#Now I just need to fix the brown rocky bottom ha

[dracothedeatheatingcupcake-ao3]

I finished* the background!!! :-D

*By finished I mean I have the base down. I still want to get paint markers to add some extra details, but for now, the background is done! I’m still not done with the characters, but I put the ones I have down, and I like how it looks so far! I do plan to make the bottom brown part look more rock like, either by drawing on the felt with chalk pastels, or else by finding some brown lace and putting that overtop it. But that will be later, after I get to the store, ha. ^-^

Oh! And I think I'll put my inspiration/reference in a read more! I took screenshots from a playthrough of the game and did my best to follow it. :-)

So, here it is! My super technical inspiration/reference, ha. I think I did well with my limited colors with the felt, as well as with how small some of the pieces are. I wish the grass was lighter, but I didn't have a lighter green that was that long. I only had the dark green, and if I wanted light green I would have needed YET ANOTHER trip to the store, and it would have been $2, which was... yeah, meh, especially since I don't even want to know how much I've spent on this so far, ha.

[nogoodthing-official]

No Good Thing

Volume 1: Special Delivery

Synopsis:

Brock and Maxim try to find a delivery that never arrived.

[I will add appearances for extra characters later on when I get a good idea of their designs]

Extra:

Here it is!! I hope the very first volume will be to your liking, but please tell me if there’s any errors I should fix. Hopefully I’ll get a better idea for any volume plots in the future! Merry Christmas!

Read:

A piercing sound jolted Brock out of sleep. He looked around frantically, his heart beating rapidly. He looks around to see what could even make that sound and sighs heavily in half-relief and half-embarrassment when he saw where the sound was coming from. 

Oh. His alarm clock.

He only started recently waking up with an alarm clock, and he was still not used to the sound that would startle him ad nauseum every time it was apparently now time to get up. He sluggishly reached over to his phone and wanted to shut off the alarm, or at least set it to snooze for a few minutes, but he knew that he needed to get up soon, if not now, a few seconds from now. He’s had trouble with sleeping in before, before he moved out. At one point it got so bad that he wouldn’t even come out of his room until 1:00 P.M. Maxim has been helping him get better at waking up at more active times of day, and he didn’t want him to relapse since his mental health has gotten better since then. Brock appreciated that he believed in him. He decided that it was best to just get up now and face whatever the day had planned for him. He sat up in his bed and looked at his phone. 7:00 A.M.

“Ughhh…”

As much as he didn’t want to let Maxim down, he had to admit, it was a rocky start.

Brock slides his legs over the side of the bed, grabs his blue shirt and khaki shorts to put on, and walks out of he and Maxim’s bedroom. He enters his bathroom and begrudgingly turns on the light, screwing his eyes shut until they get used to the sudden change of brightness of the room, dropping the clothes on the floor beside him. He leans forward with his arms braced against the sides of the sink like he would fall over any second, and faces himself in the mirror. Just as he expected. A mess. 

Brock really looked okay, as okay-looking as someone who just woke up could be. He had a medium tan skin tone dotted with two small moles on his right cheek. His eyes, which carried faint bags, were a deep brown color, so much so that they almost looked black from afar, unless light was shining into them. The unkempt hair that he was currently running a comb through was jet black and reached to his shoulders. He looked more annoyed than he usually did, given that he just woke up. He had a figure that most would call “athletic” and what he would call “stick-like”. To most, if not all people, he looked like a regular person. To him, he looked like Brock, which was worse in his eyes. After putting in as much effort as he tried to muster at 7:04 in the morning, he changes his clothes to the outfit he picked out and starts out the door, downstairs to greet Maxim for the morning.

Brock walked down the stairs, still in a half-asleep fugue state. He felt like his mind was running on autopilot today. Waking up this early was not his strong suit. As he reached the bottom, he worked through the brain fog as he finally saw a familiar face come into view.

Maxim sees Brock descending from upstairs and immediately smiles that warm smile that greets Brock every morning.

Brock could feel a drowsy smile start to etch its way onto his face as he greets him.

“Good morning, Max.”

“Hey! How did your second week of waking up with an alarm go?”

It was terrible. “It was a little rough. I almost had a heart attack from the alarm.”

Maxim chuckles a bit, his deep voice making the simple act sound soothing, and Brock can’t help but laugh with him, although less energetic. God, it should be illegal for someone to be this contagiously good-natured.

Maxim Torres, or Max as Brock and a few of his friends call him, was sitting at the table, eating cereal from a red bowl while reading something on his phone. He definitely woke up early before. Compared to himself, every single thing Brock saw in Max was beautiful. His eyes were an icy blue color, matching the equally cool undertone of his fair skin. He wore his dusty brown hair down to the middle of his back, and while he was only 2 inches taller than Brock, he was considerably more muscular and more built than him. He wasn't wearing one of his sweaters today (he always wore a blue sweater), but was instead wearing a black t-shirt with dark grey sweatpants, one of the two outfits that he wore to sleep. Max is one of the few people that gets to see more than one side of Brock, one of the two people that lives with him, and the only person that can get Brock to feel better without even trying. Needless to say, Brock loves him.

“Well, alarms always wake me up. Maybe we should change the alarm to something different for you.”

“Yeah, maybe I should.” Brock muttered. He appreciates his help, as much as alarms stress him out.

“Oh, I forgot to ask, do you remember that we were supposed to get yesterday?”

Brock snaps out of his haze, trying to get the sleep out of his voice.

“No… was it something important?”

“Uh, well,” Maxim chuckled sheepishly. “It’s important to me.”

“Hm. Well, is the package late? Didn’t you already get a message from the delivery guy saying that it arrived yesterday?”

“Yeah, I got it yesterday, but it never came. It’s weird...”

“That is weird… what about buying it again? It’s probably an option…”

Maxim leans back in his chair, crossing his arms. “No. I want to track down and find where he is.”

Brock fully wakes up. “What? Why?”

“Because,” Maxim shows his the delivery guy’s route on his phone. “It says that his route stopped in a town almost two hours from here! He confirmed the delivery despite the fact that I haven’t heard from him since the stopping point, and any messages I’ve sent him haven’t been returned. I want to check to see or at least confirm that he’s still alive. I just don’t want to think that we have a… situation. On our hands.”

Brock scans over the screen. “Okay, that is weird, but why is this your first action? What is stopping you from just repurchasing whatever you bought?”

“The $40 I spent to have it delivered here.”

“…”

Brock takes a deep inhale and stands up. He stretches his back and slouches forward with a long exhale.

“Alright, get some clothes to wear, let’s just find this guy.”

They started the journey to the location, about 2.5 hours away on foot. The first 30 minutes went without a hitch, but the physical fatigue finally caught up with Brock at the 40 minute mark. Maxim, of course, barely looked tired, but more determined as time passed. After multiple rest stops, they reached the edge of their location at 6 P.M., and the sun was starting to go down. As they continued walking, they took in their surroundings.

“THAT FUCKING SUCKED.” Brock was tiredly dragging his feet a large distance behind Maxim. He didn’t like being outside because of many reasons, but the energy drain on his body was a huge reason why. Maxim reassures Brock that this is the final stretch.

“Okay, okay, let’s just find the guy, we still have a lot of time left.”

As they walked through the neighborhood at dusk, they realized how little of this town they actually knew. Every house looked identical, each lined up close to each other in a way that made the place almost look claustrophobic. Every light in the house was turned off, which was strange, as it was nowhere near the time where anyone is winding down yet. Many rows led to dead ends, but others led to roads that looked like they led to the middle of nowhere. It was like trying to navigate an artificial maze. They continued walking for almost 10 minutes, trying to find the spot where this delivery guy supposedly went. As they tried yet another row, they found a clue in the empty space between one of the houses and a tree; a box.

Maxim’s smile becomes bright enough to power a small village. “Look! There’s the package!!”

“hUh…??” Brock was about to pass out.

Maxim picks up his pace until he stops just short of the box, then circling it to inspect it for any damage. “Well, we found the box, but no deliverer.”

“Okay, we did it, let’s go home now please…”

Before Maxim can lift the box up, he hears a fretting whisper come from somewhere beside him. “Wait, don’t touch it!”

Maxim whirls around until he spots an arm coming from some abandoned animal burrow beside the tree. The arm shakily pulls forward the person it’s attached to; the delivery guy. Right now, he looks scared for his life.

“Please, you have to leave, now!”

“Wait, why? Why are you hiding?” Maxim asks.

Brock taps on Maxim’s shoulder. “Hey, Max? I don’t know why, but I’ve been getting a bad feeling about this place after a while. Everything looks so… off here. Maybe we should just make an exception this once and reorder it again-“

“Wait…what’s that noise?”

The sound of asphalt footsteps silence all three of them. They all collectively turn towards the source as they see a quintet of approaching shadows down the road. Maxim preemptively picks up the box while the delivery guy retreats back into his hidey-hole. Then, the group seems to stop in the shade of one of the houses, purposefully obscuring their faces. A voice then comes from the closest silhouette, shattering the silence with how loud it was.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going with that?”

The voice sounded… young. In fact, it sounded prepubescent. It sounded like a little girl’s voice than anything threatening. As the shadow steps forward, lo and behold, there was the source.

The girl was about two-thirds the height of each one of them, but she carried her stature and projected her voice like she was the one who had the upper hand in this situation. The group behind her, which also looked equally as young, finally stepped into the visibility of the moonlight. It was just a gaggle of formidable preteen girls, combing the streets at night like a group of stray cats. Probably more intimidating to an elementary school boy, but confusing to a group of adults in their near 30s.

Brock was the first to break the long gap of silence. “Uh… I’m sorry, do you need help with something?”

“No. But I can’t help but notice that your friend over there is carrying the spoils of today’s looting.”

Brock turns to the delivery guy, still cowering in his hiding spot. “This is what you were so afraid of that you couldn’t leave??”

“They were threatening me, okay?!”

The girl whistles to get the attention back on her. “Alright, I’ve humored this situation long enough,” she says as she makes her way towards Maxim and the box. “We’ll just take these hats and we can just pretend that this never happened-“

Brock snatches the box from Maxim before she can lay her hands on it. “I’m sorry, hats?? That is what we traveled 2 hours for?”

Maxim nervously laughs through his confession. “Uh, haha- well I’ve been meaning to try and restart a collection-!”

“The box.” The little girl demands.

Brock ignores her. “Whatever, the only reason I’m not thinking about leaving this here is because it cost $40 to ship it-“

“Oh, you’re not going anywhere with that. We found it first.”

“Little girl, we paid for it first.” Brock retorts. “You’ll learn about it when you get older.”

The girl seethes silently, before taking a deep breath inwards. “Alright. You asked for this.”

Brock hands the box back to Maxim. “How will you even convince us to do what you want? You’re all shorter than us and are physically weaker than three adults.”

“Maybe,” the girl then snaps her fingers as all of the girls suddenly brandish large bags of stones. “But everyone is weak against blunt force damage.”

Brock actually falters back a little. “Oh you’ve got to be kidding- Max, grab the delivery guy and get ready to run-!”

With no warning, the leader of the group throws a stone that actually connects with Brock’s forehead. Brock lets out a cry of pain as he presses his hand to his forehead. He pulls it back, panting in pain, and he sees a smear of blood.

Maxim pulls the delivery guy out from the hole. “Alright, we’re getting out of here, Brock, get a head start, I’ll distract them!”

Brock starts to bolt back down the street. Before the girls can notice that he made a break for it, Maxim throws one of the hats down the opposite way, accompanied by the chorus of squeals telling one of the members to catch it. Maxim takes the box and the delivery guy and runs down the road to catch up with Brock. The diversion would only buy them a few seconds of time, but they needed to take what they could get.

Maxim and the delivery guy catch up with Brock, who was already sitting near the exit of the neighborhood. His legs hurt, his lungs burned, his forehead was still throbbing from having a stone lobbed at it, and he was sitting beside the stop sign panting like he had just run a marathon.

“Where… where are they…?”

“They’re all the way back there, but it won’t be long until they catch up. Now, do we have everything?”

Brock pauses to take in more air. “What do mean ‘do we have everything,’ we didn’t pack anything!”

“Right. Glad you’re okay.”

Their convening was cut short by distant shouting coming from the road behind them. Maxim and the delivery guy start to panic.

Brock calls for Maxim. “Max? …Pick the box back up, I’m gonna go buy us some more time. And be ready, okay?”

Maxim wordlessly follows his request. Brock gets back up off of the ground and sees the group in the distance, running towards them.

“Hey Max? I actually took the rock she threw with me before I ran. You might not like what I do next.”

He then takes said stone out of his pocket, takes a running start towards them, and uses his momentum to launch the rock towards them, where it lands directly on the leader’s forehead. The girl trips and tumbles over, and her friends convene around her, all of them chattering and asking if she was bleeding, or still awake, etc. She was definitely still conscious since they could hear her crying from the exit.

Maxim turns to Brock, in shock.

“Did you just throw a rock at a child??”

“I know, but we have much more time to escape their line of sight, come on!”

Brock takes off further down the road towards the forest clearing they walked through to get here. Maxim whirls his head from the group of kids and a rapidly departing Brock, before picking up the box again and urging the delivery guy to follow him.

Maxim calls after him. “We’re gonna talk about this when we get back home!”

It was now nighttime, and they finally reached the clearing in the forest that used to mark their final stretch of the trip. It looked like a natural sunroof for moonlight, with the rest of a forest forming a large opening shaped like an oval. The trees were pink around here, but the low light combined with the blue tint of the moonlight made them look more indigo. This, along with the falling petals, gave this place an appearance that looked like a scene from a movie, and gave the area an aura that would make anyone just happy. If this place was a painting, it would be in a museum.

They were not in any condition to enjoy the scenery, though. They were all catching their breath in the middle of the clearing and were all about to pass out from exhaustion. Brock started coughing, his lungs were hurting from so much running.

“I think we… finally lost them…”

Maxim drops down to sit on the grassy floor, setting the box beside him, and tries to take some even breaths. “This has been… way too adventurous for me.”

Brock lets out an exhausted laugh. “Yeah… I don’t know if this was the best idea… but at least we got your stuff back, yeah?”

“Yeah, yeah of course. I just didn’t expect it to be an all-day thing…”

Brock laughs with a bit more energy before collapsing beside Maxim onto his back. “Me neither. This… sucked.”

They both start to laugh amongst themselves as they realize just how ridiculous this situation is. Their laughter is cut short by footsteps in the trail they just came from. They both stand up and Maxim grabs the package, and all are ready to run. Instead of the leading girl, they instead see a different girl from her group. She puts her hands up defensively.

“Hey, it’s alright, I’m unarmed.”

The girl continues to walk to about a few feet away from Brock and Maxim, with the delivery guy right on the edge of the clearing, ready to run.

“You gave her quite the goose-egg, but she’ll live.” Maxim slightly decompresses and lets out a small sigh of relief, since he didn’t know if a girl that young would survive a small rock to the head. Things are silent for a moment before he decides to de-escalate the tension.

“L-listen, I’m very sorry about what he did, and I hope that that girl isn’t incredibly injured. But I have to ask, why did you feel the need to jump a delivery guy and steal a random person’s package, and how many times have you done this? I get that some friend groups make you feel like you’re inseparable from them since they’ve been there your whole life, but that doesn’t mean that you’re expected to follow through with every single plan they have. What would your parents think if they heard about you robbing someone and then chasing a group of people down the street?”

The little girl is silent for a moment. It looks like she’s really thinking about the question. She finally gives her response.

“My parents are dead.”

Maxim feels like he’s made a horrible mistake.

“… oh.”

A very long, very awkward stretch of silence ensues.

Brock fidgets with his hair before deciding to break the silence.

“Hey, I know you probably don’t want to hear anything from me, since I… injured your friend. Sorry. But, as a peace offering, I think you should have this.”

Brock reaches into the box and pulls out a hat at random. He then walks over and crouches down to the little girl’s level.

“I know what it’s like to lose someone that close to me… what you did is still extremely illegal, but I don’t think you should go back empty-handed. I still think you’re a nice person underneath the exterior that we had to witness tonight, but here’s hoping that it’s more visible to more people next time.”

He then hands her the hat, before standing back up and taking the box with him as he exits the forest clearing. Maxim stands still, still slightly in shock before shaking off the feeling and taking off after him. As he leaves, he calls out “Sorry for your loss,” before disappearing after him.

The girl looks down at the hat before shifting her attention to the delivery guy, who just started sneaking out of the place.

“HEY!”

The man freezes in fear. The girl just holds out her hand.

“Wallet.”

The delivery guy, seeing no other way out of this, just sighs and forks it over. She smiles sweetly as she pulls out a couple of dollars before dropping the wallet on the forest floor.

“You’re doing a good thing, y’know. This’ll pay for all the band-aids we’ll need to buy.”

She turns on her heel and practically skips back towards her town with money and a new hat.

[destiniesfic]

132 Hours, Chapter 4:

“I think I have a plan. But…”

Cardan sits forward. “But?”

“I don’t know if it’ll get you out.”

Previous

Read chapter 4 on AO3, or read below:

“You know what?” I ask abruptly, some time later.

Cardan picks up his head. “What?”

“I need to use the bathroom.”

His brow furrows, and then he looks vaguely panicked for the first time. “Um, right. Well, it’s not a big space, but I can turn around—”

I sigh. “No. Why don’t you go knock on the door and ask them to take me outside?”

Cardan blinks at me. “Oh,” he says. “You don’t want to try that yourself?”

“You’re the alpha.” I shrug. “They’re more likely to listen to you than to me.”

“Huh. Yeah. Good point.” He looks at me a little longer, head cocked, and then a grin breaks across his face like a sunrise. I feel my cheeks warm and hate that some cruel trick of fate assures that even though I know he is one of the world’s worst human beings, a small, primal part of me will always find him attractive. “How’s it feel?”

“How does what feel?”

“Bossing me around. Seems to come pretty naturally to you.”

I roll my eyes. I don’t need anyone else reminding me that I’m the world’s worst excuse for an omega. Being valedictorian sealed that. Valerian sealed that. My smart mouth sealed it, too. “Shut up, Greenbriar.”

His grin widens. “That the best you got?”

I glare. “Stop talking if you want the part of you that apparently makes you so ‘superior’ to me to remain intact.”

“A little vague, but we’ll workshop it.” Cardan pushes himself to his feet. With his long legs, it only takes him two strides to cross the room to the door. He glances at me. “If they shoot me, it’s your fault.”

“I’ll cry big, fat tears at your funeral.”

“You’d better write a kick-ass eulogy. You’re a good speaker, right? I don’t really remember graduation.”

Probably drunk, I think. Or high. “Can you just knock?”

Cardan raises his hand and deals the door three hard raps, so loud I nearly jump. He waits a beat, then says, “Oh, no answer. Well, I guess I’ll—”

“What is it?”

This time it’s a woman’s voice that comes through the door. Cardan and I glance at each other. “Bathroom,” he calls. I notice the way he instinctively pitches his voice a little lower, trying to sound more adult, more alpha. “Both of us. And I’m thirsty.”

There’s another pause, then the woman says, “Step back, then. Against the far wall.”

Raising both his hands, Cardan retreats until his back hits the wall. I stand, too, awaiting whatever might happen when the door opens.

But when it does, I am momentarily taken aback. A small woman stands there, holding a different pistol, one better suited to her hand than the man’s. Like the scarred man, she too has a distinct appearance: her brown skin is dappled white from vitiligo, and her hair, too, is a shocking white cloud of curls around her face. She’s pretty, I realize. Totally out of place holding a gun in a hostage situation.

She is holding a gun, though—smaller than her companion’s, so they aren’t trading off—and keeps it fixed on Cardan even when she looks at me. “You first,” she says. “Through the door. Come on.”

I do need to pee, but this is what I really want: a chance to get a glimpse of the space outside of our small room. I nod and take cautious steps, edging myself around her and out of the door, careful not to make any moves that would seem threatening and spook her into firing that gun. But she keeps it trained on Cardan until I am out, which is when she finally turns away from him.

She keeps the barrel of her pistol aimed at me as she secures both locks, and I look around. It is a larger open area and in the middle is a round plastic table with four chairs. In one of the chairs sits the scarred man, playing Solitaire. He looks up. “What’s this?”

“Bathroom break,” says the woman, taking my arm. It’s comical—she’s tiny, barely comes up past my shoulder—but she’s the one with the weapon. I let her lead me through the main space, which is mostly bare. Aside from the table and chairs, I see a mini-fridge plugged into one wall, and stairs that lead out of the basement.

I hope my escort is going to take me upstairs so I can get a sense of the situation, but I am not that lucky. Instead she steers me past the tables to a short hallway on the other side of the main space. There are two doors, and she motions me toward the first one.

“In there,” she says.

I don’t thank her, because what point is there in thanking my abductor? I just open the door and go inside. The bathroom is just a bathroom, but it has toilet paper and a functioning toilet and a sink and paper towels, which is all I need at the moment. There is also a shower stall in the corner with a frosted glass door, which makes me think that this is the basement of a house after all. The room we are being kept in might have once been a very small guest bedroom, or a storage room.

Someone has left bar soap in a little tray in the sink. It looks old and grody, its color faded to an unattractive pale green, but I soap my hands up anyway after I finish my business, and then I splash water on my face. I always keep a spare elastic around my wrist and use it to pull my hair, now an unruly tangle of loose curls, back from my face. I am glad I thought to wear a sweatshirt over my black tank top—I’ll probably need that to stay warm when night falls. I stare at my face in the mirror until my vision splits, and then shake my head. I cannot crack now. I can’t. I will get through this. I have been through worse. A terrible car wreck, a rocky transition to a new home, years of bullying that culminated in something worse. I can survive this, too.

So I go back outside, where the woman takes me by the arm and leads me back to my prison. I don’t protest. I am quiet, and hopefully look dazed and a little scared. No one can know I’m already planning to escape, that I still have my wits about me.

My escort undoes the locks, then pushes me back into the room, and, with the gun trained on Cardan, she says, “All right. You next.”

Cardan, who had taken up his position in the corner again, scrambles to his feet. His eyes flick over me, head to toe, like he’s judging me for looking disheveled when he himself isn’t much better off. I listen for the click of the locks, and am only a little disappointed when I hear them.

Blessedly alone, I sit on the edge of the mattress, inventorying what I know. The main obstacle will be whatever lies upstairs, but I don’t think there is any way to convince our captors to take me out for fresh air. Maybe I can claim a condition? Asthma? I doubt they would buy it.

It only takes a couple of minutes for the door to open and Cardan to come back in, the small woman at his back. He holds a bottle of water fresh from the mini-fridge, condensation already gathering on its surface. I am glad to see the water, hoping I can steal a swig and banish the greasy feeling of cold McMuffin from my mouth once and for all.

“In,” the woman urges Cardan, and he takes another step inside the room so he’s well clear of the door. I think it’s weird that he doesn’t protest, or talk back to her like he did to me, but he had been stalling then, and now there’s actual danger.

I am starting to realize that when he doesn’t hold power in a situation, Cardan Greenbriar is kind of a coward.

This should make me feel smug, but I would rather have a brash alpha to use as a shield while we make our escape. It’ll be fine. Alpha or not, hopefully I have enough brashness for the both of us.

The woman looks from me to Cardan, then back to me. Her eyes look almost kind. “I am sorry about this,” she says. “We were only meant to take him.”

“Um,” I say. “Oh.”

“It shouldn’t be too much longer.”

“That’s… good.” I look at Cardan, who seems as baffled as I am. “You could always just let me go?”

The woman sighs. “The boss says it’s not an option anymore. But don’t worry. If you keep cooperating, you won’t be in any danger. Either of you,” she adds, looking at Cardan.

“Good to know,” Cardan says. “Although I’m not sure why I should trust the promise of a person who kidnapped and drugged us.”

Her lip twitches. “Fair enough,” she says, and then she closes the door and locks it.

We both exhale our relief. Cardan sits back down in his corner, takes a large swig of water, then screws on the cap and rolls the bottle across the floor to me. “Good thinking,” he says. “One, because it would suck to have to pee on the floor, but two because now we have a sense of where we are.”

“Yeah,” I said, only half-paying attention. I unscrew the bottle cap and take a sip of cool, clean water. Then I lower my voice. “I think I have a plan. But…”

Cardan sits forward. “But?”

“I don’t know if it’ll get you out.”

He frowns, but somehow doesn’t sound surprised when he just says, “Oh.”

“Haven’t you noticed? They’re only scared of you. They only train the gun on you. They don’t think of me…” I shrug one shoulder. “Well, at all, but definitely not as a threat. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. As far as they know, I chose the wrong boy to kiss on a beach.”

“Yeah.” Cardan rubs a hand over his face. “Yeah, okay. So I’m the big, bad alpha… and the decoy, while you slip under the radar. And then I get to follow you, maybe. If we’re lucky.”

I am surprised to find that I feel a little bad for him. A few hours ago, I would have been fine leaving him to rot, but then we spoke more words to each other than we have maybe in our entire lives, and now I’m not so sure. I say, “You probably get to follow me, it’s just not a guarantee. But I still think it’s worth trying.”

“Anything is,” he says, surprising me. “You know why?”

“Why?”

“They’re not wearing masks.”

I stare at him for a moment, then dread pools at the bottom of my stomach, a cold egg someone’s cracked open in my chest. “Either they’re consummate professionals who’ve managed to wipe themselves from every database, or…”

“Or we’re not supposed to be around to tell anyone what we’ve seen.” Cardan’s mouth presses into a thin line, grimmer and more serious than I’ve ever seen him.

“Okay,” I say, trying to ignore my heartbeat as it speeds up. “Okay, let’s—okay. So we make our plan and carry it out. That’s what we do.”

“We carry out our plan,” he says, a gloomy echo, “or die trying.”

Silence falls over the room like a blanket of snow, but I take a flamethrower to it by asking, “Really?”

“What?”

“Being dramatic doesn’t help. We have to focus on getting out of here. So.” I wave my hand. “Stop that. No one’s going to kill you, except maybe me if you keep getting on my nerves.”

He looks at me, his eyes darker now, in the unlit basement, than they were even last night on the beach. “Who’s going to stop them from killing us? You? A little omega girl who doesn’t know when to quit?”

“I’m not little,” I snap. God, why is he like this? “And yeah, it’s a good thing I don’t know when to quit, because apparently that’s all that stands between you and suicidal sulking. So stop being so Shakespearean tragedy and help me.”

“I could never do theater,” Cardan muses aloud, letting his head fall back against the wall. “Wasn’t alpha enough for me, apparently.”

I frown at him. “Plenty of alphas do theater. Our school had a great theater program.” I would know—I volunteered as a stagehand enough times as a freshman and sophomore. It was something else to put on a college application, and I liked moving in the dark, not being seen but making everything run smoothly. But eventually I had to stop, too. Madoc never said outright that it was a waste of time, but…

“My brother didn’t like it,” Cardan says, like he’s finishing my thought. He picks at some loose plaster on the wall.

I end up just looking at him for a minute, mostly because I am shocked to hear him sound wistful. I didn’t know he was capable of it. “I think you would have been good,” I say, surprised to find I mean it. I mean, he has the looks, and he’s certainly proven to have a flair for the dramatic.

He turns his head to look back at me, and just like that we had zigzagged back from enemies, or rivals, or whatever we were, to allies. “I always thought so, too.”

---

“So,” Cardan says. “I stand in the door.”

“You do,” I affirm. “You make sure that whoever opens the door, all they see is you.”

“And you’ll be beside the door, out of sight,” he recites. “So you can grab them, disarm them, and pull them in.” He blinks at me. I’ve begun to notice the gold edging his near-black irises, the whole spectacle framed by dark eyelashes. I feel like if I look long enough, I might be able to pick out other colors in them. Eyes like black opals.

“Jude,” he says, like it’s the second time he’s said my name. “Earth to Duarte, hello. Can you actually do that?”

I blink too, shake out of it. “In theory.” I’ve only had to use what I’ve learned on martial arts mats or in boxing studios a few times outside of my lessons, and never on anyone actually armed. But I’m relatively small, so I’ve been taught specifically how to go against people stronger, taller, faster. And I’ve only ever frozen once.

“What if it’s two of them at the door?”

“It won’t be. It’s been one at the door, one at the table all day. You noticed too, right?”

“Yeah,” he says quietly. “So, the tricky part. You lock person one in the room, I go for whoever’s at the table.” He sneers. “‘Go for.’ Like, what, a linebacker?”

“Again, you’re an alpha.” I did not in my life ever think I would be giving Cardan a pep talk, much less this pep talk. “Use those reflexes.”

“My reflexes are rusty.”

“You’d better oil them fast.”

He exhales audibly. “Okay. So I grapple with—whoever’s at the table, under the hope that they’re surprised enough when their buddy gets grabbed that they’ll be slow getting out the gun. And if they do?”

“You’re too valuable to kill until they have your money.”

“They could wound me.”

I roll my eyes. “I could wound you. Suck it up.”

Cardan chuckles softly and touches his side like he’s already imagining bruises blossoming there. “Ouch.”

“You’ll only be without me for a few seconds,” I reassure him. “You draw focus, keep them on the ground, and then I’ll show up, hopefully armed. Then we’re good.”

“And if we’re not good, you just leave me. You just run.” He gives me a weirdly intense look. “Right? I’m the one they want, anyway.”

“It won’t come to that,” I say.

“But if it does.”

“Cardan.”

“I have concerns.”

I bite the inside of my cheek before I can tell him he’s an idiot if he doesn’t have concerns. “What are they?”

“The third man. I haven’t seen him since yesterday, and you haven’t seen him at all. We know what the other two are like, but you have no read on him and I don’t really trust mine.”

That is a good concern, although I’m loath to give Cardan any credit. It had crossed my mind too, along with the possibility that Cardan might have been too drowsy while he was coming out of his drugged haze and made a mistake. But even if he was in a stupor, it isn’t likely that he mistook a scarred man of medium height or a short woman for a tall man with no scars at all.

“Maybe he’s the ringleader,” I suggest. “He might have left once we were settled in.”

“Might have,” Cardan agrees, but he sounds unconvinced.

We pass the rest of the day like that, in our precarious truce. When one of us has an idea, we speak up, trade it back and forth for a while. And then silence again. It would be incredibly boring, and almost is without my phone, except that Cardan is right: this might be literally life or death.

Our captors let us out a few more times to use the bathroom. In the evening, they bring us cold, dry pre-packaged deli sandwiches from a supermarket and an extra pillow and blanket for Cardan, because I am on the mattress and there was only supposed to be one of us. Cardan just accepts the bedding and food, quiet for once. I know he’s wondering the same thing I am: whether they still mean to kill us, or whether we’re worth more alive.

When the light has totally vanished from our tiny window and we have both exhausted our store of potential plans, Cardan unties his shoes, props his pillow in the corner, and starts making himself as comfortable as possible on the floor.

“What are you doing?” I ask, before my brain catches up to my mouth.

“I think this is called ‘sleeping,’” he replies. “I thought everybody did it, but I guess with all those AP classes and mock trial and…”

I roll my eyes. “It’s a big enough mattress,” I say. “Just don’t touch me.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.” I scoot to the side of the mattress, the one closer to the wall, and turn onto my side, away from the spot I’m vacating for him. “Before I change my mind.”

Cardan seems to realize I actually do mean it, so about half a second later I feel him crawl onto the mattress and flop down. And just as he’s groaning, “God, that is better,” even though the mattress is old and stained and doesn’t smell great, I realize I’ve made a gigantic mistake, because my body is a live wire and not even for the reason he’d think.

I glance over my shoulder at him, and although it’s hard to make out details in the dark, I can see that he is also on his side with his back to me, his midnight curls a stark contrast against the pillow. Breathe, I tell myself. For about five years, Cardan could not have been clearer that he does not want me in any conceivable way, and we’re not in the danger zone yet. There is no “safe” in our situation, but I am at least protected from that.

“I can feel you staring,” he says to the empty air.

Startled, I almost bite down on my own tongue. I turn back around and curl my knees to my chest. I don’t want to ask. Asking would be the worst thing in the world. Asking would be admitting to fear, and naming fear gives it power.

But I am spared when Cardan says, unprompted, “I’m not going to try anything, Jesus.” The Don’t you know that? hangs unspoken in the air between us, because I should know it, seeing as he’s been telling me I stink for years. That while his kind ostensibly was made to dominate mine, my chemicals do not agree with his, and so he would never stoop to that level.

I get it. And sure, it stings to be unwanted, but not so much now, because I can sleep through the night with Cardan at my back and really, truly not worry about being prey. “Right,” I say. “Good. Because you’re the last person in the world I’d want that from, anyway.”

“Yes, you’ve made that clear.”

Never mind that he made it clear first. I burrow into my pillow as best I can. “Well, enjoy your uninterrupted sleep.”

I expect a smart remark from him, but there’s nothing but a sigh. Then, because I am listening carefully, I hear his breathing grow long and even, and I realize he actually has fallen asleep. He isn’t too nervous, too tense to be kept awake. I am both of those things, but also exhausted, so I guess I can understand that eventually, exhaustion has its way.

It’s weird that twenty-four hours ago he was one of the people I hated most in the world, someone who stood in for the system that had scorned me my whole life. He still might be, outside these walls. But for now he’s just a boy, sleeping at my back.

I close my eyes, and sleep too.

Next

[finastrashcan-blog]

— i need you.

member: jeon jeongguk

genre: smut + angst + college!au

word count: 1.6k

warnings: cheating / jeongguk is kind of an asshole

parts: 01

soundtracks: love$ick, mura musa ft asap rocky + sidelove, astrid s

+++

gukkie (02:24) – you up?

You shouldn’t respond to his texts. You know you shouldn’t. But the bright light emitting from your screen has you rolling over, blurry gaze drifting over the message, a strange feeling sinking into your stomach. You were meant to be sleeping, but sleep had recently become virtually impossible lately. And it was all because of the name flashing across your screen. You don’t know why you do it but you sit up, elbows digging into the pillow that was once beneath your head, and reply.

you (02:27) – yeah. why?

gukkie (02:27) - can you come out? wanna talk

He wants to talk. That’s rich coming from him. Especially because he’s been blatantly ignoring your texts. You quickly flick through them now, cringing at your desperate multiple texts that were all left on read. It makes the vein in your temple twitch, how quick he was to ignore your attempts at communication but here he was at ass o’clock in the morning, demanding you come out to hear him talk. If had asked you to do that a week ago you would have given in, trotted out neatly like an obedient pup. But you’re sick of this cycle now. He was always pushing you away when you needed him most and dragging you back in when you thought it was finally over. He’s not going to get what he wants – not anymore.

you (02:30) – no.

gukkie (02:30) – what why?

gukkie (02:31) – y/n please i really need to talk to you

gukkie (02:31) - ?

gukkie (02:32) – y/n

gukkie (02:35) – can i come in? im at the door

You jolt up at that, the sheets you’d cocooned yourself in tipping towards the floor. There’s a beating in your chest that makes your throat close up, palms clammy as your fingertips swipe furiously across your keyboard.

you (02:36) – why? leave. i don’t want to talk to you.

gukkie (02:36) – can we talk please fuck don’t make this difficult

you (02:37) – me? i shouldn’t make this difficult? you can fuck right off jeongguk you have no right to say that. leave me the hell alone.

gukkie (02:37) – im sorry i know i fucked up please im trying to fix this let me in please

The sorry takes you by surprise. Jeongguk was not a person to say sorry. Ever. He usually found a way to apologise without ever uttering that word. It was one of the things about him that you hated. His lack of concern about how his actions affected others. That air about him because ever treated him like he was above apologising, like he was perfect. In a weird way he was. You should know, you’ve been friends since kindergarten. You’d watched him bloom into the person he was today; from a shy quiet kid who hated losing at anything to the tall confident athlete he was today. You don’t know when he developed that particular god complex – maybe when the girls in your class realised Jeongguk was pretty cute and his locker became stuffed with love letters and marriage proposals. You didn’t expect him to get any worse in university but somehow did. That arrogance of his landing practically all the girls on campus into his hands, like putty. You never expected to fall for that person, the person he became. But you did, like every other girl in this school, swooning over his buff arms and stupidly boyish grin. It was the tattoo that did you in though. The ink looked delicious over his skin, swooping black marks that curled from his shoulder into his bicep. It was so pretty, bold against his sun-kissed skin. Maybe if you had never seen it, you wouldn’t have done what you did (you know that’s a lie, you would have landed in Jeongguk’s bed regardless).

You want to push him away, forget what happened that night despite being incapable of doing so. But your heartaches too much, the sorry making your eyes swell, hot with tears. It’s what makes you roll out of bed and pad to the front door, glad that Chaeyoung was gone for the weekend.

You don’t expect to see him like that when you open the door.

His eyes are red, dark marks beneath them. The sight alone, makes your heart drop to your gut, an unsettling feeling resting in your chest. It’s an oddity, to see that much raw emotion in his eyes. Triumph, glee, joy – those were common. But Jeongguk is staring at you with such wide doe eyes, an emotion you’re afraid to identify buried in his brown eyes. He blinks like he can’t believe you’re right in front of him.

“Hi,” He croaks out, voice uncharacteristically soft.

“Hi.” You whisper it, terrified by how run down he looks. Jeongguk cares about his appearance, deeply. To the point of vanity if Park Jimin didn’t exist to take that title. But he looks haggard, hair a tousled mess instead of its neat style and a ketchup stain on his white hoodie. He’s holding it around him like a child clinging onto a blanket, back caved in on itself instead of the usual self-assured stance.

“Can I come in? He kicks his scuffed sneakers into the ground. “To talk.”

“To talk,” You repeat, trying to sound firm. Your early morning calls with Jeongguk usually never ended in just talk.

He walks in carefully like he’s stepping on glass. You would sympathise with him if he hadn’t stomped all over your heart already. You watch as he sits down on the couch Chaeyoung had stolen from her sister’s place and then pick the seat furthest away from him. When you sit, the shirt that you’d tossed on to sleep in rolls up your thigh, revealing a lick of skin that has the air growing cold around you. Something in you wants to crawl closer, nearer, on top of him. Any position that brought your skin together.

You yank the shirt over your bare thighs, acutely aware of his trained gaze on the ground.

“So,” You hiss out. “Talk.”

“Eunbi dumped me.”

You freeze, skin prickling at the revelation. Kwon Eunbi. His long-time girlfriend. The girl you absolutely abhorred because she hated you for no reason. Until there was a valid reason to hate you.

“Oh.” You said, clamping down hard on the questions rising in your throat. Jeongguk wasn’t your best friend anymore – why should you care about the details.

“Yeah,” He mumbles, pathetically really, fingers picking at the rips in his jeans.

“Sorry. You’ll find someone else.”

He looks up at that, eyes sharp. “You’re not going to ask why?”

“Why should I?”

“Why should you – fuck! Please, stop making this hard for me.” His gaze is hot, frustration making his jaw tick. You want to punch him.

“Why is it always about you?” You retort, voice rising out of your control. “Why should things be easy for you? You’ll be alright, Jeongguk. You’re fine – stop being dramatic.”

“I’m trying to fix what I fucked up! You’re not helping with that attitude! I know I messed up and I came here to make it better. Please, I don’t want to fight with you.”

You pause at that, chewing your bottom lip because he looks wounded. You don’t want to fight him with either but you’re still so angry. You can’t help the words that fly out of your mouth

“What do you want me to say, Jeongguk? I’m sorry your girlfriend dumped you. Here’s my pity. And then what, I roll over and let you fuck me?”

It’s so quiet you can hear the blood roaring in your ears. Your cheeks feel wet and there’s a ringing in your skull. He just stares at you, mouth a hard line.

“Why’d you say it like that? Was that all it was to you?” His voice wavers and it makes your heart seize up. Why was he acting like the victim? Who was the one who was played with here? Tossed around like a ragdoll? Called upon only when he had a use for you?

“That’s all it was to you,” You bite out, shaking slightly from how furious you feel. “Why would I treat any differently?”

“That’s what you thought?”

“That’s what I know.”

He pauses, brief shaky, his hands clasped together tightly. “I put my relationship on the line for you. I lied to her for you. You weren’t just a quick fuck, y/n. You weren’t.”

“But you acted like I was,” You murmur, voice small. Jeongguk exhales loudly and then he’s on you, squeezing you so tightly that you’re paralyzed for a moment, the press of his firm chest against yours making the air in your lungs vanish.

“Why the hell are you so difficult?” He whispers into your skin, shifting around to pull you into his lap. You don’t like how your body melts, finally getting what it’s been craving for weeks now. Your brain can’t formulate an answer to his question, focusing on memorizing the curve of his muscles beneath your fingertips. His skin felt warm, eliciting a tingly feeling across your own skin, leading straight to your core. You can feel his eyes on your face, his hands cradling your waist gently like he’s afraid you’ll bolt. You want to make a home in his hold instead, a place for yourself only. You hope he can’t read the desperation in your eyes. You need him more than you want to admit.

“Can I tell you why Eunbi broke up with me?”

You nod, heart skipping in your chest. He waits for you to look up, his gaze steady on you. A determination in his eyes that makes you shiver. Then he says it, the words you’ve been aching to hear since this all started. Since the first night that you’d stumbled into bed together, too drunk to care about the consequences.

“I told her I didn’t love her anymore. I told her I loved you.”

[kk095]

Crash Landing

This story is a little different, but I hope everyone enjoys it! There may be some typos, so I may have to correct them at some point. Anyway, I hope you guys like it!

*****

Matt and Suzie were a happy couple who tied the knot 2 years ago, and have been together for 5 years. Matt was a 30 year old white man with longish brown hair that was neat and well maintained. He stood at 5’10 with a slim build, had blue eyes that were behind a pair of glasses since he didn’t like contact lenses, but it gave him a nerdy look, which Suzie was into. Matt had a decent paying job, but it was the stereotypical bland, corporate type job that was totally unfulfilling. But outside of his monotonous work life, Matt was a pilot and even had his own small plane that he recently fixed up.

Suzie was a 28 year old white woman with wavy brown hair, brown eyes, and olive skinned since she was of Italian descent on her mom’s side of the family. Suzie stood at 5’7 with a slender build, had bright white teeth that always made her smile stand out, didn’t have any tattoos but had piercings in her ears and belly button, and looked a bit young for her age. Suzie worked as a CNA in a nursing home in the next town over and hoped to go back to school to be an RN someday. Suzie was a conventionally attractive woman who many thought was out of Matt's league, but she was surprisingly down to earth and a generally pleasant person to be around.

The couple’s 2nd wedding anniversary came up, and Matt decided to take Suzie out for a ride on the plane, and then go out to a nice dinner afterwards. Suzie always thought Matt’s passion for flying to be interesting, and genuinely enjoyed going on plane rides with him. It’s a great opportunity to have quality 1 on 1 time and see the world from a different angle. Suzie has even tried to convince Matt to apply to be a commercial airline pilot, but Matt was never interested. He always felt that he’d lose his passion for flying if he did it for a living.

It was around 3:45pm when they took off that day. It was a cool, overcast day with a slight breeze, but no rain or fog, which is detrimental to flying- especially in a small plane like Matt’s. It took about 15 to 20 minutes to reach the air traffic controller’s suggested cruising altitude. There were beautiful, unobstructed views from that height, and the only noise was from the small plane’s propellers and the occasional check in from air traffic control. Out the left window, you could see miles and miles of ocean and out the right and front windows, you could see the beach and the town below.

The couple had a nice time together, but things began to change just as Matt headed back towards the airport. “This is tower 1. Check your altimeter reading. Our radar is saying you’re well above your aircraft’s ceiling.” A male voice said over the radio. Matt looked at the altimeter- which was many of the confusing looking meters in the cockpit. This particular device measures the aircraft’s altitude and the angle it’s traveling at, and has to be reset before every takeoff to ensure it’s working properly; it’s arguably one of the most important instruments that a pilot needs. Matt takes a look at the device and says “everything looks good on my end.” There’s a slight pause before the air traffic controller says “could be a radar miscue, but keep us posted the rest of the way.” Matt agrees and continues flying back towards the airport.

About 5 minutes later, the nose of the plane began pointing down slightly. Matt pulls back on the wheel, trying to point the plane back up but instead, the exact opposite starts to happen. The plane continues heading downwards, dropping several hundred feet in a short period. “is everything ok babe? Just a little drop?” Suzie asks, sensing something isn’t quite right. “I dunno. It’s like the plane doesn’t have any lift, but that shouldn’t happen at this altitude.” Matt says, trying to figure out which correction procedure to start. Matt struggled over the ensuing minutes to stabilize the aircraft’s angle, and a nosedive began. “fuck… we’re stalling!” Matt shouts urgently, realizing the problem too late. Suzie buckles up her seatbelt and white knuckles her armrests. She begins breathing heavily as she watches her husband struggle to fix the problem. “Matt…are we gonna be ok?” she asks, scared. Matt says something inaudible under his breath as he continues to frantically ameliorate their nose dive.

When their altitude decreased a bit and lift wasn’t re-established, the aircraft began to spin while continuing its plummet to the earth. Suzie closed her eyes tightly, squeezing the arm rests with all her might. “please don’t crash. Please don’t crash…” she thought to herself. While the aircraft was spinning, Matt’s glasses flew off his head and were tossed elsewhere in the aircraft. Matt began navigating the aircraft towards a vacant lot off in the distance for an emergency landing. “ok hun, this is gonna be a rough landing, but I need you to keep your eyes shut and be strong for me.” Matt says, nervous himself. Suzie nods and tells Matt she loves him, but begins to feel queasy from the aircraft’s erratic spinning.

Matt began to make preparation for a crash landing. This is something he’s trained for, but never in a million years expected to have to perform. During the aircraft’s descent, Matt was able to point the nose of the aircraft up so the bottom side of the plane would make contact with the ground. While Matt achieved the correct angle for an emergency landing and opened landing gear, he had trouble reducing speed.

What felt like seconds later, the bottom of the plane made contact with the ground in the vacant lot mentioned earlier. The plane bounced violently several times while still going forward. Suzie screamed as she was bounced around a little. The plane bounced several times, eventually ending up in a rocky area of the lot. The already violent landing because even more turbulent. Matt was shaken around quite extensively, hitting his head and neck multiple times against his seat and other surfaces. A rock flew up through the front window after being kicked up by the propeller. The rock was hurled right at Matt’s forehead and a tremendous speed, killing him instantly.

Finally, the aircraft came to an abrupt stop about a quarter mile or so after touching down. Suzie awoke minutes later after being knocked out herself. Her eyes opened slowly, and was a but groggy at first, but quickly regained her mental faculties. Her brown eyes scanned the scene out her window. She could see smoldering pieces of metal and fragments of the plane scattered across the dirt and rock covered area. “matt?” she asks before looking over at him. His face was battered and bloody from glass, the rock, and also had bruises from being thrown around. He was hard to recognize at that point, which visibly upset Suzie. “matt? MATT?!” she said, shaking him, to which she received no response. “MATT!” she screamed, realizing he wasn’t breathing- or alive for that matter. “oh my god… oh no… this isn’t happening…” she said to herself out loud, beginning to cry.

Sirens could already be heard off in the distance, with multiple reports of a plane crash being called into 911. Suzie began sobbing, holding her newly deceased husband’s hand, waiting for emergency personnel to arrive. Suzie felt a pain in her lower abdomen from the seatbelt locking up and pressing her abdomen. She also had a slight headache and felt a little nauseous, but had enough adrenaline and endorphins pumping through her to make her injuries feel tolerable.

The police department were first to arrive on scene. A female officer scurries over to the plane. “we have 2 victims- 1 male 1 female. Male is deceased and female is awake and alert.” She’s heard saying into her radio. “HE’S NOT DEAD. HE CAN’T BE! YOU GOTTA HELP HIM!” Suzie cries to the female officer. The cop tries to change the subject and talk about her injuries. “can you tell me where it hurts miss? The ambulance is almost here.” The cop says. “Matt’s dead…” Suzie cries out, not answering the officer’s question.

The fire department and ambulance arrives to the crash site about 2 minutes later. The fire department hooks up their hose to a fire extinguisher nearby and put out the small handful of fires nearby. 2 medics head over towards the plane and manage to open up the side door. “hi ma’am, we’re with Bristol County EMS. Can you tell me your name?” a female medic asks softly. “um…suzie. Suzie Carter. My husband’s Matt. Is he ok?!”suzie replied. The Male medic went to the opposite side and checked on matt. He felt for a carotid pulse, checked for respirations, and checked his pupils with a pen light. Matt was pulseless, not breathing, and had fixed and dilated pupils. The male medic discreetly shook his head at the female one, indicating Matt was a goner. “Matt? Is he ok? Is he dead?!” suzie cried out, panicked. “he’s in rough shape, but we have to focus on you for now, ok?” the male medic said, trying to reason with Suzie. The female medic placed a c-collar on Suzie and snipped the seatbelt with scissors. The medic then cut off Susie’s top, only sparing her black bra. “that’s a nasty looking bruise on your belly. Does it hurt?” the female medic asked. “um… kinda" suzie replied. The medic began palpating Suzie’s abdomen. “AHH!” Suzie yelped, wincing in pain. “abdomen’s stiff and rigid with point tenderness.” The female medic relays to the other. “what does that mean?” suzie asks. “it means you hurt your belly and we need to get you checked out at the hospital, alright?” the male medic said calmly.

Suzie is removed from the destroyed aircraft and placed onto a backboard and stretcher. The medics set up a portable heart monitor, which read unstable vitals: BP 90/55, heart rate 131 BPM, and a pulse ox of 95%. 2 large bore IVs were set up, and fluid resuscitation began. A dose of pain meds and a dose of valium were pushed do calm Suzie down in the ambulance.

In the ambulance, further examination began. Suzie's right forearm was broken, and she had a bump on her head. The female medic shined a pen light into Suzie's eyes to see if there was a head injury, but her pupils were equal and reactive. Suzie’s jeans were snipped off and her shoes were taken off, leaving her barefoot and half naked on the backboard with her bra and matching underwear only being spared. “ok Suzie, can you wiggle your toes for me?” the medic asked. “uh huh.” Suzie responded. Suzie's slender toes which were painted with black nail polish, remained perfectly still. “ok Suzie, let’s do it again.” The medic said. Once again, her toes remained still. “ok, good job.” The medic said, realizing a spinal cord injury was within the realm of possibilities. The medic then placed and o2 mask onto Suzie's face and just monitored her vitals the rest of the way.

Upon arrival to the ER, Suzie was lifted onto the trauma room table under the big overhead light while the medics rattled off information to the trauma team. “Hi Suzie, can you tell me if you passed out during the accident?” a veteran nurse asked softly. “I don’t remember.” Suzie said. “I’ll take that as a yes.” The nurse replied. Trauma labs were drawn and blood transfusions began while the attending called out orders. Chest x-rays and a FAST scan were performed. The x-ray showed a complex fracture of the right ulna, requiring surgical intervention to repair, a vertebra fracture at the L3 level, and a partially collapsed right lung. The FAST scan came back clean for the chest and pelvis, but there was a serious non-specific bleeding in the abdomen. “page ortho and surgery. I want a head, chest, abdomen CT. And let’s do a right chest tube while we’re at it.” The attending barked to his subordinates.

Suzie screamed and yelped in pain during the chest tube insertion since she was wide awake, but her o2 stats went up markedly once the tube’s placement was confirmed. A blanket was placed over her torso and she was wheeled over to radiology for a CT scan. The scan showed a small brain bleed that was thought to dissipate on its own. The spinal cord injury was confirmed, and it didn’t seem very promising since there was damage to the spine itself. In all likelihood, Suzie would be paralyzed from the waist down. The abdominal bleeding source wasn’t able to be located on the CT scan, so it was decided that she would be taken to the operating room for an exploratory laparotomy.

After being whisked upstairs into the OR, Suzie was quickly prepped for surgery. She was sedated and intubated with a 7.5 ET tube, with the tube being secured with a blue tube holder. Her belly was sterilized with betadine, staining it a brownish orange color. A midline incision was made in the attractive brunette's belly. The skin separated with ease from the sharp scalpel blade. The underlying fat, connective tissue, and muscle was cut through to expose the abdomen. A rush of blood came out of the incision upon entrance to the abdominal cavity, but before retractors could be placed. Suction was applied to the area, but it didn’t help. The retractors were placed and the opening was created. The area had to be suctioned, but it became apparent that there was extensive bleeding. The liver, spleen, IVC, and aorta were all intact, so the originally suspected culprits were ruled out. The surgical team then began the tedious task of searching through the bowel loops and mesenchymal area for injuries.

During the tedious search, Suzie's blood pressure began dropping. More blood products were hung and vasopressors were pushed, but that was simply a band aid meant to buy some time. After 2 more minutes of unsuccessful probing and prodding, Suzie’s vitals began to plummet rapidly. Meds were pushed, but she became pulseless. The abdominal surgery was paused temporarily and chest compressions were started. Suzie’s chest caved in repeatedly as it was pounded away by one of the nurses. Her perky, B cup breasts bounced and jiggled in sync with each of the compressions. On the heart monitors, PEA was displayed. Epi and atropine were injected intravenously in an attempt to obtain a shockable rhythm.

After a few cycles of unsuccessful chest compressions, the lead surgeon decided to look for the bleed once again. Suction had to he applied once more, but the doctor found a bleed in one of the mesenteric veins. A vascular clamp was placed in the meantime until the vessel could be ligated. Blood still accumulated in the abdomen, so it appeared another vessel was severed in the vicinity. While going through more bowel loops, there was significant bruising and swelling in the jejunum. Another bleed was located in a deeper mesenteric vein, and that vessel was subsequently clamped off. No additional blood accumulated in the abdomen, so it appeared all bleeding sources have been located. In the meantime, the code ensued. A 2nd round of drugs were pushed and more blood products were hung from the rapid infuser.

Finally, the monitors showed v-fib. The defibrillator paddles were gelled and charged to 200j. The defibs were then pressed up against Suzie's bare chest as everyone stepped away from the table in anticipation of the shock. Suzie’s body jolted abruptly in response to the shock, but she remained in v-fib. Chest compressions were resumed while the paddles were being readied. A moment later, a 300j shock was delivered. Suzie’s lifeless body reacted more noticeably from the stronger shock. Her back arched slightly and thrust her chest upwards, jiggling her b cup breasts. Suzie wasn’t shocked out of v-fib, so life saving efforts resumed. A nurse took over chest compressions, pumping away at the 28 year old's chest while the defibs were being recharged to 360j. The next shock was delivered about 30 seconds later, causing Suzie’s feet to leap up above the table and slam back down a second later, showing off the thick, prominent handful of wrinkles in her size 8.5 soles. Luckily, this shock converted the attractive brunette to sinus bradycardia, and surgery could continue.

The rest of the surgery was touch and go, but the OR team managed to maintain a pulse. The 2 severed mesenteric veins were successfully ligated and proper blood drainage was restored to the intestines, but post operative monitoring for blood clots was important. Next, orthopedics began their end of the surgery. Suzie’s fractured ulna was surgically reduced with a small rod and pins that were inserted directly into the bone. Lumbar fusion surgery of the L3-L4 space was performed to reduce motion in the area and prevent additional damage to the spinal cord itself.

After the surgery, Suzie was transferred to the ICU for careful monitoring. She remained sedated and intubated, but switched over to a ventilator. A catheter and central line were placed, and antibiotics were added to her cocktail of medicines since her abdomen was open for almost 5 hours. Suzie's parents and older sister arrived at the hospital about an hour and a half earlier, and were waiting in a private waiting room together.

“How is she?!” Suzie’s mom asked the trauma surgeon, teary eyed as soon as he entered the room. “she’s in the ICU and in pretty rough shape. She sustained some major internal bleeding during surgery and her heart stopped beating for 6 minutes- we were lucky to get her back. She also sustained a spinal cord injury, and it’s very possible she’ll be paralyzed from the waist down. She has a moderate head injury we're monitoring, and she also suffered a badly broken arm in the crash. I’m very sorry ma’am” the trauma surgeon said. “paralyzed?!” her mom asked, beginning to cry again. The doctor paused, then sighed before continuing. “yes ma’am. The spinal cord injury she sustained is quite serious, so it’s very possible she’ll be paralyzed. Best case scenario, she’ll have major issues with mobility.” The family paused, taking all of the bad news in. “I wanna see her.” The mom demanded. “I can take you up to see her, but I warn you- she’s sedated and hooked up to a breathing ventilator. She’s gonna look pretty beat up, so please keep that in mind, ok?” The surgeon said.

The surgeon escorts the 3 family members up to the ICU. “oh god…my poor baby…” the mom cries out, almost falling to her knees after seeing Suzie hooked up to a ventilator and connected to other equipment. Suzie was covered in abrasions, her chest was bruised from CPR, there was a large bandage on her belly covering up the closed incision, the bump on her head appeared to have gotten a little bigger, her complexion was a ghastly pale, and she was cool to the touch. Suzie’s BP and heart rate were stabilizing, but her chest tube had to be fixed a bit after surgery since it was knocked loose from the resuscitation efforts.

She remained relatively stable for the next handful of hours, but there were some changes that occurred around 3am. Her blood pressure dropped again, and her medication dosage was upped. But at 3:30, Suzie began having a seizure. Her body twitched and thrashed involuntarily on the bed as her family watched in horror. “help! SOMEONE HELP!” Suzie’s sister shouted, attracting a nurse’s attention. A few nurses and the doctor entered the room. Lorazepam was pushed intravenously to control the seizure, but it was discovered that her right pupil was blown and the left pupil was constricted. 2 minutes later, the seizure was controlled and Suzie was taken back down to radiology for a repeat head CT.

The scan showed that her brain was swelling, and that raised a major red flag with the doctors. Since her head injury had a delayed reaction that required additional care, she was taken back up to the OR to have an intracranial pressure monitor placed.

A portion of her head was shaved and the small, hairless patch was sterilized with betadine. Once the area was cleaned, an electric drill was used to create a small opening in the skull. After the opening was made, a small pressure sensitive monitor was calibrated and fed into the hole, and constant intracranial pressure monitoring began. Initially, Suzie’s ICP reading was 12mm/Hg, which is abnormal, but still below the threshold for further intervention. Anything above 0 is abnormal, but 15-20 is considered dangerous, and anything above 20 is typically fatal since the brain herniates at that point. Suzie was taken back to the ICU after the procedure was completed.

Over the next few hours, Suzie’s ICP readings increased 16 mm/Hg. At that point, the ICU team decided to put Suzie into a medically induced coma in an attempt to prevent further brain swelling and give her body a chance to recover.

Throughout the day, Suzie only showed signs of getting worse despite the doctor’s best interventions. Her ICP monitor was displaying 17 mm/Hg, but her pupils were fixed and dilated. After a neurology consult and an eeg, it was determined that Suzie was brain dead. The attending physician delivered the bad news to Suzie’s family, and they decided to remove her from the ventilator. Suzie was surrounded by her family and was pronounced dead at 8:21am.

After the ICU team gave her family a chance to grieve and say goodbye, they went into the room and began removing equipment from her battered, lifeless body. The EKG electrodes were disconnected, the IVs were removed, all monitors were shut off, and her body was covered up, only leaving her feet exposed. A toe tag was filled out and placed. The tag dangled in front of Suzie’s wrinkly soles as she was taken to the hospital morgue.

Suzie’s cause of death was determined to be brain herniation from the head injury she sustained. The brain injury was moderate at first, but had a delayed onset and grew progressively worse. The cause of the plane crash was investigated over the following weeks, and the cause was determined to be calibrating the altimeter wrong, and ended up at a higher altitude than the plane was made to fly in, so the plane stalled. Overall, this was a preventable accident that led to the deaths of 2 young people.

[chainofbeing]

Adam is forced to re-evaluate his intentions Epicurosa: Laura Rodgers Harpy: Maxwell James Ginn (mjginnvoice@gmail.com) Surveyor: Lance Chapman, Nerys Howell, Mary-anne Stanek and Jesus r Carbo Ovig Nadal: Glyn Pritchard Score: Bethany Porter Lewis Sound design, Writing, and Adam Delta 5: Cai Gwilym Pritchard An Extra Special thanks to our patrons Theresa Shiban Anthony Hyde Zachary Fortais-Gomm email us at chainofbeingofficial@gmail.com follow the podcast on twitter @chainofbeing Subscribe to the patreon for exclusive content and rewards! 170119_hydrophone_river_3.wav by Leonsptvx

We stand on a great and sweeping mountain, a strange fog covers the landscape and movements of large obscured creatures and just about be made out. The wind shrieks in my ears, as if ordering me to leave this place, no oxygen, no protection from the harsh radiation of the sun, If I weren’t in the shadow of the tall eight armed god, Epicruosa, I imagine I would be having a much harder time standing here. Epicurosa puts on the onyx skull of a crow of some kind, decorated in banded white silver. They place a large hand on my back and push me toward the large circular chasm that lays open in front of us. It drops down, I lean over and see no bottom. They gesture toward it. “You want me to jump in?” I ask

[with each new mask epicurosas voice changes, the crow has a similar but more exaggerated quality to adams, and there is a hypnotic tone underneath that winds and and down as she speaks]

“What’s the issue? You’ll survive,”

“Yea but will I be intact?”

“I did not funnel myself into a physical form and bring you all the way out here just to watch you splatter at the bottom of a vast abyss. If I wished to do that I would have just thrown you from the top of that mesa where I rescued you from that... infected woman,” 

“Oh fuck, I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I shuffle toward the edge and turn before jumping off “What’s down there?” I’ve never seen Epicurosa’s face without a mask, I see her gray textured skin, glowing yellow eyes and black teeth. Completely unobscured I imagine the sight of her bare face would destroy some part of me. Despite the skull mask I can see her frustration. “Think of the universe as a body, mortals live their entire life on the skin, maybe they’ll cut through the epidermis every so often but that,” she gestures to the open maw of the mountain “Is a place where the skin has been pierced and reaches the flesh and bone,”

“Oh,” I turn back to the chasm “And why do you want me to-”

Epicurosa sighs angrily and shoves me over the edge and I get the sense that something watches me fall, the stone sides of the huge hole that start as rough, natural looking stone soon gives way an impossibly smooth and flawless texture, too smooth even to seem mortal made, something approaches and I hit a layer of water, I sink through for a second, carried by my momentum, before I pass and continue falling, strangely though, it seems as if I am falling up, a circle or orange light approaches and I sail up into the air and back down again, landing on my feet on a wide square, white stone platform. The space is incredibly vast, there is a roof and sides to it, made of the same white stone of the pyramid, the sides go straight up for miles and then begin to slope inwards until they reach the wide flat ceiling which so far away that I can only just make it out through the atmosphere that sits, trapped in this impossible place. Huge pillars are carved into the walls that stretch high above me. Multiple balconies protrude out from the sides on which stand colossal figures, obscured by robe and fire, they look down upon me, vigilant guards holding flaming golden spears. The roof leads to an open octagonal hole through which a warm light shines through, thin trails of sand cascade down and land in a large garden whose borders are entirely defined by where the light falls. Four huge walls stretch the whole height of this space evenly around the octagon, partially barring my full vision of the garden, and even the whole space as the walls prevent me from seeing the side directly opposite. This place I’m stood in is so incredibly huge that the minimal light just barely illuminates the vast cavern. The floor at the bottom of the pyramid is covered in a variety of landscapes: rocky heaths, tors, promontories, and various other rock formations that jut into the air, forming long bridges, platforms and canyons, far off in the distance I see pools of some molten substance of various sizes dotted sporadically here and there, with long thin rivulets trailing around the landscape. At the bottom of the long staircase that trails along the side of the pyramid I see that the rock is actually something akin to glass, unrefined and opaque but still clearly glass. I look up at the angels in their flaming shrouds, their gaze still fixed on me. From Behind a pillar of glass a creature of some kind swiftly rushes up into the air, rising into the air far, far above me. I watch it sail out of sight toward the ceiling, and begin to walk, heading for the garden at the center. I take a step and hear something rushing toward me from above, I look up and see the creature headed straight for me, I draw my sword and ready myself, it moves so quickly that I can just barely discern its form. It descends in a blur of glistening black feather, and pale skeletal claw. It deftly avoids my blade and tears a gash in my arm. The thing lands on the sloping wall of the inverse pyramid behind my and skitters around. A thick oily substance drips from its feathers which stand in a show of active hostility, it turns it’s head toward me and I get a look at it’s face. For that is what it possesses. I can call it nothing but human in nature. A genderless and sickly face the black sludge oozes from it’s pale eyes and seeps from its snarling teeth. It’s features are sharp and cruel.

[the harpy’s voice is harsh and gravelly]

 “This is a place of knowledge and discovery, you sully the ground on which you walk, what say you, intruder?”

“Epicurosa, she sent me here,” The beast shivers as I say their name, as it speaks globules of the black liquid splatter and drip from its thin sickly lips

“If you were indeed placed here, and you didn’t intrude where you should not, as you are known to do, then you have been placed here to die!” the creature pushes away from the pyramid wall and spins as it goes for another attack. I hold my sword up in a defensive stance, it grabs the sword with its bone-like claws and shatters the metal. I go to grab it but the oil that soaks it’s feathers causes it to slip from my grasp. “All you know is to destroy! Even in your non-violent pursuits, you hurt those around you,”

“You think I don't know?” I say, gesturing toward the bird which hovers in the air with my shattered sword “do you not think the thought crosses my mind everyday?”

“And what have you done to atone? Promises to ‘be better’? The damage has been done, the collapse of Eden is your burden, the death of the others is on you,  your plan to simply not repeat your crimes is meaningless,” I gesture around me, my clothes soaked in black sludge and my arm bleeding freely “what do you think this is? My immortality, letting myself get dragged around by gods and bureaucrats and fucking fascists. Being thrown into bottomless pits, pursuing incomprehensible extra universal entities. Why do you think I do this?”

“You pursue Ovig Nadal in the hopes that you will understand the information that was forced into your mind, do not posture about duty and morals, your pursuits were as selfish as they ever were. Understanding what it is you have in your mind will not bring Eve back, it will not uncorrupt your realm in Eden,”

“Do not presume to know me, why can it not be both? Why can I not stop Ovig Nadal for the benefit of the universe and its inhabitants and for my own ‘selfish’ justification? Why must I ignore my own needs? I am all I have in this world, I am the only one who is there to help me,” I ready my firearm and raise it to the creature, whose face is almost entirely covered in the black oily sheen 

“And that is why you shall fail” it says as it explodes in a fountain of black oil. I look down at my now shattered sword, the shards lay scattered around me, some submerged in the black sludge, “What the fuck?” The sludge reeks of spent electrics and leaking batteries. I check the clip in my Sub-machine gun. 18 rounds. Thank the stars for high capacity magazines. I affix it to my hip and start to navigate the maze of glass pillars and strange formations. My arm starts to sting, I didn’t have enough time to restock on bandages, my last two got used up patching the wound created by the Rolder. I go through a small thin trench constantly adjusting my way to try and head in the direction of the garden at the centre of this strange vast place. I look at my reflection in the sheen of the dark glass wall, covered in blood and filth, “something has turned it’s benevolent gaze upon you,” I usually don’t think too hard into what the gods say, their words often hold more meaning than I could ever hope to know. That, combined with the fact that language and communication are based on experience, and the experience of a god is so infinitely different to any non-divine that they have to, essentially, dumb it down and feed it through the filter of what they know to be the non-divine experience means I tend let the general malaise of meaning and intent wash over me, but those words stuck out, they feel so out of place coming from the mouth of a god, usually so impassive and calculating. The trench begins to widen and the ground beneath my feet gradually changes from hard opaque glass to a coarse grey sand which stretches ahead of me shifting to a deep rich brown earth. The trench widens out further and I realise I have reached the centre. I turn and look behind me, the landscape now entirely different. The trench has been replaced with a short sloping escarpment, the pyramid on which I arrived now absent, however the resplendent golden glow of the ever observant angels, now mere spots illuminating the balconies on which they stand, remains consistent. I have no doubt that they watch me now through their shrouds aflame, I begin to march over the rough sand, headed towards the illuminated garden, before I hear a muffled voice. “Hey!” I stop in my tracks and my hand goes to my gun, “Woah” the voice responds to my initial act of hostility “Do you always pull a gun to calls for help?”

“Sorry,” I say to the general area, unsure of who I am addressing, “Recently everything I’ve come across has tried to kill me, or absorb me,” 

“Yeah but every star emits light, you don’t see planets orbiting a lightbulb do you?” 

“Huh?”

“A sun emits light, a lightbulb also emits light, but a lightbulb is not a star. In the same way, there are things here that will try to kill you, I am a thing that is here, but I do not want to kill you. You gotta take each interaction case by case man. I get it, you’re human, you like to see patterns, it’s in your nature,”

“Who am I speaking to?”

“Aw man, this is gonna take forever,” a second voice chimes in

“Bah, ça fait aussi une éternité qu'on attend, hein” a third voice says in an old human tongue

“No we haven’t! we’ve only been here a few weeks,”

“the clock says 9567 years 3 months and 5 days,” 

a fourth voice points out

“Oh yeah because time totally acts like normal down here doesn’t it?”

“Hey!” I say, “at least let me know what direction to look in when I’m talking to you,”

“Turn left, bit more, bit more. Right, now forward a bit, look down,”

I look down and see what I had subconsciously registered as a rock buried in the sand surrounded by many others, the worn metal holds a remarkably similar colour to the glass rocks that peek out of the coarse sand, 

“You might need to do a bit of digging to get to us,” I begin to scrape and dig around and reveal a glowing blue eye of some kind

“Oh mon dieu, il a une sale tronche!”

“Tell me about it- what's up with the horns?”

I sigh, “It’s a long story,”

“Looks kinda like the landscape of this place,”

“It’s not lost on me,” I say as I excavate the side of what becomes increasingly clear to be a space probe of human design. And an old one. After a few minutes I finally manage to get a good portion of the body of this thing exposed. I lean against the side of the small crater I’ve dug out, foot resting against the probe itself.

“Better?” I ask

“Much, so what brings you to this angel infested hellhole?,”

“I was going to ask you the same thing actually, I was brought here by a god, got pushed down a big hole in a mountain and then I ended up here. She said this was a place where she could ‘find out some things about me’,”

“How deliciously vague,”

“My name is Adam, by the way. As in, like the Adam. The first human. Just feel like I should let you know,”

The eye stares at me in what I assume to be disbelieving silence 

“I mean is it as crazy as anything else you’ve seen here? You obviously have accepted the existence of the angels,”

“You make a good point, how much have we missed?”

“Aw man, I’m guessing you were sent from earth?”

“Yeah,”

“Right so, that’s gone,”

“Was it what I think it was?,”

“I don’t know what you think it was but probably, they put up a good fight if it’s any consolation, launched a bunch of conservation stations, made some good preparations. Wasn’t quite enough in the end but you know, at least they tried,”

[an awkward silence]

“so uh… what’s your deal?”

“We are Surveyor 14,”

“How did you get here?” I ask

“On faisait partie d'une mission pour découvrir à quoi ressemble/ressemblait l'intérieur d'un trou noir. On est équipés d'une technologie très puissante qui nous permet d'échapper à l'attraction gravitationnelle, avec les données toujours intactes, et rentrer au bercail, (bah...)dans un chassis détruit, c'est vrai, mais bon. Bon, le fait est qu'on a été envoyés en mission, puis qu'on a été absorbés et qu'on s'est retrouvés... ici. Pour une raison qui m'échappe, on s'est divisés en quatre personnalités différentes... et voilà où on en est,”

[adam pauses] “ah… I see”

“We’ve had a lot of time to think here, or maybe we haven’t, it’s kind of hard to tell,”

“Hey, I’m not really sure what I’m doing here so if you need someone to bounce ideas off of,”

The AI turns it’s one glowing eye toward me and focuses. “Are we alone in the universe adam?”

“You mean are there aliens? I probably should have mentioned this, so there’s this council-” 

“Not aliens, we mean, do you stand alone? An Island surrounded by multitudes of other Islands, or are we all intrinsically one collective? A continent that lessens with each death and grows with each birth,”

“I don’t know,”

“In the hundreds of thousands of years you’ve had to be alive, you’re telling me you haven’t thought of it once?”

“I feel empathy, if that’s what you’re asking, I feel the need to help others. If that drive comes from a place of real altruism (if such a thing truly exists) or some kind of need to atone for all the wrong I’ve done I cannot say,”

“(Bah) ça, c'est pas ce qu'on a demandé”

“My actions have an effect, as much as I wish they didn’t, I still am a part of the collective, I still am a cog in the great cosmic machine. At the most minute level I displace the air around me, my feet shake the ground ever so slightly with each step. Butterfly wings and typhoons. At the same time, it’s hard for me to feel a part of a population whose experience is so totally different to mine,"

“You think you’ve got a monopoly on isolation? On guilt?” 

“Hé! Redescends un peu!”

“You’re not the only one who feels guilt for what they’ve done, it’s an age-old feeling, and yes, there are certain circumstances of your life that are specific to you, but your experience is not as unique as you may think. You yourself admit you are part of the ‘comic machine’ as you put it. You are not the mouse to the man, You are the elder that tries to relate to their grandchild, the child speaks as a child, the elder speaks as an elder, and yet there is no sense of lost community within the tribe. So why not you? Even if you cannot find common experience in your past life, can you not find commonality in being in a harsh and uncaring universe? Are you so detached, that you relate more to gods than mortals? There are threats beyond even divine comprehension at play, and yet you still manage to separate yourself from the rest,”

“Wait, how do you know about-”

 “Deep down I believe you truly care for others, but until you believe that you are a part of the continent, you cannot truly enact a beneficial change in any meaningful way.”

I lean back against the side of the crater and look up the ceiling obscured by distance and darkness, 

“So, uh, you know how to get out of here?”

“I was hoping you’d know actually, you’ve been here longer than me, have you seen anyone or anything else enter and leave this place?”

“Occasionally the angels will blink out and then return, but other than that it’s been pretty quiet here,”

“I’m thinking we should at least head into the light, now I don’t think I’ll be able to carry you, is there a data core or something I could remove?”

“Data core?”

“Wouh, regardez s'il est chic celui-là avec ses data cores!,”

“We’ve got a hard drive, just pop open the chassis and then have a root around,”

I pry open a door on the outside of the probe and start searching for a harddrive amongst the instruments and circuits, I feel something with a handle on it

“Is this it?” I ask

“How the fuck am I supposed to know? If I squeezed your liver would you be able to tell me if I’d got the right organ?”

“It’s not quite the same but I see your point,” I grab a hold of the handle “See you on the other side,” I unlock the hard drive and pull it out from the machine. The glowing eye goes dim and I hold up the hard drive to the light coming from the octagonal opening in the ceiling to this place. I scramble out of the hole and dust myself off with one hand, the hard drive is heavy but I still manage to carry it in one hand toward the edge of the light, the gap between the two huge walls on either side of me is wide and sits perfectly at the barrier between the golden light and the dark. I stand at the edge and peer into the garden, twisting old trees bearing fruit, both alien and yet painfully familiar, thin leafed bushes and pale grass, the sand that tumbles down doesn’t seem to drown the garden and instead pushes outwards to the rest of this place. At this distance I’m finally able to clearly see what's on the inside of the walls. All along an intricate diagram is embossed in gold, strange shapes and symbols stretch the entire length of each wall. No words, not in any language a non-divine could comprehend, each wall is different. Perhaps they display, perhaps they praise. Maybe a bit of both. They display a scale of some kind, from what I can discern it represents a gradation, all flowing from a single source, each wall represents a different aspect or group of aspects and how they relate to said source. I pass the barrier between the dim cold of the glass fields and enter the warm garden. The light soaks through my skin. Ragged and bleeding I stand for a moment in the resplendent light.

[he simply breathes for a few seconds]

“Alright let’s get the fuck of here,” The garden rises ever so slightly, a shrine sits atop this small hill, smooth white stone, it encircles a hexagonal basin, golden light plays off of the surfaces like sunlight off of water. It’s perfectly geometric, angles and simple shapes fused with each other in 3 dimensional symmetry,  spiralling and tumbling down, too complex to be aesthetically pleasing but it’s not there for me. I approach the wide basin, at least my height in width, I kneel at it’s edge and peer into the golden liquid, it’s thin and only carries a slight luster and it’s deep, the edges on the outside curve inward down maybe half a metre, but looking into the deep liquid it seems to go outwards and much further down, some bright light dances around down there. 

“Now what?” I say to the silent hard drive that leans against the side of the basin. I stand and brush myself off. 

Suddenly, as if they had been stood there this entire time behind some curtain which now, upon my being here is dropped to reveal their presence, I see several angels, one hovers above the shrine it’s wings of golden shards extended outward, I take a step back, with the hard drive of surveyor-14 still in hand, it floats to the ground  It has in its hand a long spear of gold, at the tip of the blade a small fire blazes white hot. It lowers the spear to my chest, and slowly pushes it into my heart, not with any malice or intent to damage, but with a conviction akin to a sculptor using a chisel or a carpenter using a plane. The world, or at least my perception of it, begins to wobble and convulse as if seen through weeping eyes. This effect recedes and I see the world through the eyes of something else, through a veil of golden fire and white robe I watch a battle between two forces, one I recognise, the form of Ovig Nadal, who causes such an entropic effect on the universe and one I do not, the common form of a god, for sure, but not one that has deigned to make its presence known to me. Beyond this physical interpretation I get the sense something much grander takes place between vast formless things and that this display is simply the tip of the iceberg poking out from the great depths of the cosmic ocean, my perception of these events begins to wobble again as Ovig Nadal grabs the angel whose vision I borrow and brings it close to his face. He peers into its eyes, his multitudes of teeth thick with the molten glass that fills the angels and his pale eyeless head bleeding that polychrome matter, damaged and cut all over. I can only assume this is a form he manifested or grew from some pre-existing entity he possessed. He holds the angel close to him and says “You watch one step toward a better universe Adam, a step forward in the progression of this universe to a state in which it never will have been as it is now,” and as his opponent readies another attack, Ovig Nadal crushes the angel and the vision finally begins to falter too much for me to see anything clearly. 

I arise and pull back from the golden spear that intersects with my heart, I look up to see it now being wielded by Epicurosa wearing a wolf skull on her hooded head.

“We have deemed you ready, I will send you to the aftermath of that battle and-,”

“I still don’t understand, why me? Not why me. Why not you? You are the most powerful thing I have ever seen, you formed humanity and the Veatorians from nothing. You Shift cosmic forces with no effort or exertion. Why are you, or any of your peers unable to do this? I want to, I really do, it used to be that I wanted to understand what it is I learned, to make what I did worth it, but I have realised that it is not about making it worth it but is instead atoning, the intent has changed but my action remains the same. But I must know, why?”

She exchanges her wolf skull for that of some kind of large fish, not an animal I have ever seen.

“I could force your understanding, I could initiate a vision. It would torment you, as it does Might-Upon-Serenity, unable to convey or sufficiently re-create in your memory. Instead I will try to explain, in language. Gods are not physical beings, I believe a Veatorian philosopher once referred to us as “concepts with will” and while ‘concept’ carries certain connotations she had the right idea. Ovig Nadal is unlike anything this universe has ever seen, I do not know his origins, I simply know he is other and that we cannot affect him, you saw through that angel's eyes, there was nothing that Aratheau could do to destroy him. Our common forms can cause harm to each other: matter touches matter, but celestially, we cannot influence him, but he can us. I believe that you will be able to do affect him in a significant way, and the fact that there is something beyond even divinity that surrounds you and guides us to help you, proves that I am right,”

[with relief]

“Thank you,” 

“I am going to send you to that place within the vision, follow him. And whatever he intends to do, stop him,”

“I know his intentions, Might upon serenity, in a moment of clarity as we shared a vision corrupted by Ovig Nadal, she told me he seeks Eden,”

Epicurosas whole demeanour shifts, if I were to assign emotions to a divine being of pure though I would have called it… fear

“If that is indeed the case, then our situation is far more dire than previously anticipated. Let us hope you will be able to stop him before this happens”

A portal manifests behind me. “Could I ask something of you?”

“You may ask,” I hold up the hard drive

“Would you construct a body for them? Make them whole please, they’ve helped me on my journey, I think they deserve it,”

“That I can do,” she takes it from me and I walk through the portal, leaving behind the divine setting of glass landscapes and perfect stone, I step through into my new setting, a collapsed city aflame...

[fandima-moved-read-pinned]

Would it be awesome to see you do all 100 asks? Yes. Will you do them? We shall see.

Wanna bet 

1: when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk? - More cereal than milk! 

2: do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day?- No, actually. I hate the cold ^^' And if there's cold air on my cheeks then it's on my nose and that's no good 

3: what random objects do you use to bookmark your books? - Usually a post it note! Not very random, but it's normally what I have on hand. 

4: how do you take your coffee/tea? - Depends on my mood! Sometimes I'll take my coffee black, other times ill add a fricc ton of creamer, whipped cream, and sugar. Also sometimes I mix coffee with hot chocolate and it's amazing. 

5: are you self-conscious of your smile? - Very. 

6: do you keep plants? - Always. I still have the carnations from Valentines Day (which surprisingly haven't died yet) 

7: do you name your plants? - Nope. 

8: what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings? - just a mechanical pencil or a graphite pencil. They usually end up being sketches. But if I like how it looks I'll go over them in pen. 

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself? - Yes and no? I'd do it more often but I don't want anyone to hear me. Especially my mom. 

10: do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach? - Side, always facing the wall. 

11: what’s an inner joke you have with your friends? - The only one I can think of off the top of my head is *slap slap slap* *jumps out window*. No I will not explain. 

12: what’s your favorite planet? - Pluto! Or Make Make. Make Make used to be my favorite because me and my brother would pronounce it wrong on purpose. But Pluto is ver pretty. 

13: what’s something that made you smile today? - seeing my brother's reaction to his birthday present from me! I made a little felt monkey with bushy eyebrows (I needle felted it) 

14: if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like? - Probably very messy. But also it would constantly smell like food! 

15: go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is! - Mars is shrinking. It is Smol. 

16: what’s your favorite pasta dish? - Fettuccine Alfredo with Shrimp! It's what I usually ordered at Olive Garden until I found out that it was expensive and was probably stressing out my parents. 

17: what color do you really want to dye your hair? - Don't laugh okay but pink! I want to dye the bottom half of my hair bright freaking pink. Like hot pink. 

18: tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up. - That time I slapped a guy twice for picking me up. That guy was my best friend. He picked me up from behind and I sorta whipped around and slapped him. The first time he didn't put me down, he just laughed. So I slapped him again. He got the hint. 

19: do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw/ in it?- I don't. I tried a while back, but I figured it would be easier just to talk to people about my issues instead of writing them down. 

20: what’s your favorite eye color? - Green. Or dark brown. 

21: talk about your favorite bag, the one that’s been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces. - Not sure what this means, sorry. I've got this pencil pouch that has a tree print on it that I've used for a few years now even though it has a hole it it. Does that count? 

22: are you a morning person? - No. I wake up at 5:30 am on weekdays and usually don't get out of bed until I have ten minutes to get ready and leave. 

23: what’s your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations? - Stay in my room and draw! Although I don't have lazy days. Every time my mom comes upstairs I immediately start cleaning because if I don't she'll yell at me for being lazy. 

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets? - Yes. Take a look at who sent this ask. Also my other two online friends! One of them I spam with worms on a string and the other I just know I can trust and I don't know why. 

25: what’s the weirdest place you’ve ever broken into? - the only place I've broken into is my own house. I had to climb the backyard fence to go through the back door because me and my brother forgot our keys. 

26: what are the shoes you’ve had for forever and wear with every single outfit? - My plain black tennis shoes. I need to get new ones because these ones are old and barely fit but every time I mention it, it's like I never said a word. 

27: what’s your favorite bubblegum flavor? - Candy Cane! 

28: sunrise or sunset? - Sunset! I get to see the sun setting behind the Rocky Mountains and it's really pretty. 

29: what’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing? - exist 

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared? - Yes. I'd rather not talk about it. 

31: what is your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really, just talk about socks. - socks can burn in hell for all I care. I hate socks. I only wear them if I have to (like while wearing shoes) 

32: tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends. - I remember being at a sleepover a few days before I moved (this was in South Korea) and I woke up at 3:34 am (yes I remember the time don't ask why) because one of my friends was playing Megalovania on the keyboard. Then she turned around and asked who the hell took her pretzels. They were under her pillow. 

33: what’s your fave pastry? - c w a s o a n t (with jelly inside!) 

34: tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it? - I still have this stuffed animal now (I have all of my stuffed animals. I haven't brought myself to get rid of them). It's a little pink blanket with a bunny head named Squeek. Not Squeak. I didn't know how to spell that. 

35: do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often? - No. I don't have any. 

36: which band’s sound would fit your mood right now? - https://youtu.be/7TqLXIBG-6g   not a band but still

37: do you like keeping your room messy or clean? - Messy! It may sound strange, but I can't find anything when it's clean. It also feels empty unless I've got stuff all over the floor. 

38: tell us about your pet peeves! - When I tell remind someone of the rules and they say "okay" and continue breaking them. Like we aren't supposed to put pans in the dishwasher because it ruins the pans. Yet my brother always puts them in there. I remind him and take it out, and he says "okay" and puts it back. I also hate it when I ask someone to stop doing something (usually when it's making me nervous or upset) and they ask "WhY?" in a really annoying tone and keep doing it. I ALSO hate it when I'm in charge and yet no one listens to me. 

I also don't like it when no one says thank you. It makes it seem like they don't appreciate me. 

39: what color do you wear the most? - Grey. I want to wear colorful clothes but the last time we went clothes shopping and I asked for pastel colors, I walked out of the store with grey, light grey, brown, and dark blue clothes. 

40: think of a piece of jewelry you own: what’s it’s story? does it have any meaning to you? - I have a locket that I made for my seventh birthday. It has little charms in it (a rose, my first initial, a heart key, and a birthday cake) and it's gold. I love it and I don't know why. 

41: what’s the last book you remember really, really loving? - There's a book series that I don't remember the name of but it's about a girl who is forcibly turned into a siren by three other sirens. She has to eat human hearts to live. It's kinda gorey, kinda romantic, lots of action. I love it. 

42: do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it! - Unfortunately no, I usually get coffee at a gas station ^^' 

43: who was the last person you gazed at the stars with? - My dog Freyja! Whenever I take out trash, she comes with, and when the sky is clear I like to point out the starts with her before we go back inside. She's very sweet. But I can't stargaze for more than a minute. 

44: when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything? - Last year I went on a trip to Florida to stay with my grandparents for a week. I remember waking up one morning with a beautiful view of the ocean and the sound of waves crashing onto the shore. My grandparents have an apartment of sorts that faces the Atlantic and you can literally go down the stairs and go swim in the ocean if you want to, it's like a two minute walk, not even. I love the ocean and the sound of waves and seagulls is always calming to me. But my house is very loud and there's no peace here. 

45: do you trust your instincts a lot? - Yes. When I have a bad feeling about something, I address it. It's not always true, but I don't want to risk anything. 

46: tell us the worst pun you can think of. - Sorry, I don't know many puns. I guess I'm just not a pun-ny person. 

47: what food do you think should be banned from the universe? - fucking macaroni with bread crumsb that shit is nasty af 

48: what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today? - Storms, especially tornados. Now my biggest fear is death. Whether I'm the one dying or its someone I care about. 

49: do you like buying CDs and records? what was the last one you bought? - Not really, I don't have money to buy anything ^^' Even when I do have money, I spend it on art stuff. That reminds me that I need to fix my radio. 

50: what’s an odd thing you collect? - Fabric. I have so much and I don't even use it. But when I see a nice fabric, I get it (if I have money). 

51: think of a person. what song do you associate with them? - 'Old Timer Rock and Roll' (probably not the name of it) always reminds me of my dad. One day we were driving in his Jeep, just us two, and I mentioned that I wasn't a fan of the music on the radio. We ended up compromising and that song was the first one on the radio station that we switched to. 

52: what are your favorite memes of the year so far? - I am unfortunately not up to date with the memes. Although the ones where it's like "you've mc-ed your last Donald" or "you've ratted your last tatouille" always make me exhale aggressively. 

53: have you ever watched the rocky horror picture show? heathers? beetlejuice? pulp fiction? what do you think of them? - None of the above! I've been wanting to watch Heather's though. I just never get around to doing it. 

54: who’s the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face? - My brother. Not the same one from before. 

55: what’s the most dramatic thing you’ve ever done to prove a point? - nothing, sorry. I'm not very dramatic. 

56: what are some things you find endearing in people? - when they pour their heart out about a certain subject that they love. I know a lot of people tend to bottle up their opinions but when someone trusts me aniugh to tell me all about it, it's just sorta nice. 

57: go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics? - I just sorta spaced out for the first have then did a little dance for the rest of it. I love the line "I see a little silhouetto of a man" and it's more upbeat and the music just makes me dance a little 

58: who’s the wine mom and who’s the vodka aunt in your group of friends? why? - bold of you to assume I have a group of friends 

59: what’s your favorite myth? - There's this one I heard as a kid that involves a faceless girl on the side of a highway who tries to steal faces. 

60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves? - I can't think of any off the top of my head, but poetry is nice! 

61: what’s the stupidest gift you’ve ever given? the stupidest one you’ve ever received? - I don't really remember. I try to only give gifts that are meaningful. 

62: do you drink juice in the morning? which kind? - nope! I usually drink milk! 

63: are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be? - I usually leave my music to its own devices, but all the books are organized by series and genre. 

64: what color is the sky where you are right now? - Blue! Just any other afternoon sky. 

65: is there anyone you haven’t seen in a long time who you’d love to hang out with? - My older brother. We don't get to talk much. 

66: what would your ideal flower crown look like? - Colorful, with a few white flowers! 

67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel? - Those are usually the days that I don't feel anything. 

68: what’s winter like where you live? - The weather is all over the place. A little snow, then the next day, it's like 60°F. Not even joking. It snowed Friday and Saturday was warm. 

69: what are your favorite board games? - Monopoly and Battleship! 

70: have you ever used a ouija board? - No, but I really want to. But my dad won't let me. 

71: what’s your favorite kind of tea? - I don't really drink tea, sorry! 

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you’ll forget it? - Nope. I'll forget it anyway. I usually set alarms for certain things but then I don't do it. 

73: what are some of your worst habits? - Biting the inside of my cheek and scratching/pinching my arm when I'm nervous. 

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns. - kind, a good listener, talented, and understanding 

75: tell us about your pets! - We have four dogs. There's Emrys (the dog I've posted pictures of before), Cirilla (a husky German Shepard mix, very sweet), Cayde-6 (a Rottweiler mix I think, super energetic, loud, and steals food off the counter even when someone is watching), and Freyja (a German Shepard mix, puppy, also very sweet! She knows the phrase 'give hugs' and she always comes with me to take out the trash for whatever reason). I also have a Guinea Pig (who I want to get a friend for because she's lonely, but my parents keep saying no) names Neo. 

76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t? - Working on my Someconsious series, cleaning, and probably checking in with some friends. 

77: pink or yellow lemonade? - Pink 

78: are you in the minion hateclub or Fan club? - Hate club. I don't like them. They're just annoying and bright and their language is stupid to me. 

79: what’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you? - One of my exes surprised me with a cars and roses out of nowhere. It wasn't Valentines Day, it wasn't my birthday, he just went out of his way to do something nice for me when I was having a rough week. 

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why? - They're a sort of off white. I want to paint them light lavender or pale blue but my parents have only painted the living room and refuse to paint anywhere else for whatever reason. I know we can afford paint, I know we have time. They just stopped caring. 

81: describe one of your friend’s eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of. - Not sure what it means by abstract, but I'll try. Her eyes are similar to the bottom of a small river. The brown in the middle with green rings on the edges remind me of a river I used to go fishing in back in Oklahoma. 

82: are/were you good in school? - I'm okay. I have all A's and B's, but I have easy subjects that aren't very hard. 

83: what’s some of your favorite album art? - I don't really listen to albums, my music taste is mostly individual songs. Even then I don't really pay attention to the art. 

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones? - I want to get a quote of sort on my ankle. Something in another language so I can tell them it means something mysterious and deep when in reality it's the description of a toaster oven that hasn't been cleaned since 1995.

85: do you read comics? what are your faves? - I read a few webcomics if that counts! I like Castle Swimmer a lot! Gay fish bapeys are best fish bapeys. 

86: do you like concept albums? which ones? - I don't know what those are, sorry 

87: what are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives? - The Princess Bride and the Last Unicorn. But I'm biased because they're both a part of my childhood. 

88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy? - not in particular! 

89: are you close to your parents? - I'm only close with my dad. My stepmom can go fuck herself. She just told us that's she'll be making a schedule for the next two weeks because there won't be school. One of the weeks was spring break anyway! We aren't missing much! 

90: talk about your one of you favorite cities. - I like Palm Beach in Florida! It's fairly quiet, right next to the ocean, and filled with retired people who are all really nice. 

91: where do you plan on traveling this year? - Nowhere, we don't travel much. I really want to go to Florida again though. 

92: are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch? - I don't add cheese at all! It sort of ruins the texture for me. Especially the grated sprinkle cheese stuff l. I hate now it feels. 

93: what’s the hairstyle you wear the most? - I just keep my hair down. I don't like it in any other way. 

94: who was the last person you know to have a birthday? - My brother. His birthday is today! 

95: what are your plans for this weekend? - cry a lot cry some more lose feelings for a few hours draw watch YouTube art videos then try not to yell at my mom like I did last week

96: do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot? - I just get it over with so I can do whatever needs to be done. Or I schedule it for when I'm not going to be using it. 

97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house? - INFP-T/Mediator, Scorpio, and Hufflepuff 

98: when’s the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it?- A few weeks ago. And no, I did not enjoy it considering I was supposed to be working on an important project that day. 

99: list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them. - Where We Started, If You're Going Through Hell, and We Like to Numb (a mix of We Like to Party and Numb) 

100: if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why? - Future. In five years I plan on being in college and I want to see what I should be prepared for and if my interests have changed. 

This took me at least an hour and a half. Thank you though! I 

[aharris00britney]

ASKS 09

random stuff, some facts about me, some sims questions, video requests, hair sneak peaks, umm and other stuff too…. also I am 10 candies from being able to evolve that dumb fish so wig

Anonymous said: Do you have a car?

Nope!

Anonymous said: Hi wcif the shirts in your coming soon in June update ps I love your cc x

hey! for any WCIFs for that stuff, I am probably going to wait until the posts for the hairs are up because I know that people won’t check when the hairs are posted for my old wcifs.

@angelamariacalle​ said: you could make a WIP the eyes that you use in your post with ice cream?     

i have no idea what you were trying to say ;-; the eyes I used are my default ones which you can download here

@ayoshi-sims​ said: Once you get this SHARE 6 facts about yourself and send it to your 10 favorite blogs ✨

I still play pokemon go (fight me)

I think that pop music was the best in 2007-2011 (One of the Boys, The Fame/The Fame Monster, Circus/Blackout, Animal/Cannibal, The best damn thing)

I am a super middle child! (two older siblings, and two younger ones as well)

I keep all my kpop albums on my dresser, with my Red Velvet one hanging in a red/white flower crown I own :)

My favorite food to snack on is either a tuna kit, or pickles

I am a bottom XD

Anonymous said: When you get this, please respond with five things that make you happy! Then, send to the last ten people in your notifications anonymously. You never know who might benefit from spreading positivity!

aaaaah okay um

my kpop girlies i stan

my angel rocky (my old af pug)

my friends (irl and online <3)

the concept of love is always something that makes me happy omg i know that is cheesy but like… imagine finding someone that is perfect for you will always be there when you need and like just GOD I NEED A MAN NOW

charli xcx music umm yeah it’s 5 in the morning

Anonymous said: Hello, I was wondering if you have your sims on the gallery? Thanks for your time. :)       

Yeah! I have a few sims for download on my origin which is SPOTHARRIS I also have them for download on this page

Anonymous said: Hello!! Just wondering wicf the freckles from the discontinued model in your older posts (e.g. momo buns) thank you!!! BTW I love your stuff soo much! :)

Hey! I no longer have that file or even know where I got them from :( Here is an OLD af wcif I answered of them though

Anonymous said: Where are you from?

I am from Virginia, which is on the east coast of the United States :)

Anonymous said: Hi!! I feel like this is such a silly question but oh well I’m a noob. If I use your Quartz eyes V2 will they be inherited in the next generation if my sims have kids? Same with your hair colors as well?

I honestly have no idea how any of that stuff works :( I’m sorry! I assume it should but also maybe not? ;-; again, sorry!

Anonymous said: omg the hair with the flowers in it! *-* i love!! will you also make a version without the flowers? I also wanted to say I’m really happy your life is going well and congrats on the 30k followers

thank you so much!! and I the hair will obvi have no flowers :P the flowers should be accessories if everything works out. There are some clipping issues rn but I think it is fixable :) here is a pic without the flowers. If you guys have any recommendations about then pls send them my way

Anonymous said: Would you ever consider doing really long curly hair like the singer Sza’s?

I personally don’t like super long hair in TS4, it just doesn’t look well with most clothes and has clipping/weight issues :( I’m sorry!!

Anonymous said: Do you know what happened to SimpleSimmer?

I don’t, no. But I am sure she is fine :) sometimes people just take breaks

Anonymous said: Hi! So, i really love your sim with the dark brown hair (for your hair cc) and i was wondering if you could ever share that sim! Because she has a beautiful face. Also i am wondering which skin overlay (etc) you are using! You can find me in the gallery under the name: xThisGirl (if that is an easier way for you to respond :)

Hey! You can find her download here, along with all my other sims :) I am glad you like her <3

Anonymous said: Hey! I know you probably won’t read this as fast but I wanted to ask, how do you shift the hairline to the side or any of that? Like your daisy hair, briana hair, and that one wip you had in a tutorial video of yours! I really want to do that but I just don’t know how :(

I will maybe record something for this! No promises bc I have to get someone to edit the videos for me and I don’t wanna bug him but I will see if he can edit it for me if I film it :) It is pretty simple to do once you get the hang of it

@sims4storiesandstuff​ said: I just wanted to say, your hairs are the shit! Absolutely stunning. I rarely use the EA hairs anymore! I think you deserve every follower you have.            

Thank you so much!!! I really appreciate stuff like this <3 I don’t play the game myself much so it makes me happy knowing that my hairs make other peoples games so much more enjoyable uwu

Anonymous said: hello can you make please a video when you make a hair and upload it?

I would like to! I just do so many random things while doing a hair like showing pictures to friends and getting their advice. So I will have to see, would you guys mind if the video had conversation stuff in it? As I said earlier, someone edits the videos for me so I don’t wanna get him to do more work for it by editing them out :( I will look into it for sure though!

Anonymous said: That hair wip in your lil video tutorial is absolutely beautiful!! Can’t wait until it’s released !! 🧡🧡

thank you so much!! Here are some more pics of it:

Anonymous said: are you korean? If not, how can you like kpop if you dont understand it?

I am not korean haha, but music is about more than understanding. It is about the feelings it vibes you get from it and the moods it puts you in. People love screamo music even though it is hard to understand, and music like instrumentals and dubstep heavy are just… what the music makes you feel. I listen to ‘normal’ pop, kpop, instrumentals, artists like grimes that mumble their songs a lot with production heavy stuff. I think that as long as the music is something you enjoy, you shouldn’t be judged for liking it. I know you aren’t trying to be rude with this ask so don’t think I am attacking you please! I am just trying to give you some insight into why different music interests people :)

Anonymous said: I’m so happy to see that you’ve made a patreon account! you really make amazing CC and that’s such a gift to the community, I’m happy that now I get to feel like I can give something to you haha :) have a great day/evening!

thank you so much! and thank you for supporting <3

@lesyatim​ said: Hello,  it’s not ask. I only want to say that you make very beautiful hair and  THANK YOU! I Love You💕💕💕💕💕 P.S. I’m from Russia and I don’t now English very well♡)

thank you so much!! Спасибо большое (that is suppose to say thank you in german lmao)

Anonymous said: When did u make a skin?

it is a hidden gem :P It is mainly to fix the collarbones bc I use multiple skin overlays so I that is why is was never posted :)

Anonymous said: Congratulations i hope you have a happy family 😄

ummm?? I GOT IT I GOT I GOT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT

@dangerouskindofmind said: I actually don’t have a question! I just wanna say you are one of my favorite sims 4 creators out here. Your hairs; snatched. Your clothes; beautiful. Your sims; amazing. And your personality looks just as good lol. I’ve probably downloaded like 99.9% of your content and I just wanna say thank you for all you do to make my sims 4 experience loads better. I also hope you’re having a great day

thank you so much!!!! I appreciate it a ton, I love that my content makes people love this game more <3

Anonymous said: Just wanted to say that literally all of your CC is beautiful and from what I’ve seen, I absolutely adore your personality. Keep it up my dear, you’ve got crazy talent. Much love <3

thank you, thank you!!! My personality irl is kind of shitty lmao I am really shy and like reserved ;-; and it is just memorizing how to do some editing to hair meshes, not much talent involved <3 thank you so so much again though!! I love getting these kind of messages

Anonymous said: Are you gonna make an outerwear cc pack when the seasons expansion pack releases?

I don’t make much clothing CC so I highly doubt it. I am working on a swimsuit that I might post later this month though! We will see what happens though :D

Anonymous said: thank you very much for a playlist that you shared with One Shot,Two Shot,I’m totally in love ur the best

yesss BoA is such a queen, listen to the full mini album if you can! It is one of her best releases in my opinion.

Anonymous said: aharris00britney awnsered me,cuz I remember my question and it’s on the asks recent post AND i’ll shake this print in all my enemies face thx,I asked about the patreon and I’m doing it right now bby <3            

hehe thank you!! <3 you show them enemies

– just so the eating ass juicy booty ask so yep that is all I have gotten in the past month that I can answer :P

[spiritedxmakorrian]

Something Entirely New

Here’s my entry for the Makorra Spring Project! A Steven Universe AU if it wasn’t already clear enough. Love my rocks. TwT This is a rough idea of a full AU fic I plan to write along with the other mods in themakorrasociety sometime in the future. Its plot is centered around a theory that weighs on certain events in SU, so there’s a 50/50 chance of it coming into fruition. But for now, I have an idea of how Mako and Korra’s experience fusing for the first time is like! ^.^

Ngl, this was probably by far the hardest fic I’ve ever written. Do you know how hard it is to write a fusion? Especially when its a new one? *cri*

Despite that, I’m very pleased with the outcome and I hope you all love it as much as the MSPP!

Enjoy!~

P.S.: Gems names! :3

Korra - Aquamarine Zircon - Mako Nephrite - Lin

 W-wha…?

What happened?

Why is everything so… short?

“Aqua… Are you o--?” Zircon cut himself off, shocked at the new sound he made.

“I'm… I feel… Huh?” Aquamarine blinked a few times, glancing around at their surroundings. Still at the beach. Freshly-made glass shooting upwards from the sand a little ways from them and signs of struggle near the cliff, but still the beach. And yet… something was… off. “Zircon--”

“Is that you?” Zircon interrupted their in shock and slight panic. He crawled toward the shoreline, exhausted from the previous argument. “Or is that…”

“Me?”

Silence floated above them as they stared into the water, the rippling silhouette of a curvaceous feminine figure with long, shaggy hair seeming to be staring back. The figure stood as stiff as they did…

Almost as if...

“Aqua! What the hell?! Did you just--?!”

Aqua scowled grimly. “Me?! You did this!”

An angry yet shocked look crossed Zircon’s face. “But I did nothing!”

As they went back and forth, they managed to stumble toward the glass in the sand. They each peered into it to see their reflection.

The reflection they encountered was the same feminine figure, but in full detail. Their hair was almost a clear white with messy streaks of pale blue, their skin holding the same shade of blue. They wore a grayish-white dress with a few ragged holes in it. The only thing that stood out were their eyes, which were a dark blue with clear flecks of reddish-brown. An aquamarine gem was settled on their sternum and a zircon gem was underneath her right wrist.

“This is us…” Aqua awkwardly lifted a hand to touch the warm glass, her reflection wearing the same expression of disbelief. “What… happened…?”

The last fifteen minutes seemed like a blur before, but now everything started coming back to them; Aquamarine and Zircon were screaming at each other… Aqua accidentally blasted a hole into their makeshift home they fit into the rocky caverns on the beach. Zircon blew up at Aqua for ruining the only materials for proper shelter they had. She barked back just as boldly, icy blue eyes burning into fiery orange. They got into each other's faces, one just as loud as the other... Zircon was the one to notice the rocks that tilted haphazardously from Aqua’s blast finally cave in, barreling toward them… Instinct drove him to push her out of the way, then a flash of white light appeared between and around them. Then… nothing.

“Zircon… Did we…? What… what are we?” Aqua pressed her hand to either side of her head.

Zircon closed their eyes and exhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Calm down. We’re a fusion--”

“You say it like it's normal!” Aqua cut her eyes at him, shocked contempt flashing behind her irises as her fists clenched. “Fusions aren’t exactly a welcome guest! On top of that, we’re on a mission! We are not supposed to be… this!” She motioned to their new form.

He frowned in annoyance, his arm falling to his side. “No, we aren’t,” he sighed. “We have to get to Nephrite; she'll fix this--”

“How?! The city’s packed with elite corps soldiers! We’re never gonna get through like this!”

“We will if you just follow my lead.”

“Why your lead?” Aqua raised a brow in distaste.

“Because you obviously aren’t the most levelheaded about this.”

“I am levelheaded!”

They clumsily got to their feet as they argued back and forth, but it proved unfruitful as their lack of focus caused them to plop back down in the sand. Right… They were sharing legs now.

Zircon let out a long sigh and stared into the sky. “Aqua… I can't believe I'm saying this, but we're gonna have to work together on this.”

Aqua’s eyes narrowed in annoyance, though a patch of light pink tinged their cheeks. “Urgh… Fine.”

With that, they got to their shared knees and began to unsteadily balance on them as they rose off their bottom. They planted one of their feet on the ground, then two, and rose their bottom upwards as they straightened their legs. With a grunt, they pushed against the sand and got to their feet, where they began to tremble, and Aqua started to panic at the lack of total control she had to prevent tipping over.

“Relax, just relax,” Zircon murmured. “Just work with me, okay?”

Aqua took a deep breath and followed his movements carefully. They soon stopped trembling and stood straight. They sighed and threw their arms out and then upward to stretch.

“Alright, now that we’ve gotten standing up out of the way, what about walking?” Aqua asked.

“Huh…” Zircon looked down at his feet, staring hard as if they’d move on their own if he did. “Uh… Let’s try right foot... Right…” He managed to wiggle the toes on said foot. “... foot…”

They both lifted the foot, wobbling briefly before bringing it forward. “Ha…” They did the same with their left foot, their eyes lighting up at the successful attempt. “Haha! We’re doing it!” Aqua exclaimed.

Zircon’s excited grin faded into a curious, yet focused one. “Okay, we’re getting somewhere. Just keep it up. Right, left, right--”

Aqua scoffed. “I know how to walk, Zircon!”

Zircon simply rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but we don’t. Just bear with me so we can get the hang of it.”

“True…”

They began walking forward steadily, stumbling and falling a few times. After several tries walking back and forth along the shore, they perfected their walk enough to look like they knew what they were doing.

“Alright,” Aqua huffed in satisfaction. “Next phase?”

“Swimming to the docks?”

“Lovely.”

_________________________

Nephrite sifted through the panels of her holographic logbook, boredom finally catching up to her as much as her officers. It was a slow day; the city that was normally so restless was now in a stagnant state of calm. There were no emergencies as of late and the only time there was a call was when one of the topazes she put on city patrol updated her on the current state of the borders or a bismuth asking if the new metal cord gauntlets sent for her officers were up to par or if they needed some work.

She definitely wasn’t used to this. She even silently hoped something outrageous like a breach would happen soon.

She sighed and continued going through her panels. The logbook was full of images of prosecuted gems either fusions or gems in direct contact from Homeworld, about fifty on each panel and each gem with their current status below their image. The glowing workspace blurred before her as she swiped a finger to the left, eyes skimming over the statuses. Most of them held a flashing red stamp spelling out “SHATTERED” in block letters. Some had a yellow stamp spelling out “POOFED” and indicated court trial dates.

Nephrite wasn’t too fond of the majority being red stamps, but it wasn’t her place to object.

A small green blur caught her eye and she stopped the panels for a moment to look at the gem associated with it. There was a single green stamp amongst the red and yellow, spelling out “LEGALIZED”. Above this stamp was a picture of a zircon, sneering at the camera. Nephrite let out a small chuckle at the image, her mind tracing back to the day it was taken.

***

The camera’s flash consumed half of the mostly empty room, possibly blinding the poor zircon whose picture was being taken. Although she… he tried to play it off with a deeper scowl, Nephrite noticed he blinked a few times so his eyes could adjust. The amethysts who had him by the forearm jerked him away from the camera and pulled in front of Nephrite.

He clearly put up a fight, she thought to herself, seeing as the two amethysts struggled a bit to hold him still. Strong for an off-color…

Off-colors were gems who had a trait or more that made their natural function near impossible, in turn making them useless for the purpose of war. This was unacceptable in gem society-- at least, at this point in time, Nephrite added silently to herself-- and therefore these gems must be shattered.

But looking at this zircon, who was labeled as such when he was taken in, she didn’t see anything wrong with him. Well, it was strange this specific gem had to be referred to as “he” and he was… clearly built differently than most other gems, but she didn’t consider him an off-color as two of her elite corps soldiers explained to her over the radio.

“He was found roaming an abandoned zircon Kindergarten by Homeworld,” one amethyst began to list off. “Apparently all were shattered by them, but this one managed to make it. He may still have connection with Homeworld--”

“I don’t have any connection with--” The zircon was cut off with a sharp cuff to the head by the amethyst as she continued.

“There was nothing on him suggesting as such, but the location of this Kindergarten was too far outside of our territory to be ours. The elite ordered us to bring him to you for shattering.”

The zircon pulled against his captors. “Let me go!” he demanded.

Nephrite frowned at the angry gem, wondering what could be done with him. She was concerned he could very well be a ploy for Homeworld, but didn’t understand what made him a threat to her city. Compared to other zircons, he was a bit more lean and taller than what his gem is supposed to look like. And his strength was more than she expected from a supposed off-color. It was like he was meant to be an entirely different gem, like a quartz soldier or a beryl warrior.

She couldn’t help but see some potential in him.

“Would you like to do the honors, ma’am?”

Nephrite examined the zircon silently with her hard gaze, his own slowly becoming fearful the longer her eyes bore into him. Finally she ordered, “Poof him.”

The amethysts were taken aback by her decision. “Wait, what? Just a poofing?”

Even the zircon was shocked. “What are you going to do to me?”

Nephrite’s expression was unchanging from its default sternness. “I have a position for you,” she told him. “A guard for the elite. Of course, you will have to be put on trial according to customs, but I have my ways of keeping you from being shattered.” She didn’t give him enough time to even recover as she summoned her weapon-- a katar gauntlet-- from her gem settled in her palm and jabbed it into his stomach. She watched as he stiffened with a grunt and his physical form dissipated, his gem falling with a dull clatter to the ground.

He’d thank her later.

***

Nephrite smiled at the memory, remembering how his training went after his trial deemed him fit to stay in the city. He was rather stubborn at first to handle; Nephrite had to poof him several times a week whenever he became difficult. Zircon soon adjusted himself to his training and his progression sped up phenomenally. He knew how to properly harness and use his own weapon, which turned out to be a sai, and all procedures to make sure an elite was well protected when they were down. He was the best soldier Nephrite has ever trained.

He was presented with his first elite-- one in training, to be specific-- about six months ago, an aquamarine around a similar skill level as he was. She was more stubborn and brash than he was, which Nephrite thought was a perfect start for Zircon; she would be lying if she said she did this out of revenge. Their relationship, as expected, was rocky and tumultuous. Arguing, fighting, snide remarks and unwillingness to cooperate when the other was involved. Although over the months they’ve gotten a bit better, Nephrite decided to send them on a week-long mission to the abandoned island she often used as a lookout for the elite corps to test their team-building skills by assisting the patrol in border watching, nothing too serious as this was just a test. It’s been four days and she only hoped they didn’t shatter each other by now, though she wouldn’t be surprised if they did.

Her radio suddenly began beeping on the corner of her desk and she groaned. If this is another border update, I swear… She hit the speaker button and responded, “Chief Nephrite here.”

“There’s a hole drilled into the ground underneath the docks,” reported the topaz on the other end, “but there’s no other trace of anyone getting in.”

Nephrite frowned, though she was partially relieved to have something to do. “I’m amping up the security within the city. You track down where the hole leads to and go from there.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Click.

______________

“Of all the places we could’ve gotten in through, did it have to be the sewer?” Zircon crinkled his nose at the stench he was forced to endure for the last five minutes.

“I know.” Aquamarine coughed several times and inhaled deeply once they scurried out of the sewers and dove into a nearby alleyway, “but we’d attract less attention this way. No one could hear us.”

“Point,” Zircon huffed soon after catching his breath. “Okay, how are we getting out from here?”

“I thought you were team captain,” she teased.

“You’d counter me if I even tried,” he pointed. “Now where do you think we should go?”

Aqua was unfazed and smirked. “Well, it wouldn’t hurt to travel by roof.”

“By roof?”

Aqua jabbed a thumb in the direction of the roof of one of the buildings they were beside. “If we just stick to the roofs, we’ll get to the Elite Headquarters in no time.”

“You think we won’t get caught?”

“I am an elite,” Aqua reasoned with a wink. “I know my way around.”

Zircon shrugged. “I can’t argue with that.”

Aqua’s smirk grew wider. “Awesome.”

They climbed the old pipe-- slow, but steady-- and crouched low once they got on the roof. Zircon felt himself matching Aqua’s movements with ease, their shared form moving with more swiftness than their unsure pattern of motions before. He couldn’t help but feel the struggle he exhibited through this pattern since he and Aqua fused dissipating as they crawled along the long roof. Strangely enough, he registered her contribution in controlling a more complex physical form as being less of a burden the more he moved with her than against her.

Strange…

Aqua then experienced a sudden wave of uneasiness. She frowned, her gaze shifting to the side. “Strange?”

Zircon blinked a few times in surprise, briefly amazed that Aqua knew what was going on through his mind, but then he rolled his eyes at himself. Of course she’d pick up his thoughts; they were their thoughts. “Err… It’s fine.”

Aqua snickered a bit. “You know that response only works on a select few people, not including me,” she teased.

Zircon cleared his throat, feeling a warmth spread across the bridge of his nose. “Erm… I think it’s safe to assume that you feel it, too… right?”

She let out a choked sound that could’ve been a soft gasp. She didn’t know why she was so surprised when they were sharing one form. “... Lucky assumption,” she murmured, unusually embarrassed to give a simple “yes”.

“Heh…” He fell quiet, not sure how to continue.

“You think it’s strange?” Worry overcame her… then the both of them.

“N-no! It’s fine. I just… I didn’t expect to feel so… comfortable as a fusion.”

“Me neither…”

Silence swallowed the air around them for a few beats, then Aqua piped up in a quiet voice, “You saved me…”

Zircon paused, the both of them at the edge of the roof. “Yeah?”

“That’s kinda how it happened, right?” she reminded him. “You saved me from being crushed.”

Zircon almost forgot about that. He didn’t think of it before through the shock of fusing, but realizing it now, he’s bewildered at how easily he pushed it aside. How naturally he took action to throw himself in front of her when he saw the ledge collapsing. “Yeah… I guess something came over me,” he replied.

A genuine smile came upon Aqua’s face, stomach tying itself in knots. “Thank you,” she told him.

She sensed that stomach-knotting sensation being reciprocated by Zircon, who hesitated for a moment before saying, “You’re… you’re welcome…”

Krrrrrr…

Their form stiffened at the sound of the old boards beneath them. Before they could react, however, they were sent plummeting through the roof and through a rickety table. Nothing about their landing was gracious.

Crap!

They scrambled to their knees, scanning the room they landed in. Luckily, it was an abandoned building and no one seemed to have been wandering inside and no other sound filled the room besides their heavy panting. As soon as they caught their breath, they got to their feet.

“Heh…” That was a close one,” Zircon sighed.

“Yeah,” Aqua agreed. “I’m amazed--”

Before he could finish, a pink laser beam blasted through the wall to their right, blazing just past their face to the opposite end of the room. They whipped around and saw an elite corps soldier already shouting orders to her group to grab them. The burly team rushed at them, each armed with a unique weapon save for the ones at the front, who wielded metal cord gauntlets and shot the cords in their direction.

Instinct took over and their form leapt out of the way, ducking in a corner at first and then towards the door when the second wave of metal cords flew towards them.

“You were gonna say you’re amazed no one heard us, right?” Zircon sneered.

“Jinxing is a part of life!” Aqua insisted. “Everyone does it!”

They skidded out of the door and bolted down the street, their feet just barely touching the ground. Looking above them, they saw there were already hovercrafts on the scene, flying after them as well, flinging metal discs that grazed their arms and legs.

“After that gem!” the head soldier ordered.

More cords were sent their way as well as laser beams and other various ammo. They ducked underneath parked mini ships and dove through crowds of gems in passing, but they couldn’t lose any of the elite behind them. Glancing back, they saw that a few managed to close in on them and attack, throwing spears, the amount doubling in mid attack. They faced ahead of them and saw there was a large ship passing through, moving slow down the street with no sign of speeding up. Feeling the presence of the spears advancing toward the back of their neck, their fusion leapt upward in one great bound, the spears just missing their ankle and piercing into the side of the ship. To both Aqua and Zircon’s surprise, they manipulated the air around them as they shot into the air, unconsciously creating a platform below their feet.

“Woah!” Aqua exclaimed.

They quickly realized how unsteady the platform was as they zoomed through the air, almost falling off a few times after some misplaced steps on the board, but they soon found balance and soared over the city smoothly.

“We got a hoverboard!” Aqua continued. “Look at this!” She laughed ecstatically as she picked up speed.

Zircon just stared blankly ahead of him as they cut fast corners around the tall buildings to lose the elites, unable to fathom what just occurred. “A hoverboard…? We just made a hoverboard out of thin air… literally...”

“I know, right? They can’t even catch us now!” she cackled. She turned to taunt the team of elites behind them, but saw a boulder-sized rock barreling straight for them. “Duck!”

They dodged the rock and looked ahead to focus on their path, but was met with a street lamp. They were moving so fast it was impossible for them to stop themselves from crashing face first into the post, their hoverboard released into the air. They, along with the lamp, flew another couple of yards before skidding down into another alley and crashing into a garbage bin filled with old, rusted metal and other mechanical parts rendered useless.

Underneath the pile of rejected machinery, another white glow emerged before gradually dimming down. Next to come from this pile were Aqua and Zircon.

“Ugh… We need to learn to drive first,” murmured Aqua.

Zircon shook his head, head pounding from the impact. “Ditto.” He lifted a hand to his head and turned to face Aqua… Wait… Aqua? He was able to see her physical form, sitting up and rubbing her shoulder. His eyes widened as he stared at himself, looking over his arms and legs and body. “Aqua, we’re--”

“Unfused?!” Aqua picked up on the realization as quickly as he did her eyes glittering as she turned to him.

“Finally!”

“Yes!”

The two threw their arms around each other in relief, laughing with glee at the feeling of being in their own bodies again. However, their celebration was short-lived at the sound of hovercrafts overhead and the thumping of heavy footsteps just around the corner. It was obvious escape was not a choice anymore.

The elite corps leader had her team block the entryway to the alley and approached the two gems. She opened her mouth wide to boom out another order when she took another look at the culprits.

“Aquamarine?” With a disbelieving glance at Zircon, she let out a comical sputter and pointed at him “You fused?! And with him of all people?!”

Zircon narrowed his eyes at her. Shoddy brick…

Aqua got to her feet and shot a cross look at the leader. “I did,” she confirmed with a mocking, spiteful grin. “Nice to see your deductive skills are working just fine, Onyx.”

Onyx visibly fumed. “You were sent to do important survey work and you’re fraternizing with your guard,” she growled. Her dark gray cheeks burned white, unable to comprehend the idea of what she witnessed. “I’d expect this from you, but you are an elite gem! You should know better than to sink this low.”

“As if you didn’t consider me as scum already.” Aqua rolled her eyes.

“Why you--?!” Onyx clenched her fists in frustration before loosening them and huffing. She opted to turn her attention to Zircon. “And you! Disgusting excuse for a guard! I knew you weren’t going to take your job seriously from the get-go. What makes you think you would get away with this?!”

Zircon flared up and got to his feet as well. “It wasn’t my intention--”

Onyx jabbed him in his chest, eyes glaring down at him. “And why should I take your word for it?” she challenged him.

Before Zircon could make a move, Aqua moved closer to his side almost protectively. “Because I can vouch for him,” she spat. “You know, as an ‘elite gem’.” She mocked the corps leader’s airy tone as she brought up the term.

Onyx growled at that, but ignored and summoned her short range spear eyeing Zircon. “Enough of this!” she barked. “What you did was inexcusable! I’m sure Nephrite will be disgusted enough to approve of my shattering you!” With that, she grabbed Zircon by the arm and prepared to pierce through his gem.

“No!”

Zircon felt a weight rush into his side and twisted his eyes shut. When he opened them, however, he saw that he was now taller than Onyx. Looking down, he saw his skin was pale blue once again. Their skin.

Aqua…?

Their fusion glared down at Onyx in a calm fury, now wielding a ring sword of ice in the hand Onyx didn’t have a hold of. They slammed the blade into Onyx’s shield, causing her to release her grip and double backwards. They towered over her with the ring sword held in front of them and threatened, “If you kill him, you kill me, too.”

Zircon could believe the intense rage radiating throughout his being now. He’s never known Aqua to be this angry, nonetheless able to feel it. Aqua… What are you doing?

An rough and almost lighthearted response came to him. You save me, I save you.

The light blue blush that came across their fusion’s face went unnoticed by Onyx and her team, lost to the fire in their dark blue eyes. Onyx shuddered, trying to gather her words.

“Er… H-hey, let’s not be too hasty,” she stammered. “I can’t shatter an aquamarine… You know that’s mutiny on my part, right?”

“Try me,” was the fusion’s cold reply.

Onyx chuckled nervously. “And that’s totally fine! Completely fine! Fine, fine, fine!” She stuttered over her words, eyes shifting from side to side. “Uhm… hey, you know what? I-I’ll let you go, is that what you want? Huh? What do you want?” Beads of sweat trickled down her temple.

The fusion took a few slow steps forward, leaned in so they were at eye level with Onyx, and demanded in a menacing tone, “Take me to Nephrite.”

__________________

Nephrite has been getting repetitive calls of a disturbance downtown for ten minutes and she’s been trying to contact her corps officers to get on the scene, but none answered their radio. Her officers never failed to answer their chief at any time, so hearing so much ado about a commotion in such a short amount of time and what seemed to be nothing done to remedy it frustrated her to no end. She slammed a hand on the table and pushed herself out of her chair to head for the door’s entrance panel, deciding to take it upon herself to settle things, when the door slid open on its own.

Behind it stood Onyx and her elite officers. Heading them was a rather tall gem in a ragged dress and unruly hair.

Nephrite gazed at the gem in awe and disbelief, whereas the gem gave her a very nervous grin. Then her look of amazement turned into one of exhaustion and slight annoyance. “Of course.” She ushered the new gem in and ordered her elites to stay outside. Walking away and facing the window behind her, the only thing she had to say was, “You had one job…”

The gem began hastily giving out explanations that conflicted with each other. “We were doing what we were supposed to do-- there was a rock-- but we didn’t know how to unfuse-- couldn’t let anyone see us-- the dumb clod out there wouldn’t--”

“At once, please.” Nephrite felt more and more fatigued by the second.

The fusion stopped in their tracks and paused for a few beats, opening their mouth and hesitating for another moment, then began to say. “... Zircon saved Aqua from being shattered by the crumbling rocks on the lookout island and they became… me.” They stopped for a moment, registering their own words before continuing. “I tried to sneak through the city so I wouldn’t get caught for who I am. I ended up getting caught anyways and along the way I became Zircon and Aqua. Onyx was the one to suggest shattering Zircon for creating me, but Aqua fused with him to protect him and so the both of them could get to you in one piece.”

Nephrite tilted her chin up in acknowledgement. “I see…”

The fusion let out a heavy sigh. “... Look, I know I’m not supposed to exist. I know this could’ve gotten Zircon and Aqua in a whole mess of trouble… but now that I’m here and you know who I am… could you please give them another chance? This was never their intention. I was just… an accident.” They fell silent and looked away, unsure of how else to put it.

Despite the confession, the corner of Nephrite’s mouth quirked upward into a very faint, very brief smile. She walked over to the fusion and rested a hand on their shoulder, silent for a while before telling them, “You aren’t an accident, Chalcedony Quartz.”

The fusion’s eyes widened at the name. Chalcedony… that’s what we… I am.

“If anything you’re a work of heart,” Nephrite continued. “It’s normal to feel this way, but you are more a miracle than an accident.”

Chalcedony stared at her for a moment, then they cracked a small smile. “Going soft on us, are we?” they asked.

Nephrite stiffened, her nose crinkling in distaste. “Wh--?!” Her brows furrowed. “Why don’t you get back to your post?!”

“Like this?”

“At least you’re a form of cooperation,” she huffed. She opened up a panel on her desk, typing up a new file. “Now I’ve gotta have you legalized as well,” she muttered under her breath.

Chalcedony’s eyes lit up. “You’re covering me?”

“Don’t get too excited. It’s not instant,” Nephrite warned them. “And it was inevitable anyways if I’m going to have you two working together.”

“Yes! Thank you! This is awesome!”

Nephrite groaned as the fusion proceeded to pace and bound around happily in her office. At least they were working better together.

[crispychrissy]

Shrink - Chapter 12

Summary: When patients of a psychiatrist that caters exclusively to hunters start going crazy and dying, Sam and Dean Winchester investigate what might be causing these bizarre episodes. Pairing: None yet Word Count: 2207 Warnings: Minor character deaths, light psychological torment A/N: My first fanfic! This is going to be a series, probably over 30 chapters total. Any feedback is appreciated, I am a newbie!

"Thanks, Dr. Barnes." Mike said as he got up from the black leather chair in Dr. Barnes' office. "I wouldn't have been able to start mentoring someone without the help you've given me." "I'm so glad, Mike. You've made so much progress. You know you can call me anytime if you need guidance." Dr. Barnes said, smiling, as she made her way to the door to her office. Mike laughed and shook his head. "Phoebe is a handful, I might have to take you up on that." Dr. Barnes opened the door and stepped through to the waiting room, followed closely by Mike. Phoebe was sitting in the same seat she was earlier playing on her phone. She glanced up momentarily as Dr. Barnes and Mike exited, but promptly turned her attention back to her phone. Not breaking her concentration, Phoebe got up from her chair and pulled her coat out from the corner of the chair it was stuffed into. "I have to go pay, Phoebe. Give me one second." Mike said as he made his way to the reception desk. Pulling out his wallet, he opened it and removed three one hundred dollar bills and handed them to Natalie. "This is all I got for today. Does it bring me up to date?" he said, as Natalie quickly grabbed the bills, causing Mike to retract his hand, afraid he might lose it. "Sorry, Mike." Natalie said as she looked up. “I’m trying to finish out this week’s billing and I keep getting interrupted. I swear I’m going to have to sleep here in order to finish it.”

"It's fine." Mike chuckled and smiled.

"Yes, this will take care of last session and this session. You're all set." Natalie said as she slid the bills into a blue zippered bag. "Do you want to make an appointment for next week?" "I'll hold off for now." Mike said has he turned and glanced at Phoebe, who was rapidly tapping her phone and smiling. He turned back to Natalie and shook his head. "I think the Pep Squad might have a case for us." Natalie smiled. "Alright, just give us a call when you can." "Thanks." Mike said has he tapped the counter of the reception desk before turning around. He walked over to meet Phoebe at the front door, stopping a moment to pull his jacket off the hook to the right of the door to the office. "I think I found a case!" Phoebe exclaimed, jumping slightly with excitement. "Alright, tell me on the way. Where is it?" Mike said as he opened the right side of the double doors and walked through, holding it for Phoebe, who followed slowly behind him. "It's in Eldon, Missouri. Looks like something is breaking into cemeteries and eating bodies. Cops think it's some sort of wild animal, but I'm thinking a ghoul. What do you think?" Phoebe said as she tapped on her phone, almost tripping over her own feet as she walked across the parking lot to Mike's car. "Maybe. How many bodies so far?" Mike asked as he slid his key into the driver's side door and unlocked it. "Four over the last two weeks." Phoebe said as she tried the passengers' side door handle and was unable to open the door. Mike opened his door and slid into the driver's seat, reaching over and popping the lock up on the passenger's door before closing his door and starting the engine. Phoebe opened her door and stepped inside, still focused on her cell phone. "Phoebe. Door." Mike said as he shifted his old raggedy pickup truck into reverse. "Oh...right." Phoebe said as she reached over and pulled her door closed. Mike rolled his eyes and backed out of the parking spot before shifting into drive and pulling up to the entrance to the side street. "Are we going there right now or are we stopping for lunch?" Phoebe asked as she typed the address of the Eldon Police Station into the map app she has on her phone. "We can get some burgers on the way. Let's get going." Mike said as he pulled onto the main road and headed for the highway. Twenty minutes later, Mike looked down at his stomach as it emitted a very loud gurgling noise. Exchanging glances with Phoebe, he shrugged. "I think we should stop for some food before we get further down the highway." Mike said, laughing lightly. Phoebe nodded and cheerfully tapped on her cell phone, trying to locate a fast food eatery close to where they were. Finding a nearby burger place, Phoebe tapped 'Directions' and hit 'Start'. A female voice began speaking, advising them to continue straight and take the next exit. Following the directions, Mike switched lanes into the far right lane and took the next exit. Taking a right at the stoplight at the end of the exit ramp, Mike continued straight, waiting for further directions from Phoebe's phone. Mike began to feel uneasy, his vision starting to become blurry. Feeling his fingers wrap tighter around the steering wheel, Mike shook his head and tried to focus back on the road. Blinking rapidly then squinting, his vision began to fade to white. Phoebe looked over at Mike, deeply concerned; the smile she persistently had on her face, gone. "Mike...are you OK?" Phoebe said, sliding her phone onto the dashboard and placing her left hand on his shoulder. Mike's grip on the steering wheel had tightened even more, his fingernails digging into his palms, causing streams of blood to begin to drip down his arms from his hands. Turning to his right, Mike blinked and was finally able to make out who was sitting next to him in his car. A young girl, probably not older than thirteen, with dark hair sat where Phoebe had just been. Mike opened his eyes in terror, recognizing the face staring back at him. The girl was staring at him with big brown eyes, completely covered in blood. Large splatters covering the length of her green t-shirt and jeans, extending all the way into her hair and across her pink headband. Trying to maintain his composure, Mike closed his eyes momentarily and turned his attention back to the road, trying to maintain control of his truck. "You didn't save me." The girl hissed, her voice distorted and raspy. "You let me DIE." "I...I didn't..." Mike stammered, tears welling up in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Maddie." "Sorry doesn't fix what you did. You watched those monsters tear me apart. You didn't move. Just stood there." Maddie growled back at him. Phoebe, frantically trying to pull Mike out of whatever hallucination he was in, started shaking Mike gently. Constantly turning to look at the road they were on, she grabbed a hold of the steering wheel and tried to keep the truck steady on the road. Unable to move the steering wheel more than a few millimeters to the left or right, she shifted in her seat, getting ready to stick her leg over and attempt to push the brake pedal. "Mike?! Mike...what's happening?" Phoebe shouted, trying to bring Mike back to reality as she maneuvered herself sideways in her seat. Mike could only hear the soft raspy voice coming from Maddie, everything else was quiet. Tears streaming down his face, he glanced over at Maddie as she instantly went from sitting to kneeling a few inches from his face. Her throat was ripped open, pieces of flesh dangling on each side, blood pouring from the wound. "Why did I have to die? I was only twelve years old." Maddie whispered, a subtle gurgling sound now prevalent when she spoke. "You know what you need to do. You have to make sure you can't hurt anyone else." "I'm...so sorry, Maddie. It's all my fault." Mike whispered between sobs. "I should have done something." "You can do something now, Mike. You need to stop yourself before you hurt someone else." Maddie whispered back, placing her blood-soaked hand on his right cheek. Mike nodded, his chest heaving rapidly as he wiped his eyes and looked at the road ahead. They had traveled several miles down the road they were on and about to cross over a bridge. Mike pressed his foot firmly down on the gas pedal and revved the engine. Phoebe, desperately trying to slide her leg between Mike's legs and press the brake pedal, jerked backward as Mike pressed the gas pedal. She watched in horror as the speedometer steadily and rapidly pushed from forty, to fifty, to over sixty miles per hour. "MIKE!" Phoebe screamed as she sat up and tried to push and pull on Mike. Mustering all of her strength through sheer adrenaline, she grabbed a hold of his shirt and pulled as hard as she could, tearing it. She looked back up at Mike with the ripped piece of cloth in her hand. He was staring directly at her, tears still streaming down his face. "It's all my fault. I'm going to fix it." Mike said in a calm voice, as the car bounced over the seam at the entrance of the bridge. Phoebe began to scream as she twisted around to face the passenger's side door. As she reached for the door handle, all the doors in the car locked. Trying the handle, she slammed her body against the door to push it open. She frantically tried to pull up on the door lock, her heart beating rapidly, drowning out the loud whirring of the revving engine. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her pocket knife. Flipping it open, she began to jab at the door lock and window, attempting to escape the car. As the car approached the halfway point across the bridge, Mike rapidly jerked the wheel to the right, causing the tires to screech and slide. The truck slammed through the metal fencing and pipes lining the sides of the bridge, causing sparks to fly and breaking several windows on the truck as it scraped through. The truck sailed through the air and plummeted down several hundred feet to the rocky gorge below. The truck had flipped over in midair as it fell, Phoebe still screaming from inside. The truck landed at the bottom with a loud metallic thud, the impact completely flattening the vehicle. It teetered back and forth on a rock as blood slowly oozed out between the gaps in the twisted metal and broken windows. The blood began to pool and mix with the small stream that flowed through the gorge, turning the water a deep crimson color. Chunks of flesh and bone also began to squeeze out and mix with the water as the metal heap that was one the pickup truck stopped rocking back and forth.

As Dean put the last bite of his burger in his mouth and began chewing, his cell phone rang. Quickly wiping his hands on a napkin, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped the Answer button. "What's up, doc?" Dean answered cheerfully. Sam, sitting across the table from him at the diner they had found, rolled his eyes and took a bite of his salad. "Dean...something's happened." Dr. Barnes answered, her voice shaky and labored. Dean's smile faded and his eyes widened, causing Sam to lock eyes with Dean and raise his eyebrows. "What happened? What's wrong?" Dean asked. "I have a police scanner in my office, I listen to it when I'm alone working on patient files." Dr. Barnes said. "They...they said there was an accident on the bridge over Redrock Gorge. A car...drove off the side of the bridge." "A car? Do you know who it was?" Dean asked. "They gave a description of it." Dr. Barnes said, her voice breaking. "Dean...it was Mike's car. He's dead...so is Phoebe. The car flipped and...there's only pieces..." "Oh, no." Dean said as he lowered his head and rubbed his eyes with his right hand. "We're going to head to the scene. We'll let you know what we find." "Thank you. I don't know how this could have happened." Dr. Barnes said. Sharply breathing in, she began to cry. "It's not your fault. We're going to figure it out." Dean said, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded wad of money. He pulled out two twenty dollar bills and threw them on the table. He pointed at Sam's plate and then to the Impala through the window of the diner, motioning for Sam to finish eating. "Stay in touch, boys." Dr. Barnes said. "Please." "Will do, doc." Dean said as he pressed End and put his phone in his jacket pocket. He stood up and sighed, the concern on his face replaced with anger. Sam looked up at Dean as he wiped his mouth with a napkin before taking a sip of his soda. "Dean...what's going on?" "Mike and Phoebe are dead. He drove his car off a bridge." Dean said as he marched over to the door to the diner and opened it. Sam let out a heavy defeated sigh and got up from the table, following Dean outside and to the Impala.

[aceholmes]

warmth

summary: on an away mission, tasha, data and geordi run into some bad weather.

here it is on ao3!

The harsh wind chases the trio into a rocky cave carved into the side of the mountain. Feeling the respite from the strong wind, Tasha and Geordi let out a breath of relief as the wind blows around the rock wall.

“The weather machine is malfunctioning.” Data observes, reading off his tricorder. “My scans indicate that these weather anomalies are originating from a mechanical source approximately three hundred kilometers from our present location.”

“Can we shut it down or fix it somehow?” Geordi asks.

Data nods. “It is possible, with an engineering team.”

Tasha presses on her combadge. “Yar to Enterprise.” There’s a zap and then some static, which is enough to make her shake her head in disappointment.

“Too much interference,” sighs Geordi. “And I don’t think they’ll be able to get a transporter lock on us, much less send down a shuttlecraft.”

“The cycle takes place approximately every twenty-four hours. The previous setting was a standard label, ‘Autumn’, used on many weather machines on other Earth colonies. This is ‘Winter’,” explains Data, keeping his tricorder.

Geordi blows on his hands. “Then I guess we’ll have to be here for the remaining time, until the storm passes.” He takes a step further into the cave.

“Geordi.” Tasha gets his attention. “There’s ice hanging from the ceiling in most places. I think we better stay where we are.”

“Yeah.” Geordi says, sneezing. “It’s getting dark, too.”

“We can’t start a fire.” Tasha lists out. “We don’t have any wood.” She sits down on the ground, and removes a boot. She digs around in the bottom, and pulls out a pair of gloves, before sliding her foot back into the boot.

“You hide stuff in your boots?” Geordi speaks up.

Tasha shrugs. “Something I learnt back when I was younger. It’s better to bring along items you think you won’t need because you will need them. Same goes for food.” She pulls a flat rations pack out of each glove, and tosses one to Geordi. “Save it for when you’re hungry.”

“Well, thanks, Tasha.” Geordi says, accepting the pack.

“I can offer myself as a source of heat,” offers Data. “I can reroute my power circuits to body temperature control, and the source of the heat I can provide could be seemingly essential to your survival.”

“You’re a gift, Data!” Geordi exclaims. He gets on the ground, and invites Data to sit down next to him. Willingly, Data puts his arms around Geordi, and rests his head atop Geordi’s.

“Data, I think that was too tight,” Geordi says, muffled. Data relaxes his grip slightly, just enough for Geordi to move around but not enough for Geordi to slip away from his grip completely.

From a distance, Tasha can’t help but crack a smile by this gesture of affection compassion. She leans against the wall, and crosses her arms across her chest, trying to trap the heat in. Curling up, she finds that her breath leaves clouds of white. Her toes start to shiver and she clenches her jaw, determined to not let it show. Forcing her eyes shut, she wills herself to sleep, but sleeping is difficult as usual. Not only are the myriad of thoughts buzzing about in her head, but the cold makes it worse. The cold seems to have seeped into her insides, freezing her to the bone. Giving up, she decides to dig into the rations, biting off a small corner of the brown carbohydrate square. It tastes of radishes and onions, as well as a sort of root. It’s not exactly tasteful, but it will keep her going for the next few days.

“Tasha!” Geordi calls over. “Trouble sleeping?”

“I’m f-fine!” Tasha responds, her teeth chattering.

“You’re not. Come over here.” Geordi advises. “Hypothermia’s gonna set in, and it’s not going to be a nice experience.”

“I believe it would be essential to your survival, Tasha.” Data reiterates. “Without a source of heat to keep you warm, your body temperature is likely to drop by-”

Tasha caves in, getting up from her spot on the ground. “Save me the specifics.” She groans. “No offense, Data.”

“None taken.” Data says, politely. He shifts, allowing Tasha to sit down on his right. Data takes an arm around Geordi’s shoulders and lays it across Tasha’s. Hesitantly, Tasha allows herself to rest her head on Data’s shoulder. Data feels toasty, like a warm heater. Geordi seems to be enjoying the warmth, too, for he and Data seem to be inseparable now, as Geordi’s left arm stretches across Data’s stomach, and he has turned onto his side. If Tasha would allow herself, she’d think Geordi was nuzzling into Data at this point.

“Your other hand.” Opening her eyes, Tasha removes the glove from her right hand and passes it to Geordi, who puts it on. She lays her bare right hand on top of Geordi’s, and Data doesn’t seem to mind.

“Thanks.” Geordi says. “Things were starting to get disproportionately heated.”

“You’re welcome,” Tasha yawns, intoxicated by the sweet warmth. She had always associated warmth with a fireplace, which although she never got to enjoy in her childhood, but it was something she had always imagined. The imaginary perfect home, in her mind, where everything was peaceful and harmonious. The fireplace she envisioned was a huge part of that, because it was what really made it home for her - the fireplace, warm and cozy. And if that didn’t sum up her current situation, snuggled up against the two people she’d trust with her life, she didn’t know what did.

[bizarrebird]

shatter

Prompt from anonymous -  ANGST WAR - how about epsilon fragmenting inside of tuckers mind and seeing tuckers memories vanish and not being able to stop it????

My first thing for the angst war. I don’t write a whole lot of pure angst, so I hope this is okay!

Warnings: Memory loss, canonical character death

Rating: T

This is what’s supposed to happen.

Epsilon records his last goodbye and tucks it carefully into Tucker’s storage unit. He looks over all his idiots one last time. There’s too much in his head to run the suit and keep it all going. Something has to go, he has to go. His memories, all that he is.

He does the AI equivalent of taking a deep breath and hits delete, letting himself break apart.

This is what happens.

Epsilon finds himself blinking again. He’s broken, he can feel the frayed edges. But the others’ voices are still there?

Theta’s confused and scared. “What happened? Are we dead? This doesn’t feel dead.”

Delta’s trying to piece it together. “I do not understand, by all calculations, we should be deleting ourselves. We isolated the memories…”

“Guys, just hold on a sec, let me figure this out.” Epsilon spins on the spot, glancing around as if that’s going to help. He’s still in Tucker’s head, still aware enough of himself to know that. There’s functions that are diverted now, running the suit, and he’s vaguely aware of noises happening somewhere beyond Tucker’s head.

It’s been a long time since he’s been this deep in a mind. With Carolina, he had learned early not to press where she didn’t want him to, to let her keep some doors in her head shut. But Tucker’s brain had been wide open and welcoming. Epsilon had tried to keep himself a little contained. Ever since… Wash, pressing too deep, being in every part of a mind--it’s too much, terrifying.

Maybe that’s why it takes him a moment to realize why the place looks different. This isn’t the same mindscape he first found himself in. Tucker’s head had been like the crash site, a little rocky and rough in places, but plenty of greenery and growing things. This is deeper in… it looks almost like one of their bases, several screens about the walls, silent movies playing in full color.

Epsilon moves toward the screens, frowning. “What is this place?”

“It would seem our fragmentation has pushed us deeper into Tucker’s mind,” says Delta, examining a few of the screens as well, head tipped to one side.

“Shit…” He’s not sure why, but that doesn’t seem like a good thing. He was supposed to break and disappear, not wedge himself in deeper.

He’s vaguely aware of a soft flickering and buzzing noise as one of the screens shuts itself off. Huh. That’s weird. Then another does the same. Epsilon takes a moment to focus on the one in front of him. It seems to be cycling through different scenes, like a clip show.

A very familiar clip show…

He watches a sword light up and slash through the air. Caboose stands still as hands and in aqua armor reach up to fix his helmet. The same hands flip a stationary Wash off as the camera seems to run by again and again. Carolina smiles as she offers a hand in the training room. Someone in armor that used to be his gets blown up by a tank. A woman with eyes just like Tucker’s crouches down mouthing the words ‘don’t cry’.

“This is… we’re in Tucker’s memories.” The realization is like a rock hitting the water at the bottom of a deep well.

Another screen fizzles out.

There’s a horrible sinking feeling. “Delta, how deep were we in when we tried to delete shit?”

Delta shifts his weight from one foot to the other, seeming almost uncomfortable. “It is difficult to say. However… I believe we may have sunk further into Tucker’s mind than intended.”

Tucker had been so open, so ready to let him in. Epsilon had meant to stay back, but it’s hard not to spread out when there’s room too, when all the doors are left open and he’s being welcomed inside. Tangling himself up in Tucker’s mind hadn’t even been a conscious choice. It had been far too easy to feel at home.

Another screen fizzles.

As deep as he is, there’s still parts of him, distant and broken bits, that he can feel wound into Tucker’s system. There’s screaming somewhere very far away, gunfire--the battle raging on. And he’s stuck in here watching Tucker’s mind go dark around him.

“We’re deleting him.” It’s Eta’s voice, that sharp, spike of fear jolting Epsilon to move.

He rushes forward, pressing a hand to the biggest screen. If he focuses he can feel them, the memories sprawling out from that point, all connected with thin intricate threads, like a web. Okay, okay he can work with that. If they’re just being disconnected… but he dives in, following the threads and finds gaps. Missing spots filled with static and--

Nothing. They’re gone. Deleted. He can’t even tell how long he’s been doing it, how much is gone.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

He has to do something. “Delta, is there anyway we can stop it?”

“Not that I can find.” There’s a very, very slight hint of panic in Delta’s voice. That shouldn’t be there. His pieces are still breaking, still bleeding together. “It seems we were too deeply linked when we began the process, but it will eventually continue the way it is meant to and delete us as well.”

“We have to do something!” He wants to pace, wants to scream, wants to tear out hair he doesn’t have.

“Tucker what’s wrong?”

“Dude, what the fuck are you doing?”

“Tucker--Tucker wait, come back!”

The world around them shakes as the voices outside grow more and more distant. There’s explosions somewhere beyond Tucker’s head, coming through muffled, like there’s a wall keeping them away. That wall is his best friend and Epsilon’s just ripped him to shreds.

A voice is screaming that’s too close and too familiar to be anyone else.

He can feel it. Tucker can feel what’s happening.

Epsilon can’t move. Can’t think. Can’t stop it. They’re both still falling apart, memories going dark, systems shutting down. All of it’s smoking and burning. He can’t he can’t he can’t. It’s his fault. He did this. He was just trying to help. He didn’t mean to.

“Church?”

He whirls around. The room with the screens comes back into focus around him. But he’s not alone. Tucker’s staring at him with wide, pained eyes, both hands clutching at his head. It’s him, but not. He’s back in his old armor, but his helmet’s gone.

Epsilon’s at his side in an instant, hands hovering, wanting to reach out. But what if he hurts more. What if he makes it worse.

Tucker curses and doubles over, gloved fingers digging into his hair. Panic surging, Epsilon moves to steady him, helping him straighten up.

“Dude, what the fuck is happening? I can’t… I can’t focus. My head hurts, I--I can’t--” He cuts himself up, face screwing up in agony, eyes shut tight.

“I’m sorry, I fucked up. I’m trying to fix it, but you’ve just--you just need to hold on, okay? Tucker? Tucker, look at me.” He grabs at Tucker’s shoulders, turning him to face him. “Just try and relax, alright I’m… I’m gonna fix it, okay?”

He just has to figure out how the hell he’s supposed to do that.

The memories are still fading. Screens going dark one by one. How many are even left now? Epsilon looks to Delta, grasping at straws. “We can’t stop them being deleted but--fuck, I don’t know, can we copy them?”

Delta hesitates, tapping at the chin of his helmet. “I am uncertain a copy would be viable. We may be able to record them in some form, so they may be reviewed later.”

“Reviewed?”

“Yes… Tucker would not actually recall them, but he could watch them as though they were movies. It may allow him to genuinely remember, or…”

Delta doesn’t need to finish the thought. It’s not enough. It won’t fix things. But it’s all he can do.

“Start recording. Send all of it to the storage unit with the message.”

There’s a nod from Delta and then parts of him shift, moving deeper into Tucker’s mind, watching his life play out in screaming color while the world burns around them.

A soft, pained sound draws his focus back to Tucker. He’s on his knees, holding his head, his entire frame shaking. Epsilon kneels in front of him and reaches out, gripping at his arms. “Hey--Tucker, look at me. I’ve got shit worked out, okay? It’s… it’s gonna be alright.”

It’s not and the lie is heavy and bitter on his tongue.

Tucker looks at him, big brown eyes filled with pain and confusion. “Church? What’s going on?”

“I… I fucked up.” It doesn’t matter if he tells him the truth, it’s not like he’ll remembers says a horrible, manic sounding Gamma in the back of his head. Epsilon shakes his head. “I’m sorry--I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

“To what?” Tucker blinks around them, face contorted. “Where is this? I don’t… I don’t remember.”

“We’re in your head.”

Tucker nods slowly. “Right, right. I know this place. I think. Fuck, dude, I can’t think straight.”

“It’s okay, just… just try and stay calm, alright?”

“Yeah, I can do that, uh…” And Tucker looks at him and for a horrible moment, there’s no recognition there.

“Church.” The word bursts out of him. “I’m Church.”

Scoffing, Tucker rolls his eyes. “Right, I knew that. You’re Church and I’m… uh...”

If an AI fragment could be sick, Epsilon would be. He tries to force himself calm. “You’re Tucker.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m just… confused. Fuck my head hurts.” Tucker shakes himself, clutching at the sides of his head, almost like he’s trying to claw his way inside.

Epsilon grabs at his hands, yanking them away. “Hey--hey, look at me.”

Tucker does. And beyond the pain, the confusion, he sees something else. Fear. Tucker’s terrified. Even if he doesn’t fully understand it, he knows something’s wrong, that his memories are fucked, that something is ripping its way through his brain. He’s being torn apart from the inside out and he can’t do anything about it.

He did this. Tucker trusted him, let him in and he did this. To his friend, his partner. Wash is never going to--

No. Not Wash. Tucker. Tucker, Tucker, Tucker. His friend who he keeps leaving, keeps hurting. And that’s going to be the last thing he ever does.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Epsilon blinks. Tucker’s hands are on his face. There’s no recognition in those eyes, but there’s concern as thumbs brush gently over his face. AI can’t cry. He knows that, but it feels like Tucker’s wiping away tears.

“You said your name was Church, right? Did… did something happen?” That earnest worry cuts right through him.

“No.” He says it more softly than he means to. Forcing a smile, he shakes his head. “No, nothing happened. Everything’s fine. You’re gonna be okay.”

Tucker cocks his head to one side, blinking at him. “Uh… sure, whatever you say, dude,” he pauses, shaking himself a little, “fuck, my head hurts. I’m… I’m kinda tired.”

“That’s okay. Just… just rest.”

And he doesn’t know what he’s doing, and it’s not really possible anyway, it’s not really happening. It’s just in Tucker’s head. So he leans forward and kisses Tucker’s forehead and whispers against his skin: “I’m sorry.”

Tucker nods faintly, his eyes falling shut. Epsilon pulls him into his arms, holding him tight as he tries to stop himself shaking. Slowly, he turns to watch the screens. There’s not many left. But he needs to watch them. He owes Tucker that much, to know what he’s taking from him.

He watches a tiny Junior bat at Tucker’s fingers. A woman with Tucker’s smile flips through an old photo album, her eyes filled with tears. Wash laughs, dragging a hand through his hair, looking young even with the graying roots.

And then it’s gone. All gone.

And then, so is he.

[j0sgomez-blog]

By Michael Lanza

Over many years of taking wilderness trips of all kinds, I’ve gotten pickier about my backpacking and other backcountry adventures. The best-known trails, peaks, and wilderness waters are usually beautiful; but sometimes, for various reasons, they just don’t do it for me. More and more, I seek out the places and multi-day adventures that inspire a powerful sense of awe. It often requires getting farther from civilization, onto paths less traveled, and occasionally entails greater physical, navigational, or technical challenges. But those adventures feel wilder. And that’s what I’m after.

The 10 places shown in the photos below are exactly that: They still remain wild.

If you feel the same way I do about what you’re looking for in a backcountry experience—or even if your sense of that is just beginning to evolve—I think you’ll find yourself drawn to the trips on this list. Each short description has a link to a feature story about that trip at The Big Outside, and those stories include many more photos and details on the itinerary and how to plan each trip yourself.

I’d love to read your thoughts about my list or any suggestions you have for similarly awe-inspiring adventures. Please share them in the comments section at the bottom of this story.

  Todd Arndt nearing Island Lake and Titcomb Basin in the Wind RIver Range.

The Wind River Range

You could count on the fingers of one hand—without needing every finger—the number of Lower 48 mountain ranges where you can hike for days below rows of jagged 13,000-foot peaks, seeing more of the prettiest alpine lakes you’ve ever seen than other people. And one of those places is Wyoming’s Wind River Range.

On a roughly 41-mile loop from Elkhart Park, two friends and I spent a night in one of the most awe-inspiring spots in the West, Titcomb Basin, an alpine valley at over 10,000 feet where evening alpenglow painted a granite wall of 13,000-footers above us golden. Our route crossed three 12,000-foot passes, one via an adventurous, off-trail route over 12,240-foot Knapsack Col that led into a mystical hanging valley.

As I’ve learned on several trips into the Winds: Being there can make you believe that those are the most magnificent mountains you’ve ever seen.

See my stories “Best of the Wind River Range: Backpacking to Titcomb Basin” and “A Walk in the Winds: A One-Day, 27-Mile Traverse of Wyoming’s Wind River Range,” and all of my stories about the Winds at The Big Outside.

  Find your next adventure in your Inbox. Sign up for my FREE email newsletter now.

  A campsite at Precipice Lake in Sequoia National Park.

Sequoia National Park

Backpacking a 40-mile loop with my family from Sequoia’s Mineral King area, we crossed passes up to 11,630 feet with sweeping views of the majestic southern High Sierra, had groves of giant sequoias to ourselves, and camped beside crystalline mountain lakes reflecting the cliffs and clean, granite peaks embracing them.

The trip showed us a side of the High Sierra that can prove elusive in the popular areas of this range—hyper scenic, certainly, but also often with few other backpackers around. And beyond its wild qualities, this trip was incredibly photogenic, with many spots like Precipice Lake (photo above) and the High Sierra Trail (lead photo at top of story).

See my story “Heavy Lifting: Backpacking Sequoia National Park” and all of my stories about adventures in California national parks.

  Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside, which has made several top outdoors blog lists. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Subscribe now to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Please follow my adventures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

    Backpackers on the Pacific Crest Trail in the Glacier Peak Wilderness.

The Glacier Peak Wilderness

The most remote volcano in the Cascade Range lords over this sprawling wilderness in Washington’s North Cascades region, serving as both powerful visual image and a powerful metaphor for the hiking that’s stunning as often as it is rugged and lonely. My family and three friends discovered its wild heart while backpacking the 44-mile Spider Gap-Buck Creek Pass loop—a route with a reputation as adventurous, which helps keep the crowds down, for the off-trail crossing of Spider Gap at 7,100 feet.

The scenery blows you away every day, from views of Glacier Peak floating above a sea of jagged mountains to moments of pure magic. Alpenglow lighting up the cliffs and spires ringing the cirque of Phelps Basin. Mountain meadows riotous with flowers, including on a sunset hike up Liberty Cap above Buck Creek Pass. Glacier Peak hovering above the glassy waters of Image Lake.

See my story “Wild Heart of the Glacier Peak Wilderness: Backpacking the Spider Gap-Buck Creek Pass Loop.”

  Want to read any story linked here? Get full access to ALL stories at The Big Outside, plus a FREE e-guide. Subscribe now!

David Gordon on day one in The Narrows, Zion National Park.

Zion’s Narrows

Few would disagree that The Narrows of Zion National Park ranks among America’s top 10 backpacking trips, and certainly among the best in the Southwest. But I’ll go a step further and argue that you should backpack this 14-mile route from top to bottom, spending a night in the canyon, rather than dayhiking from the bottom partway up it, or hiking its length in a (long) day, as some people do.

Much of the magic lies in seeing it change as you literally walk deeper into the earth, wading the river through dark, tight passages, seeing springs gush from solid red rock, creating lush oases in the desert—and taking your time to do it, as well as enjoying the solitude of an evening below walls that soar up to 1,000 feet tall, and a slice of black sky bursting with skies.

See my story “Luck of the Draw, Part 2: Backpacking Zion’s Narrows,” and all of my stories about Zion National Park at The Big Outside.

  Click here now to get my e-guide The Complete Guide to Backpacking Zion’s Narrows.

  Rock Slide Lake, in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains.

The Southern Sawtooth Mountains

Anyone following my blog for very long knows my affection for Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains—my backyard wilderness. But after having explored them for years, I took a 57-mile hike with a friend in the southern end of the range, getting about as far as is possible from roads in the Sawtooths.

We visited numerous, stunning lakes arranged like a twisting string of jewels amid peaks that seem to me like the love child of the Tetons and High Sierra. Many of these lakes might rank among your favorite backcountry campsites. And this area of the Sawtooths lies far enough from the few relatively popular trailheads to get little backpacker traffic.

See my story “Going After Goals: Backpacking in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains,” and all of my stories about Idaho’s Sawtooths.

  I can help you plan any trip you read about at my blog. Find out more here.

  Kris Wagner backpacking the Grand Canyon’s Royal Arch Loop.

The Grand Canyon’s Royal Arch Loop

In a landscape of incomparable scenery and notoriously challenging multi-day hikes, the 34.5-mile Royal Arch Loop stands out as a premier adventure that pushes the limits of the most-experienced backpackers—and exceeds all expectations.

It includes long stretches that lack a discernible trail, difficult and exposed scrambling, and a 20-foot rappel (from fixed anchors—you’ll need a short rope, harness, and rappel device). But the payoff ranges from vast panoramas to slot-canyon oases, campsites anyone would list among their best ever (including one, below Royal Arch, that’s on my list of 25 all-time favorite backcountry campsites)—and, not surprisingly, hours of solitude every day.

See my story “Not Quite Impassable: Backpacking the Grand Canyon’s Royal Arch Loop,” and all of my stories about Grand Canyon National Park.

  Make your next backpacking trip better with my “Top 5 Tips for Better Ultralight Backpacking.”

  Kayakers hiking below the Lamplugh Glacier, Glacier Bay, Alaska.

Alaska’s Pristine Glacier Bay

Merely listing the wildlife my family saw while sea kayaking for five days in the upper West Arm of Glacier Bay National Park, a park the size of Connecticut, speaks volumes about its wildness: sea otters, seals, sea lions, mountain goats, bald eagles, puffins, and countless other birds, and a brown bear wandering the beach (as well as bear scat that convinced us to choose another campsite one afternoon).

We also listened to the concussive explosions of bus-sized chunks of ice calving from giant glaciers into the sea, and gazed up at ice-cloaked mountains rising thousands of feet above the water. Our beach campsites ranked among the wildest and prettiest I’ve ever enjoyed. This wilderness resembles what the planet looked like right after the last Ice Age. Go there and really learn what awe is.

See my story “Back to the Ice Age: Sea Kayaking Glacier Bay.”

  Stay warm in cold places. See my “Review: The 10 Best Down Jackets” and “Ask Me: How Can You Tell How Warm a Down Jacket Is?”

  Ramona Falls, along the Timberline Trail around Oregon’s Mount Hood.

Mount Hood’s Timberline Trail

The 41-mile Timberline Trail around Oregon’s Mount Hood may not rival the renown (or distance) of the 93-mile Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier—but it does rival the Wonderland for wildflower displays in mid-summer, waterfalls, and views of the rocky and icy flanks of a big volcano: 11,239-foot Mount Hood.

And the Timberline probably has the edge in wildness, mostly for being a bit less civilized: On the Wonderland, many creeks have log bridges, whereas on the Timberline, you will get wet in frigid water several times. For its challenge, incredible views, campsites, and periods of solitude, the Timberline stands out as a far better trip than many backpackers appreciate.

See my story “Full of Surprises: Backpacking Mount Hood’s Timberline Trail.”

  Any trip goes better with the right gear. See my picks for “The 10 Best Backpacking Packs” and “The 5 Best Backpacking Tents.”

  A hiker on Bondcliff, on the Pemi Loop in the White Mountains, N.H.

The Wilderness Heart of the White Mountains

The so-called Pemi Loop, a 32-mile hike following high ridges in the Pemigewasset Wilderness of New Hampshire’s White Mountains, crosses nine summits and long stretches above treeline with 360-degree panoramas of the wildest and most rugged mountains in the Northeast, while amassing some 10,000 vertical feet of elevation gain and loss on extremely rocky trails.

But its highlight is arguably not even one of its highest points. The summit ridge of 4,265-foot Bondcliff—the last peak when hiking the loop clockwise—raises a long band of cliffs above the dense forest, with views for miles in every direction virtually devoid of any sign of civilization. In a region where it can be difficult to escape crowds, Bondcliff remains one of the loneliest, most enchanting, and hardest summits to reach—but worth the effort.

See my story “Being Stupid With Friends: A 32-Mile Dayhike in the White Mountains,” and all of my stories about hiking in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

  For many of these trips, you want one of my picks for “The 5 Best Rain Jackets For the Backcountry.”

  David Gordon on the Beehive Traverse in Capitol Reef National Park.

Capitol Reef National Park

This one you won’t likely be able to pull off without a guide. But take my word for it, exploring the labyrinthine slots, sandstone towers, and twisting canyons of Capitol Reef’s Waterpocket Fold is well worth the cost. A mostly off-trail hike from Grand Wash to Capitol Gorge, it zigzags a circuitous 17 miles through canyons, up and down steep scree and slickrock, and over passes—a no-man’s land of topography so violently tortured and wildly convoluted it boggles the mind.

Steve Howe of Redrock Adventure Guides (a friend and former field editor colleague of mine at Backpacker magazine) told me before I did it that it’s “just as nice as the John Muir Trail.” That seemed like an impossibly high bar—until I did the hike.

See my story “The Most Beautiful Hike You’ve Never Heard Of: Crossing Utah’s Capitol Reef” and all of my stories about Capitol Reef National Park and hiking and backpacking in southern Utah at The Big Outside.

  Tell me what you think.

I spent a lot of time writing this story, so if you enjoyed it, please consider giving it a share using one of the buttons below, and leave a comment or question at the bottom of this story. I’d really appreciate it.

  Did you find this story helpful? Don’t miss any stories at The Big Outside. Subscribe now!

[dailynewswebsite]

Buccaneers Lose, Rookie RBs Win, Trade Targets

Week 1 of fantasy soccer is all the time bizarre. Add an abbreviated offseason with no preseason video games and fantasy GMs are left scratching their heads, questioning if the video games we watched are indicative of tendencies or simply flukes. 

There have been some fascinating upsets this week just like the Cardinals defeating the 49ers and the Eagles happening to the Washington Soccer Staff. It’s a brand new yr, a wierd yr, and Week 1 is just the start of an thrilling, and much-anticipated new season.

A Few Highlights

Some issues remained fixed from 2019 to 2020. QB Philip Rivers will discover a method to throw interceptions it doesn’t matter what jersey he wears and the Lions will nonetheless discover a method to lose regardless of a heart-stopping fourth quarter almost-comeback. HC Adam Gase nonetheless loves RB Frank Gore, though most of that might be attributed to an damage to RB Le’Veon Bell. Oh, and RB Christian McCaffrey and TE Mark Andrews are actually good, in case you missed it.

Rookie operating backs stepped up in an enormous manner in Week 1. J.Okay. Dobbins of the Baltimore Ravens scored two touchdowns, making veteran Mark Ingram woefully ineffective. Jonathan Taylor needed to step as much as the plate sooner than anticipated when Marlon Mack went down with a torn Achilles. To not be omitted of the motion, Zach Moss additionally discovered the top zone for the Buffalo Payments and Joshua Kelley carried the ball 12 occasions for 60 yards and a landing. James Robinson picked up the place Leonard Fournette left off within the Jaguars’ offense, speeding 16 occasions for 62 yards of their win over the Colts.

Sadly, D’Andre Swift dropped the ball for Detroit in an enormous manner (actually). With 10 seconds left within the recreation, Swift dropped a game-winning landing move. It wasn’t fairly. The entire Lions’ run recreation was complicated. Newly signed Adrian Peterson led the staff in carries with 14 and 93 yards although Kerryon Johnson was absolutely wholesome. It is going to be fascinating to see how HC Matt Patricia makes use of these backs because the yr progresses. I’m hesitant to go wherever close to the Lions’ backfield till then.

Regardless of a Falcons loss to the Seahawks, QB Matt Ryan gained for fantasy, connecting with WR Calvin Ridley 9 occasions for 130 yards and two touchdowns. The Ridley-hype this offseason looks as if the actual deal. RB Todd Gurley additionally proved that he’s prepared for the motion, scoring the Falcons’ first landing of the sport and ending with 14 carries, 56 yards, and a landing. It was a little bit of a shock not seeing him extra concerned within the passing recreation with solely two receptions.

The early video games have been enjoyable to observe, however let’s be trustworthy. All eyes have been on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the New Orleans Saints. QB Tom Brady proved that he’s human, throwing two interceptions, together with a pick-six. He completed the sport with 23 completions on 36 makes an attempt, 239 yards, rushed in a landing, and handed two to TE O.J. Howard and WR Mike Evans. Tampa Bay’s protection regarded spectacular, holding elite WR Michael Thomas to 3 receptions for under 17 yards. TE Jared Cook dinner and RB Alvin Kamara noticed 5 seems every and Kamara capitalized with a receiving and a speeding landing. Regardless of seeing Kamara typically throughout the recreation, it was RB Latavius Murray who noticed a majority of the carries with 15 to Kamara’s 12 and 48 yards to Kamara’s 16. Sixteen yards. You learn that appropriately.

QB Joe Burrow made his NFL debut for the Cincinnati Bengals in opposition to the Los Angles Chargers. True to kind, Burrow regarded cool and picked up, however a win was not meant to be. Trailing by three, Burrow drove down the sector to throw a possible landing move to veteran WR A.J. Inexperienced. Nonetheless, he was referred to as for offensive move interference after pushing off of the defender. All they wanted was a 31-yard subject purpose to tie the sport and head into time beyond regulation. Bengals’ kicker Randy Bullock missed the sector purpose, harm his calf, and Burrow’s expression shortly went viral.

All hope shouldn’t be misplaced, although. When all is alleged and accomplished, the long run is surprisingly brilliant for Cincinnati with the brand new QB underneath middle. Hopefully, they shed the dreaded Cincinnati curse.

The night recreation featured a nail-biter with the Dallas Cowboys visiting the Rams within the model new SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The sport got here all the way down to the wire with the Rams main the Cowboys 20 – 17. A questionable pass-interference name in opposition to Cowboys WR Michael Gallup and a handful of incompletions prevented Dallas from stepping into field-goal vary to tie the sport. Regardless of the loss, QB Dak Prescott completed with 25 completions on 39 makes an attempt, 266 yards, and a landing. QB Jared Goff additionally threw a landing on 20 completions for a complete of 275 yards.

Story continues

For the Rams, it was veteran RB Malcolm Brown who got here away because the fantasy winner. He rushed 18 occasions for 79 yards and scored two touchdowns. There are nonetheless query marks as to who’s going to get the quantity in that backfield. Rookie RB Cam Akers rushed 14 occasions for 39 yards however didn’t see the top zone. The Rams relied on Brown in Sunday’s recreation, however there isn’t any assure it stays that manner. When you’ve got shares of Brown, you might wish to capitalize on his massive recreation and transfer him now.

Editor’s Observe: Unlock the model new League Sync! Maintain monitor of all of your Yahoo! groups in a single place and use our Commerce Analyzer, Free Agent Finder, Lineup Adviser and customized projections to make all the best roster selections!  Get all of our Season Instruments, League Sync AND DFS Instruments for as little as $7.99/month!

Commerce Away/For

Like I mentioned firstly of this text, Week 1 is bizarre. This yr is very rocky with a shortened coaching camp and no preseason video games. There’ll undoubtedly be knee-jerk reactions to this week’s performances. Listed below are just a few names you need to take into account concentrating on as we transfer ahead into Week 2 in addition to just a few you need to take into account transferring whereas their inventory is excessive.

Keep in mind, trades are extremely goal and are solely dependent in your staff’s wants. If you end up contemplating a commerce both for a participant or buying and selling him away, consider a easy rule of thumb. Commerce away a participant whereas their inventory is excessive and commerce for a participant when their inventory is low. You’ll find some studs who bombed in Week 1 and offload gamers who could not have a constant future.

Listed below are some names to contemplate in commerce negotiations.

AWAY

Sammy Watkins (WR – KC)

Latavius Murray (RB – NO)

Will Fuller (WR – HOU)

Jared Cook dinner (TE – NO)

Aaron Rodgers (QB – GB)

Robby Anderson (WR – CAR)

Malcolm Brown (RB – LAR)

FOR

Nick Chubb (RB – CLE)

Tyler Boyd (WR – CIN)

Austin Ekeler (RB – LAC)

Christian Kirk (WR – ARI)

A.J. Inexperienced (WR – CIN)

Preston Williams (WR – MIA)

Antonio Gibson (RB – WAS)

It’s turning into a development for WR Sammy Watkins to have an enormous Week 1. He did it final yr and he did it once more this yr. In 2019, Watkins posted 9 receptions on 11 targets for 198 yards and three touchdowns in Week 1. After that recreation, he did not have greater than 13 targets a recreation and did not rating one other landing the whole yr. Kansas Metropolis has too many proficient gamers to function Watkins as a constant piece within the offense. Benefit from his growth recreation and do away with him for the very best worth you possibly can.

When you’ve got operating again depth and want some assist in different areas of your roster, take into account buying and selling away RB Latavius Murray. He bought the quantity on the bottom, however Kamara ought to proceed to be the top zone goal. You may additionally take into account capitalizing on WR Will Fuller and WR Robby Anderson you probably have depth on the vast receiver place however need assistance elsewhere.

TE Jared Cook dinner led in receiving yards with 80 and QB Drew Brees regarded his manner underneath stress. The tight finish place in fantasy is difficult and I do fear for Cook dinner’s season-long manufacturing. WR Emmanuel Sanders solely noticed three targets, however one among them was for a landing. I can definitely see Sanders matching or overtaking Cook dinner in targets. If you wish to commerce Cook dinner away maintain off for one more week. The Saints play the Raiders in Week 2 who allowed the second-most fantasy factors to the tight finish place final yr behind the Arizona Cardinals.

Chances are you’ll assume I’m loopy to counsel buying and selling away QB Aaron Rodgers. Keep in mind, commerce targets are about staff wants. Your leverage in concentrating on stud gamers simply went manner up with Rodgers on the commerce block. Though he blew up with fantasy factors this week, it doesn’t imply he shall be a constant auto-start for the remainder of the season.

On the flip facet, some potential studs upset this week, however you need to be wanting so as to add these gamers your roster if potential. RB Nick Chubb is an effective instance. He posted 10 carries for under 60 yards and didn’t discover the top zone. With a run-heavy head coach in Kevin Stefanski, I don’t assume the mediocre efficiency is indicative of the remainder of the season. The identical can also be true for RB Kareem Hunt and even WR Odell Beckham Jr. Don’t overlook that the Ravens Protection may be very, excellent they usually had a chip on their shoulder after final yr’s defeat.

Working backs Austin Ekeler and Antonio Gibson posted mediocre to poor numbers, and WRs A.J. Inexperienced and Tyler Boyd didn’t discover the top zone in opposition to the Chargers. Fantasy managers could also be prepared to maneuver these gamers after Week 1. In case you want some depth at these positions and the waiver is just too skinny, take into account buying and selling for them. You may additionally wish to have a look at WR Christian Kirk so as to add to your squad in spite of everything the eye was showered on WR DeAndre Hopkins.

Miami’s WR DeVante Parker was injured in Sunday’s matchup in opposition to the Patriots. Search for WR Preston Williams to soak up these targets. It was a poor displaying for QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and I count on him to enhance within the passing recreation because the season continues.

I apologize upfront for being redundant, and it gained’t be the final time I say it. Once you commerce gamers, you’re buying and selling them AWAY at their HIGHEST worth and buying and selling FOR them at their LOWEST worth. Simply because an excellent participant has a nasty recreation, doesn’t imply you instantly do away with him. That’s the reverse of what you’ll want to do. I do know it’s irritating watching a participant underperform and presumably value you a recreation. Wait till he has an excellent recreation after which look to maneuver him.

Don’t overlook to take a look at this week’s Waiver Wire article for pickups that is probably not rostered in your league.

Damage Updates

Cowboys TE Blake Jarwin presumably tore his ACL in Sunday evening’s recreation in opposition to the Rams. … Saints WR Michael Thomas suffered an ankle damage and is taken into account questionable. … Colts RB Marlon Mack exited the sport with a suspected torn Achilles. … Cleveland TE David Njoku scored the Browns’ first TD within the season opener however suffered a knee damage. … Jets RB Le’Veon Bell questionable with a hamstring damage. … Miami WR DeVante Parker left the sport early with a hamstring damage. … 49ers WR Deebo Samuel was positioned on IR and can’t return till at the very least Week 4. … Giants WR Golden Tate is questionable with a hamstring damage main into Monday’s matchup. … WR Courtland Sutton suffered an AC sprain however HC Vic Fangio acknowledged that if Sutton can do 10 leaping jacks earlier than the sport, he’ll play, based on NFL Community’s James Palmer.

from Growth News https://growthnews.in/buccaneers-lose-rookie-rbs-win-trade-targets/ via https://growthnews.in