the suitcase.

"How did you know it was a rental?" Rod questioned, attempting to take the suitcase.

"Paul told me, oh, thank you Rod," I handed him the suitcase, "I've already put your stuff in the trunk of my car."

"Kirby?"

"Yes, Roddy?"

"Ya ever had sex?"

I blushed again, "No, Roddy."

"Ya ever masturbated?"

"Yes, Roddy."

"So, is that what you meant earlier, y'know about 'needing that release'?"

"Yes, Roddy."

We reached my D200 and Rod helped me place my stuff in the boot before he jumped into my passenger seat.

"Where we headed to, Rod?"

"New York, New York."

"Ya mean, The Garden?"

"Yeah."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Madison Square Garden, gotta be there for the twenty-third."

"Rod, that's two days away."

"I know, honey, I know." He sounded cocky.

"So, what's the plan between now and then?"

"Get a hotel room, a good hotel room, with two beds, see if you have any matches on the same card and go from there."

"Seems, simple."

"Exactly, that's why it works so well."

"Six and a half to seven hours of us being stuck in my car to go Roddy." I mumbled, just loud enough to hear as we got stuck in our first traffic jam, and just as rain clouds started to roll in.

"Wow, you are just a ray of sunshine today."

"I'm like this all the time, babe." I joked, winking at him.

"Don't make me kiss you." He jokingly warned.

"It would pass the time." I responded, matching his tone.

"C'mere ya dafty."

Rod reached over, gently kissing my cheek and placing his hand on my thigh, squeezing slightly.

"Don't, Roddy."

He removed his hand and the traffic started moving again just before the rain started.

"Oh great. Rain."

"I think rain's nice, it's calming. Y'know I used to fall asleep to the sound of rain as a kid."

"Do you want me to drive?" He offered, cocking an eyebrow.

"No," I yawned, "I'm fine."

Roddy glared at me, as if to wordlessly say, 'Are you serious?'

I pulled over and switched seats with him, quickly passing out despite the easily angered style of Roddy's driving. Rod shook me awake and I could smell the coffee in the car.

"Kirby, Kirbs, sweetheart?"

"Hmm, Roddy, where are we?"

"Uh, a service station. Off I-ninety-five. I got you coffee, a Hazelnut Cappuccino. You're favourite, right?"

"You remembered?"

"It is your favourite?"

"Yeah. Hazelnut Cappuccinos and Blueberry Waffles, best morning pick-me-up." I said, sleep still heavy in my voice.

Rod giggled slightly, quickly stifling his laughter, "Ya slept for like four hours, ya know."

"Really?" I looked over at Roddy, taking the coffee cup from his hand.

"Yeah, Kirby, about earlier … do ya want to be my lass?"

"Of course Roddy, I never wanted you to take my words as me not wanting to be with you."

"So, what did you want? What did ya feel?" He gazed into my eyes, his blue-hazel eyes meeting the gaze of my ocean blue ones.

"I was afraid, I wanted to be sure you were right for me, I pushed you away so I could be sure that I wasn't going crazy, and I-"

Roddy interrupted me by locking his lips with mine, his hand against my cheek and his body relaxed, fully letting his guard down for what seemed like the first time for him in a long time.

I closed my eyes, placing the coffee cup between my legs for a moment so I could hold Roddy's body close to mine. He slowly moved back, pulling away from the kiss. I let go of him and breathed out a heavy sigh.

"I, I needed to know that. I'm serious, Kirby, I adore ya, I've adored ya since the moment I saw your face without the mask. You're such a beautiful woman, yet you hide that beauty."

"Roddy, the universe can be ugly at times."

"I know that, I know that a little too well. God, I turn thirty in April."

"I turned twenty nine on the thirteenth."

Rod looked me up and down, taking a swig of his own coffee before saying anything else, "Ya look younger."

"Shut up, Casanova." I joked, taking a swig of my coffee

"I mean it, ya look at the most twenty-three."

"Ya kidding, really, I, look twenty-three?"

"Take it from a U.S champ."

"I've seen photos of that belt, how did you avoid stabbing yourself with it?"

"Simple," He said in-between swigs of coffee, "never bend over."

I let out a small laugh, trying quickly to silence myself.

"Ya adorable." He swooned, gazing at me.

I studied his looks once more, taking in every little detail from his hair down to his chest, stopping to look away and out of the window for a moment upon seeing a bulge form in the crotch of his jeans, hitting him in the arm and pointing it out.

"I don't control that, Lass." He laughed, grabbing my hand and interlacing his fingers with mine, kissing the back of my hand.

"Well, do somethin' about it." I whined.

"I'll do something about it alright."

"Without just putting your hand down your pants, Roddy."

"Oh c'mon." He whined

"Piper." I said, sternly.

"Trevor." He said, copying my stern tone.

"Fine," I threw my right hand up whilst holding the coffee cup in my left, "But if you're gonna do that, let me drive."

Roddy and I got out of the D200 in unison and passed each other to switch seats, with Rod tossing his empty coffee cup in a bin and climbing back into the passenger seat.

"Roddy," I started, climbing into the driver seat, "You need that release a lot, don't ya."

"I know, I'm sorry." He looked dejected, perhaps even ashamed of his bodily functions.

"Roddy, I don't mean anything bad by that," I paused for a second, adjusting the driver's seat to my proportions and starting the car, "I just, I've never known what that feels like, to need someone else's body against my own, y'know."

"So, ya never had the urge as a teen, to, y'know, 'get with' somebody?" He quizzes, looking me up and down.

"No, I would just deal with myself when I felt like I needed to." I admitted, feeling comfortable admitting this to him, not so reserved as I was when I first met him.

"Would you like to, y'know, uh, feel what it's like to be with somebody." He was obviously implicating himself.

"Are you trying to suggest something, Rod?"

"Valentine's night, me and you, we'll only go as far as your comfortable with, deal?"

"Deal. With protection."

"With protection." He nodded in agreement

The rest of the three hour drive was quite quiet, Roddy occasionally humming out tunes I remember Erik playing on the bagpipes.

Upon reaching a hotel, one that Roddy had pointed out, we got checked in and Roddy made a couple calls, and before long it was nearly midnight and Roddy had passed out, or so I thought, I took a minute to shower and dry myself off before pulling out my mask, I hadn't been wearing it for a while and I wanted to see what it felt like, putting it into it's place and hearing a faint 'I adore ya' from the sleeping Scotsman, closing my eyes for about a minute, allowing myself to let out a couple of silent tears, abruptly feeling Rod's arms around my waist and his lips on the back of my neck, whispering sweet nothings to soothe me.

END OF NO MATTER WHAT or A DEADLY COMBINATION.

[jackdawyt]

With Dragon Age 4 still quite a few years away, given it's expected 2022-2023 release window. I've been reflecting and thinking retrospectively about how long Dragon Age 4 has actually been in development. And so, with that question, here I am on a quest to try and answer it.  

This investigation has been put together for the betterment of everyone in the BioWare community, including myself, plaguing the developers with infinite questions regarding what’s next for Dragon Age and when will we hear something about the next game.  

If we, as a community, can understand at which point BioWare are with the development of the next Dragon Age, then perhaps we’ll have more grace and patience as we support the developers with their hard work and dedication to creating the next game.  

We’d have some appreciation, all the while garnering an understanding of how long this game has left in development.  Yes, for our sakes, but also for BioWare’s sake. We need to see if EA are giving the Dragon Age team enough time for them to create the Dragon Age game they want to make, and nothing short of that.  

And that’s exactly what I want to uncover in this video. With that, let’s begin. it's no secret that the next Dragon Age game has already had quite the tumultuous time in its early stages of production:

The previous iteration known as 'Joplin' was canned and has been rebooted for 'live service elements'.

The Creative Director and 14-year BioWare Veteran Mike Laidlaw left the studio, along with his vision for the next Dragon Age game.  

Shortly after that, the Lead Writer and 17-year BioWare Veteran David Gaider left the studio to pursue other games design avenues.  

Not to mention the anxiety and panic attacks the developers faced ensuing Anthem's development.  

Although all of these factors point to disaster and worry, and they can lead to mixed feelings about the next game in production, I can assure you that there's still plenty confidence and hope for the next iteration of Dragon Age 4:

The developers working on the next Dragon Age game are creating the next with "an eye to what the fans love about Dragon Age, which is easy because they love Dragon Age."

The Creative Director of 'Morrison', the latest iteration is Matthew Goldman, the previous Art Director of Dragon Age: Inquisition.  

Plenty of BioWare Veterans are still in the studio, working on the next Dragon Age title such as Patrick Weekes (15 years), John Epler (13 years), Caroline Livingstone (12 years), Mary Kirby (13 years), Graham Scott (13 years), Mark Darrah (23 years?), Parrish Ley (14 years), Lucas Krisjanson (22 years), and many more legacy developers!  

There's been signs of improvement within the working conditions at BioWare, Casey Hudson personally has been getting involved with solving these issues. I've seen a few developers sharing tweets that they're enjoying working at BioWare, and they're eager to share more on the next Dragon Age game. I'll share even more on this topic in my next news video coming end of May! But it seems that the developers are staying on top, and positive for the next Dragon Age.  

Regardless, I'll take any chance I can get to inspire folks that the next Dragon Age game is in the right hands and BioWare are aware of what the fans expect from them. Let's move on to the main investigation of this video, to examine the next Dragon Age game’s development process.  

Ironically, the next game hasn't officially been announced, according to many of the developers at BioWare, yet EA have already given the project an initial release window of 2022-2023. One of the main questions I want to answer by the end of this video is, do BioWare have enough time to create an epic Dragon Age game, with that strict deadline mandated by EA?

Well, in order to answer that question and understand the production stages the game is currently at, I'm going to have to begin at the start by revisiting Jason Schreier's "The Past & Present Of Dragon Age", which I know we've talked about a lot, but it's the biggest indicator on Dragon Age 4's development. So, here we go.  

2015:

Following Dragon Age: Inquisition's Trespasser DLC release in 2015, Dragon Age 4's previous iteration began its very early stages of production. The plans for the next game were very exciting, and some of the developers had put their best work into it.  

The project was called 'Joplin' and it would've centred on spies embarking on heists in Tevinter, smaller in scale then Inquisition, however, much further in depth, choices and consequences. And there was an emphasis on repeat play, having the player's visit previous areas again, with new content.

2016:

However, the first major bump in the road occurred in 2016, one year after development had started. Mass Effect: Andromeda required all hands-on deck, and so many members of the Dragon Age team were moved to work on Andromeda, they're even mentioned in the credits of Andromeda as the 'Dragon Age Finaling Team.'

2017:

After Andromeda's release in March 2017, it was back to working on 'Joplin' for the majority of the shifted developers. For some developers, it was refreshing to get back to working on the next Dragon Age. However, it wasn't long before BioWare's next releasing title - Anthem was suffering through development troubles. By the latter half of 2017, Anthem was in real trouble, and so EA took drastic action.  

In October, 2017, EA cancelled Joplin's development and moved the bulk of the project's staff onto Anthem. With two years of development on a project that will never see the light of day, Mike Laidlaw departed BioWare that same month.  

Alexis Kennedy was previously working on 'Joplin' too, however, according to his LinkedIn profile, he left the project in October too. It seems his work only extended to 'Joplin' and will most likely be scrapped as well.

Towards the end of 2017, as the majority of "Joplin's" core team went to work on Anthem, a very small skeleton team stuck around to work on a brand-new Dragon Age project under the new title 'Morrison.'  This team will have consistent of developers like Patrick Weekes, who was anointed the role of Lead Writer since David Gaider departed. Other key developers working on the foundations of 'Morrison' in 2017 included: John Epler, Matthew Goldman, Daniel Kading, Matt Rhodes and many other talented designers.

It's unknown how much of "Joplin's" previous work will make its way into 'Morrison', surely a project with production escalating over two years would have some worthy elements that could be added to 'Morrison'

As it stands, we don't know if the games will share the same vision, or if any of the same key mechanics, concepts, story threads, etc, have made their way into Morrison.  

All that is known about 'Morrison' is that the game has been rebooted with Anthem's codebase, so the developers aren't starting from complete scratch, they'll have somewhat of a preset of the Frostbite engine that can act as Dragon Age 4's very foundations. However, unlike Joplin, this new version of the fourth Dragon Age is planned with a live service component, built for long-term gameplay and revenue.

A few developers working on 'Morrison' stated that this game will change drastically in the next two years, however, that's been the case with every Dragon Age game. The point is that the project will take many different shapes until it feels like a Dragon Age game.  

2018:

So, we know that this project reboot happened around the end of 2017, with a very small skeleton team going forward following a slightly new approach, and a new Creative Director. This is the new Dragon Age 4 that was later teased at The Game Awards in 2018. However, unbenounced to us at the time, we didn't know the game was rebooted, and therefore, as fans do, we presumed that this title would release soon.  

In actuality, when 'The Dread Wolf Rises' teaser dropped, the new iteration of Dragon Age 4 had only been in very early development with a small team for about a year, hence why we still haven't heard, or seen anything of this project since. the game's production stages had barely started.

Not only that, but the teaser wasn’t supposed to act as an announcement, but more of a message to the fans that something is happening with Dragon Age.  

2019:

Anthem shipped in February, 2019, and following its release, the Dragon Age developers who were shuffled to the Anthem team back in 2017, then went back to the new iteration of Dragon Age in May of 2019, including the Executive Producer, Mark Darrah.  

The Dragon Age team; fully operational with all hands-on deck, could begin to wrap up its pre-production stages, and start production development. We discovered a few key production stages last year in my massive 2019 news roundup, things like voice acting, concept art, and potential 3D models.

Fernando Melo left the studio in August of 2019, stating that his work of “guiding the team through EA’s concept and early production phases” had been complete, and he felt it was the least messy time to leave the company. This proves that indeed; the title has begun production stages.  

2020:

With that, we can safely say that Dragon Age 4's production has continually increased, as the project makes its way through many core development stages.  

To this date, the game has recently had script readings for scenes, some of them being romance moments. Animations for a dog-like companion. Something about coding 'Scriplets' and plenty more of tidbits, that if you're interested be sure to check out my latest news video.

Conclusions:  

So, in an attempt to work out how long Dragon Age 4 has been in development... If we do some quick maths, it seems that project 'Joplin' was in development for around two years, between 2015 - 2017.

Therefore, project 'Morrison' has been in development for around 3 years, given that it started in 2017 - present.  

However, from late 2017 to early 2019. the work on 'Morrison' was pre-production. The main production stages began in May 2019.

So, 'Morrison' has been in pre-production for approximately 18 months, with the production stages starting around a year ago, in May 2019.

With its release window of 2022-2023, can BioWare successfully create an epic Dragon Age title? Is this enough time for the developers to create the best Dragon Age possible?  

Well, I'm not one to leave you with rhetorical questions. If we look at Dragon Age: Inquisition's development, a game that I'd consider to be a Dragon Age epic, that served the fans supremely well.

In a 2014 interview with Mike Laidlaw, conducted by UK newspaper The Guardian:

Dragon Age: Inquisition's production had been about three years, but taking in the early concepting, it would be four years. As studio general manager Aaryn Flynn kindly pointed out, that’s about 10% of Mike's life.

If we go by that measure, 'Morrison' with 18 months of pre-production and one year of full production, and two to three years of development left before an initial release window.... it sounds quite plausible that BioWare could pull this off. 

Although BioWare have their work cut out for them, I have hope that they can deliver an amazing Dragon Age game dedicated to the fans. With plenty of time spent on the pre-production stages, hopefully the team has learned from Anthem and Andromeda's rough early stages, and they've conceptualised the development enough, that production can carry on at ease.  

And regarding Joplin's two years of previous work, I hope that at least some aspects of that project's production went into 'Morrison', the core concept alone sounded like it could've been the best Dragon Age game to date, and with so many developers pouring in some of their best work, I truly hope that it all hasn't been canned and it can make its way into the next Dragon Age game.  

Regardless, I have a news update in the works for the end of May as I mentioned before, there's still plenty of tidbits coming out, and as I stated in my Tinfoil Tea Party podcast, I'll be doing news videos before the first of every month when we have enough, well news... In April, we got a fair bit, but May has been epic so far. So, stay tuned for that!