#SG: Tale of Two

[zberrieart]

im serious with my video game antag

[in1-nutshell]

I want to request for Buddy to be a Shatter glass Megatron long lost twin but has the original Megatron personality, i understand if you don't want to tho.

Ooooh! Haven't done one of these before! My knowledge of the Shattered Glass universe is a bit rusty, but I think this ended up pretty good for the knowledge. I did only 3 mechs this time around since these were the best I knew. Let me know if this isn't what you wanted.

Hope you enjoy!

Con’s reaction to Megatron’s twin with OG Megatron’s personality

SFW, familial, platonic, Cybertronian/ Bot reader

SG!

Megatron

He loves Twin really.

But sometimes he worries about his more… physical side. It’s a bit rougher than what he’d like it, but its perfect for the battle ahead.

“We need a plan!”--Starscream

“Anyone have any ideas?”--Megatron

Twin raising his servo.

“One that doesn’t involve with a frontal attack.”--Megatron

Twin lowers his servo.

Without a doubt Twin is one of the best fighters in his army. An excellent strategist on most days. But sometimes when things get a little too heated, the lines tend to blur.

Twin raising their mace over Sideswipe helm.

“Wait! Stop! He’s on our side!”--Megatron

“And how do you know that?”--Twin

“I was left for dead by the Autobots. I gave you the attack plans yesterday?!”--Sideswipe

“Oh… Now I remember. Sorry Sideswipe, please let me help you back to the medbay.”--Twin

“… Spinister and Bombshell aren’t going to like this.”--Sideswipe

“… I know…” –Twin

Which leads to a question many Decepticons had asked.

Why wasn’t Twin second in Command?

It was a simple answer. He didn’t want to be second in Command. He was a soldier and would follow Megatron and his superiors into battle without hesitation.

Megatron misses the days when they would just listen to Twins poetry and manifestos about the corrupt government. A part of him which was now buried under years of pain and suffering from this blasted war.

He is glad that his twin remained loyal to the Decepticon cause and did not move to the power hungry Autobot side.

Megatron has had multiple spark attacks as Twin will fight any of his greatest enemies on sight. No joke.

“It’s over Megatron. Time to meet your—”—Optimus Prime

“OPTIMUS!”--Twin

“Stay back!”--Megatron

“STAY THE PIT AWAY FROM MY BROTHER, YOU SPAWN OF A—”--Twin

“Finally, a real fight.”--Optimus

Starscream

They both met when the war was starting. Megatron himself gave him the introduction, which was interesting.

“Starscream, this is Twin, he is my brother.”--Megatron

“Hello.”--Twin

“Well hello to you too. I look forward in working with you and the others.”—Starscream

“Likewise, Starscream.”--Twin

Despite some clash in morals and personality, the two worked well. Starscream had told him many tales of him and Skyfire before the war had happened. Twin is protective of Starscream after hearing how Starscream was nearly captured. It is on sight if Twin ever sees Skyfire.

“Skyfire, please reconsider!”--Starscream

“Enough traitor!”--Skyfire

“You’re the traitor!”--Starscream

“AND I’M YOU’RE EXECUTIONER!”--Twin

“AHHH!”--Skyfire

“BUDDY STOP! WE’VE TALKED ABOUT THIS!”--Starscream

Yes, they do argue, but it never escalates too much. Twin protects his friend.

Soundwave

They met through Megatron on a tour of their new base.

“Soundwave, this is my brother.”--Megatron

“Oh, Hi there! It’s nice to meet you! Wow you too look a like but I’m getting a different vibe from you than Megatron. How was the say? Looks like a cinnamon roll but could kill you? No, looks like they can kill you but is a cinnamon roll. Oh—I’m rambling again. Sorry about that, sometimes I do—”--Soundwave

Inside Twin’s helm

‘I’m going to befriend this mech so hard.’

He still doesn’t know if this was a good idea or not. Twin knows things just as quickly as Megatron because they are so close.

Twin sometimes looks after the cassettes if Soundwave needs to be somewhere else.

It’s rare but it happens.

“Hey, I’m bac—What happened here?”--Soundwave

Twin laying down with the mini’s napping all over his frame.

“This is how I die… leave me here.”--Twin

Like Starscream, soundwave has told twin about Blaster. And like Skyfire, it is on sight for Blaster.

Twin is fiercely protectively over his friends.

“Its current time you second class scum!”--Blaster

“That’s what you think!”--Soundwave

“That’s what I know. You ain’t got no cassettes and you’re weapons jammed. What else do—”--Blaster

SMASH!

“BLASTER!”--Twin

“I’m outta here!”--Blaster

“GET BACK HERE YOU, SORRY EXCUSE OF A BOOMBOX!”--Twin

“Hey now, we’ve talked about the deep breathing exercises. Come on 1,2,3..”--Soundwave

“… 4,5,6…”--Twin

He does agree too much with the levels of violence Twin can get to, and there have been arguments about this. It usually gets resolved quickly though.

Faster than the others fight.

Has accidentally read his thoughts on the inner poet inside. Soundwave actively tries to get Twin to pick back the hobby. They sometimes share their hobbies on slower days.

[spottedenchants]

Chanse's Mix-n-Match C2 Fic Recs - Part 2

In celebration of Touching Sentiments turning 2, here's another rec list! :D If the ones in the last batch occupy my brain, here are some that occupy my heart 💜

~

how to consent to joy by @callingvoicemail

G, Gen, NAWA, Complete (1 Ch, 2.5k)

Jester & Essek, discussed FJ and SG

In which Essek trusts and Jester treats, and they spend some time together on a sequestered beach.

I love Jester. I love Jester. If you're after a fic in which Jester and Essek hold years of care for one another, teasing and quiet admissions and chastising and all, this one's a really good pick. Overall, this fic is wistful and calming with Jester's deep-seated understanding and Essek's subdued humor, and it also provides heartening glimpses both of their pasts and how the Nein are faring after C2.

~

wherever sea and shore brush close together by vietbluecoeur (vietbluefic)

G, Gen, NAWA, Complete (1 Ch, 7.8k)

Aro Ace Yussa &/ Marion

In which the fairy of the mountains is to be married, and she tells her beloved king of the sea all about it.

A fairy tale in style and inspired by the myth of Lạc Long Quân and Âu Cơ, this fic is gorgeous. Gorgeous, I say! In terms of both character and heart, Marion and Yussa are exceptionally and uniquely playful, and Jester is a little storm cloud all on her own. As tends to happen when beloved stories are passed along through time, variations can develop upon retellings- taking this into consideration, this fic is also framed with some very entertaining internal commentary. Read it! Mua!

~

Dust by @flashhwing

T, M/M, CNTW, Complete (1 Ch, 1.4k)

Essek/Caleb, Veth & Caleb

In which Caleb wakes up on the 13th of Fessuran. In which Caleb wakes up on the 13th of Fessuran. In which Caleb wakes up on the 13th of Fessuran.

Time loop fic! Foreboding as is befitting for the day his dear friend dies, this fic has Caleb finding himself stuck with company that cares but does not know just how trapped they are. If you want a spot-on Veth, you can find her here as she tries to reassure Caleb that no, no, the worst has yet to come. If you haven't seen the post thread that inspired this fic, you can find it here, as well as a collection of other fics inspired by the thread here.

~

interim by @vagabondfirelily

G, M/M, NAWA, Complete (1 Ch, 1k)

Essek/Caleb

In which Verin visits the Mighty Nein and witnesses a quiet moment in his brother's new life.

Who would have thought that a sinner such as Essek could find pockets of peace within chaos within which to heal? As the one who knew him best, before it all, Verin's POV offers a kind peek into who Essek Thelyss once was and who Essek of Den Nein is and is becoming. Tender and heart-warming, this fic is rich enough to pour into a mug and savor, and, even while brief, the dynamics between the Nein are captured so so so well.

~

On the Nature of Attraction by @hello-eeveev

T, M/M, NAWA, Complete (1 Ch, 7.5k)

Demi or Ace Essek / Gray Ace Caleb

In which the wizards are together and together they define some of what that means.

Attraction can be a complicated thing when one spends time giving it deep thought, let alone two. Between setting boundaries with friends, speaking sentiments, and sharing a fair bit of earnest trust, in this fic, the wizards we know and love examine things between them in an oft unseen light. This fic is very sweet and very sincere, and is also part of a larger series (On the Nature of Love) if you'd like to read more with this particular permutation of Essek and Caleb.

~

Until next time! 💜

(fic recs part 1)

[kitkatt0430]

So for the Goa'uld, taking a new host just means having a pretty new face to look at and having to make new clothing and hairstyle decisions. Maybe updating all the religious iconography to pretend they always looked like this particular host or at least making damn sure all their Jaffa know what their 'god' looks like now.

But... for Tok'ra, they blend with their host. They share with their host all that they are and the lifetimes they've lived before and their host shares with them the life they've lived pre-blending. The two become one and yet remain separate.

I'd imagine it's a lot like the Trill who join with their symbiotes from Star Trek, except way more obvious who is talking at any point in time and they can separate if they wanna get symbiote divorced.

But it's probably also a little like Time Lord Regeneration for both parties now because they've suddenly changed so much. The host has new experiences to fall back on that reframe their own decision making paradigm going forward and maybe changes their opinions on things in ways they didn't expect or introduces all new personality ticks that come from combining their own history and traumas with the remembered traumas from the hosts that came before them. While the Tok'ra symbiote gets experiences like 'new teeth' and 'oh do I say things like that now?' and so on because of course blending with their new host's memories and experiences and physical body means realizing that their taste buds have literally changed again and suddenly their favorite tea doesn't taste good anymore. They're both trying to do things they remember being capable of but for one it wasn't actually them who did it and for the other, well, they had a very different body at the time. So neither can do it anymore.

I'm really looking forward to exploring this dynamic when I reach that point in my Tales of Symphonia/Stargate Sg-1 crossover fic (series? Probably gonna split it into a series...)

[tnc-n3cl]

Fic Author Interview

Thanks for the tag @unmaskedcardinal!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Five although one of them is really a rough draft of another fic.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

264,548! (There's way more on the way though...)

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Amnesiac Hero's Quest (T, BotW AU covering when Link leaves the Great Plateau until just after freeing Vah Ruta (and Mipha), 14 chapters, only finished fic so far) 50 kudos.

Link's Story: Finding Hateno Village (T, BotW AU, pretty much what it says on the tin, Link leaves Kakariko going towards Mt. Lanaryu by mistake and tries to find his way to Hateno Village. This is the one that spawned TAHQ, oneshot, the first thing I posted on AO3.) 21 kudos.

Shifting Tides of Fate (M, BotW AU picking up where TAHQ leaves off, Link and Mipha head to Rito Village to save Revali and free Vah Medoh, 6 chapters posted, WIP) 11 kudos.

The Ballad of Kass (M (originally T), BotW AU starting a week or two before the start of TAHQ, Kass sets out to find Link to fulfil his promise to his teacher, and his sister Kalia tags along. Second thing I posted, kind of the backbone to the whole The Realm Walker saga at this point [cause it intersects with the other stories so I have to time things out carefully], 15 chapters posted, WIP) 8 kudos.

The Tale of the Realm Walker (M, Wind Waker & Twilight Princess sequel with a ton of nods to the rest of the franchise (a LOT of ALttP). Chronologically the first story in TRW Saga, but I'm effectively telling it as an in-universe tale in BotW times, and it's the most recently posted fic of mine on AO3, only 2 chapters posted so far, WIP) 2 kudos.

The first two fics for sure got hit by the kudos bug a while ago. Kudos Georg I guess... Given that they've been up the longest I can see why they've got more than the others.

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! If someone took the time to comment on my fics then I'm going to say something back. I'm am very much here for the community aspect. Even though I may not always comment on something I've read (or art I've looked at).

5. What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Well the only one with an ending so far is TAHQ and it's fairly happy. Hm... How to not spoil plans? If it was finished then The Tale of the Realm Walker would be the answer. I'll uh... leave it at that...

6. What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

See above, The Amnesiac Hero's Quest.

7. Do you write crossovers?

Not anymore, I had some batcrap insane hypothetical video game ideas that were crossovers, but those have all mostly been tossed. Though I did salvage plenty of ideas from them. The Realm Walker Saga itself came from a LoZ/Final Fantasy crossover, "Project 47" as well. Untitled Castelvania Fanfic Project... Untitled Front Mission Fanfic Project...

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

No.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but that'd be pretty cool.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but one of the stories in my Trek fanfic got an editor. Went by the username of USS Da Vinci (IIRC) on Subspace Comms Network (SCN, a now defunct Star Trek and Sci-Fi forum I was on).

13. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I guess Revalink. Or Picard/Crusher?

14. What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

At this point I've more or less made my peace with the death of my Trek and Stargate fics. Do I think about them still? Yes. (I'd give my aliens with the space whale ships Discovery style spore drives... Maybe throw in a Kelpian character or two...) (Had a blast rewatching most of the Ori arc of SG-1 not that long ago...)

15. What are your writing strengths?

Action scenes, quirky humor (I make myself laugh at least), describing what characters are doing in a scene.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Scenery porn. I so rarely mention time of day or anything. I have to really sit down and focus on all that, so lately I've just been hammering out an arc and then going back and fluffing all that up in edits. (Although I am particularly proud of a few scenes in The Ballad of Kass and Shifting Tides of Fate.)

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I actually tried this with a little teaser for my Castlevania fic idea. The scene takes place in Austria so I decided to have the opening few lines be in German then switch to English, cause while I did take a couple classes in college, I don't know nearly enough to write a whole dialog chain. So throughout the little snippet there'd be a German line or two. Used Google translate for things I didn't know, but it was giving me something weird for "My name is..." [Also stared at Google Maps of Graz for HOURS picking locations, even though the fic is set 1,071 years in the future after a society ruining cataclysm... I must have some accuracy!]

I have made up words for fics. I've got 11 whole alphabets for the Avestrens (bird people) in "Project 47" and a handful of words. A handful of Rito words. Back in my Trek fic days I was writing in script format and would just put things like [Cardassian curse] rather than trying to come up with something.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Star Trek, it was script based and set 10 years after Voyager's return from the Delta Quadrant. Multiple spinoffs were planed spanning a period of 50 years. (I had started writing the sequel before finishing the first fic, and wrote a little bit of some of the other spinoffs.)

19. What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

I can't really think of anything. I'd like to do something with my Castlevania or Final Fantasy ideas but I'd need the right mood or inspiration to get anywhere. I'm not much of a shipper to be honest, at least with canon characters I guess? I like making my OC's kiss...

20. What's your favorite fic you've written?

Oh that's hard! The initial version of The Tale of the Realm Walker has a special place in my heart, but gods it's all walls of text! How did I ever keep track of everything?! The Ballad of Kass is a place for me to go nuts with Rito headcanons and have fun with the birbs until I can get the Revali centric fics really going. I'm proud of actually finishing The Amnesiac Hero's Quest (I love moment where Link finally meets Purah and is convinced that there's something in the water in Hateno that makes everyone a weirdo and she put it there. He's getting his red string and nails ready...).

I guess just for semantics sake, since "written" is past tense, I'll go with TAHQ as my final answer (this time around) since it's finished.

No Pressure Tags: @critical-birb, @zeawesomebirdie, @readwritebeawesome

[dream-meister-translations]

MASTERLIST :

Below you will find links to the masterlists of games we are currently translating / & or writing scripts for. We are open to suggestions for games & always open to suggestions for specific characters/stories from these games! Just send us a message! Anons welcome :))

DONATE : HERE. If you’d like to help us out! Would be much appreciated & will help us keep banging out content faster! (donator's requests WILL be prioritized) 

Yumekuro Masterlist

Yume 100 Masterlist

Reciting With You In The Glowing Red World Masterlist

(please like or reblog posts to support the work we do! :D keep in mind that the two of us on this blog don't speak japanese nor are we professionals. these translations aren't going to be perfect. but we are trying our best to portray the chars accurately & get the story across so that english-speakers can enjoy it <3 ) 

Extra games we might not complete / are doing for fun :

Fate Grand Order

Wolf Game Masterlist

The Tale Of Food Masterlist (ENG & SG/MY)

Persona 5 Phantom X Beta Masterlist

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Intersection of the WB Coda and 18 Miles Out From @wdway (Part 1)

@wdway

I mentioned before how I thought it was funny how tptb have down played the variant walkers in Daryls spin-off. They've mentioned them but they have spent most of the time emphasising Paris, Castles, romantic settings, piecing memories together.

Last week when I again saw the shots of Daryl upset, the setting reminded me for some reason of the TWB coda particularly the windows in the background so I decided to go check the coda out again.

In comparing the two settings I do not think that it's the same place. But I thought would took this opportunity to really look at the coda again. I did not rewatch the episode at all I went straight to the coda. I was on AMC+ and when I hit pause the name of the episode popped up alone with the season and episode number. S2e10 The Last Light. And that's when I initially fell into the rabbit hole.

TWD s2e10 was,18 Miles Out. Written by Glenn Mazzara and Scott Gimple.

The episode had basically two story lines, one was Rick dealing with Shane and Randall and the other was Beth who tried to commit suicide but decided she wanted to live.

My thought was, could this be some freak accident, coincidence this TWB final series episode with a coda that will lead into a entirely new arc for TWDU shares the same season and episode number of the duel storylines of Rick and Beth? I think not!

So many other things contributed to me not believing it was an coincidence. Scott Gimple who co-wrote 18 Miles Out now oversees the entire TV TWDU.

Gimple along with Matthew Negrete, a previous TWD writer are the creators of TWB. Matthew Negrete was also the showrunner of TWB series. They would have been the ones ultimately who decided on how many seasons and how many episodes per season.

It's hard for me to believe that the significance of s2e10 would be lost on them especially as I fell deeper into this rabbit hole and entered multiple long side tunnels. You see the first side tunnel revealed that the writer of s2e10 The Last Light was in fact Matthew Negrete.

In watching or re-watching the coda there was something about it that I can't really explain that made me think of Beth reading her journal entry at the beginning of Inmates. I will go into the comparisons between the dialogue in The Last Light and Inmates along with some of the dialog during the fight scene in the episode Still in depth later on, a very separate long side tunnel.

When I went to check out Beth's journal in s4e10 Inmates (yes, it's also an episode 10) I was shocked (in a good way) to realize that the writers were Matthew Negrete and Channing Powell, who was the showrunner for Tales of the Dead. I felt vindicated in comparing the TLL coda and Inmates journal since Matthew Negrete wrote both episodes.

I was hit hard with the realization of how very purposely planned it all is by Gimple. Remember how in 18 Miles Out, the two main story lines were divided between Rick and Beth. Well, the episode before Inmates was After, the story of what happened to Rick after the prison fell and the next episode began with Beth.

This light bulb moment made me want to look and see what else Matthew Negrete had written for TWD or to clarify what episodes the then showrunner and later overseer Scott Gimple assigned him to write.

Get ready for several OMG! moments in this list. To make it easier though I'm going to abbreviate certain names because he co-wrote several episodes. Matthew Negrete MN, Channing Powell CP, Scott Gimple SG, Angela Kang AK.

MN became as a TWD writer in season 4.

E4 Indifference MN

E10 Inmates MN & CP

Season 5

E4 Slabtown, MN & CP

E6 Consume, MN & Corey Reed

E14 Spend, MN

Season 6

E1 First Time Again, SG & MN

E8 Start to Finish, MN

E11 Knots Untie, MN & CP

E14 Twice As Far, MN

E16 Last Day On Earth SG-MN

Season 7

E2 The Well, MN

E8 Hearts Still Beating MN-CP

E12 Say Yes, MN

E16 The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life, SG & MN

Season 8

E2 Damed and E3 Monsters, MN & CP

E7 Time for After, MN & Corey Reed

E8 Honor, MN & CP

E13 Do Not Send Us Astray AK & MN

E16 Wrath, SG & AK &MN

Season 9

E5 What Comes After, SG-MN

E11 Bounty, MN

E16 The Storm, AK & MN

23 episodes.

In watching the Daryl and Beth segment of Inmates I realized they were setting up symbols to represent Beth. For that matter they did that in all of the Beth episodes starting with Inmates through Coda and then as seasons went on those symbols became moments of connection to Beth. In Inmates we saw focus on Beth boots as she ran. We saw the sunshine almost wash her image out it was so bright connecting her with light. We heard many times how Daryl thought of Beth as an image of light in darkness.

There were rabbits, a green journal, the exchange of a knife between Daryl and Beth, Daryl giving her his black and white bandanna an image from that exchange showed up years later in the form of a portrait that hung on the wall at Hilltop.

She made the search for children her mission before she saw the remains of a single shoe.

The railroad tracks a very important part of a story arc that began in season 4 and went all the way through the series ending in s11. The railroad tracks that we never actually saw Beth on belong to every all the members of Team family except for Beth.

The last image of Beth and Daryl in Inmates is a fire between the two an symbol belonging to both Beth and Daryl.

We saw Beth strike the match that burned down the shack in e12 Still and we saw Daryl many times through the seasons as a fire symbol that always took it back to Beth. The pond on fire at Alexandria. We have seen countless fire explosions through the seasons by Daryl but it all began in s4.

I have a couple of more symbol connections of Beth's from after the prison through the episode Coda.

We saw in Inmates and also in Still Beth wearing Daryl's knife in s5e10 we saw the fulfillment of the symbol when Carol gave Daryl Beth's knife which he wore for a few seasons until it also disappeared. Norman has told us that Daryl still has it, the knife still exist it is just out of sight. Just like Beth.

In Consume the episode where Carol and Daryl search for Beth we see Daryl with a Godly female statue and we know that this symbol will be fulfilled in Daryl's spin-off.

The last one I want to show you hasn't truly been fulfilled yet but it hopefully will be soon.

To Be Continued...

[elfdragon12]

Welcome to my blog!

There are some different Transformers related things that happen here!

Humanformers AU This is an AU story that plays into @artsy-hobbitses AU world, Ties That Bind. However, I'm playing with a separate set of characters with their own arcs.

Autobots list

Decepticons list

"hf meta talk" tag (for general information from plain posts or from asks)

"scenario talk" tag (for hypothetical scenarios)

Inbox AU stories Back in October 2022, someone sent a message about what would happen in a Shattered Glass version of what I wrote and it snowballed into multiple AU storylines.

Anon SG fanfic emporium (Astoria, Raoul, and Jazz get stuck in the SG universe storyline, madness ensues. This has two versions, the regular TF version and humanformers. Gets dark at times.)

Actor AU (The anon SG fanfic is a TV show and this is about the actors behind the show.)

Normalverse (Just scenarios that could hypothetically happen in the regular universe)

Tragedy switcheroo AU (Jazz, Chromia, Courtney/Cover Girl, and Drift die instead of their partners from the '86 movie)

Crossing the streams (storylines collide, tragedy switcheroo and normalverse)

Wheeljack science shenanigans (we currently have the 'sparkling arc', 'lovestruck arc', "fairy tale arc", and "time travel arc")

Bathtime for kitty (Steeljaw does not want a bath. Ravage doesn't really want one either.)

Rewind's rom com AU (Instead of going along with Chromedome after the uncomfortable situation of being giving the dead version of him's stuff, Rewind chooses to separate fully and has new romantic adventures.)

Crime Thriller AU (Nightbeat is tasked with solving Proteus Prime's murder.)

Megatron vs Soundwave AU (Soundwave falls in love with Optimus Prime and challenges Megatron's unresolved feelings towards him.)

Ratchet MED (Focus on Ratchet running medical, also he did a DNA test and he and Astoria Carlton-Ritz turn out to be related.)

Daycare AU (Optimus Prime and Kup run a daycare, along with Megatron as well as Optimus Primal.)

Shattered Glass x2 (SG universe ramped up.)

Spike's Mom Has Got It Going On (Spike's parents are divorced and his mother named Lillian catches the eye of the Stunticons but she certainly doesn't mind.)

Star Crossed AU (Windblade gets sparked by Starscream and the two's relationship comes to light.)

TFA AU (Optimus is left behind on the spider planet instead of Elita-1 and Rodimus was unintentionally made leader of the Earth crew.)

[dawn-of-worlds]

Velarië rolls 2d6 -> 10, for a total of 23 power. She spends 22 of that power to create a new kind of sentient being: the Ataila (sg. Atai). Her power is now 1.

Some say, at the dawn of the world Velarië had need of helpers, so she made the Ataila, the forge-spirits, mixing the essence of starlight with the essence of earth. And they dwelt with her, and learned from her, until some began to grow curious about the world outside, and they journeyed forth against her caution.

Others say, the Ataila are like her: born of the stars reflected on the sea, and she only gave them bodies and voices, made from metal and salt-spray; and some did dwell with her, who were most like her; but the rest were wanderers from the beginning.

And still others say, she spilled her blood to make them, and that they all thus have a part of the divine within them; and that is the cause of their deathless nature.

Maybe all these things are true.

--The legends of the Ataila

Though their origin is uncertain (for they tell conflicting tales), the Ataila bear a clear affinity to Velarië herself. Their bodies are made of a kind of living metal, that twists together like vines or sinews, animated by a white-hot spirit. Though all of a similar plan--a head, two arms, and two legs--the Ataila are found in a wide variety of forms, for they are not born but made. Their parent or parents must forge for them a body and animate it with some of their own life; and then they slowly grow to adulthood, and have great control over the appearance that results.

The Ataila eat or drink very little; they draw their chief sustenance from air and light, and being cut off for too long from either, will die. Sickness, cold, heat strong enough to destroy their bodies, and other forms of grievous injury will also kill them--though they are extremely hardy, far tougher than any of Velarië‘s other creations--but they do not die of old age like many living things, growing forever (but at ever-slowing speed) in strength and wisdom as they age. Some say that when they die, their spirits return to the sky; or to Velarië‘s side; or perhaps they wander in the dark places below the earth.

The Ataila say Velarië gave them three gifts. The first was their physical bodies. The second was speech, and that she originally taught them a tongue she had devised; and this was the ancestor of all their later languages. The third was the knowledge of how to create more of themselves, after the manner in which she had created them first. After this, most of the Ataila went out to wander the world, while others remained with Velarië.

For a long time, those who remained with her were content; and they learned from her the arts of civilization, and were her forge-attendants, her messengers, and her groundskeepers. But eventually, most of them wished to take their knowledge and to create new things of their own, out beyond the Isle; and though it grieved Velarië terribly, she did not oppose their going. Those that left, together with some of their wandering kindred, built the city Etevaasin, also called Tehwatzin, the First House of the Ataila.

[Kuusama, one of the semi-legendary hero-founders of Etevaasin, here shown in the ornate armor of a later age.]

[thisintermezzo]

I haven't seen it posted on Tumblr, so here's Sync's Spirit Gear from Tales of the Rays.

SG is basically armatization (like in Zestiria), but with a more generic elemental spirit. His is wind, obviously. The other two from this banner set are Asch and Luke, who were predictably... fire.

[yuriathames]

9 people you want to get to know better tag game-- been a while since I've done one of these!! Thank you, @hannahilation, for tagging.

Three ships: I've been successfully sold Zolo/ Sanji (One Piece) and Hisoka/ Illumi recently. Third is City Skylines II/ me because I'm waiting for the game to download right now.

First ship: Carter/ O'Neill (Stargate SG-1).

Last Song: according to youtube, five minutes of lo-fi music

Last Movie: ... do long analysis essays listened to while at work count? Because otherwise, I honestly do not recall.

Currently Reading: just finished reading Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru. What a mess of a manga (cold take).

Currently Watching: been watching episodes of The Lego Show partially so I can talk to my mom about it, partially for the neat builds, mainly because episode two features kitties.

Currently Consuming: just ate a cheese quesadilla with chicken, pepper, and onions. Usual lunch.

Currently Craving: nothing right now

No pressure to respond, but I'll tag @burnsombreroburn, @burnalist, @very-salty-popcorn, @okandmask, @kittiled, aaaaaand @kumateddi

[okamiprincess15]

List of rottmnt fanfic crossovers I’d currently LOVE to see:

Some kind of Final Fantasy crossover (preferably FF14 but I’m not too picky on this, I’ll take what I can get). I just wanna see the boys dressed up in Final Fantasy esque outfits and use FF type magic and summons. (If not Final Fantasy then some other sort of JRPG series like Wild Arms, Dragon Quest, the Mana series, the Tales series, the Star Ocean series, or the Xenosaga series will do. Donnie would probably be ecstatic with the technology of either of those last two.)

RWBY (they’d almost NEVER be bored for long on Remnant with all those Grimm to kill. And Donnie would LOVE the weapons, as well as the chance to study Dust)

Stargate (either SG1 or Atlantis) Possible Idea: What if one of the two missing female turtle siblings (I’m thinking Jennika, although she’d probably be named Jennifer in this instead. I just love the idea of a heavy metal loving snapper type female turtle.) winds up in the custody of a member of SG-1 as a turtle tot (Perhaps having been rescued from the NID?)? And post Kraang invasion Casey Jr. is the one to inform the rest of the Hamato Clan that, ‘Hey Draxum? Those two female turtles you thought were dead are actually alive. One of them’s Big Mama’s assistant, and the other was raised by a member of the US Air Force.’

4. ASOIAF (NOT THE TV SHOW, THE BOOKS!! That last season was especially awful.). I love the idea of the turtles having to navigate through politics and political intrigue (Rise Leo would probably be especially good at it). I’m thinking maybe the Krang had a failsafe that would cause the planet to slowly start dying, that was put into place not long after getting out of the prison dimension, in case they were somehow sealed away in the prison dimension again (they may all have a superiority complex but they’re not stupid, if it could happen once it could happen again). And that Sister Kraang activated it before being captured by the E.P.F. (It was never utilized in the bad timeline because they were obviously winning, so Casey Jr. didn’t , nor anyone else in the resistance, know about it). The Kraang, knowing that Earth still didn’t have the technology for interstellar space flight, assumed that this would spell the end of Earth native sentient life if activated.

However Donnie was able to get an early enough warning (a few months after the invasion) with sufficient proof through his tech, that the Hamatos were able to warn the human and yokai governments of the world. There wasn’t enough time to develop and build sufficiently advanced space ships to get most of Earth’s population off before the Earth expired. However it WAS deemed possible to make a very large dimensional portal to a planet with a similar environment to Earth’s with enough mystic artifacts designed to handle dealing with the immense strain, with Mikey with the help of a bunch of other yokai mages opening the portal. And while Earth’s entire yokai population is small enough to be brought through, they’d still only be able to bring with them a fraction of the Earth’s human population (a fact that haunts the Hamato Clan for the rest of their lives), and thus the human governments had to prioritize who would make the journey.

I’m thinking since so little is known about it, that they wind up in the mysterious landmass of Ulthos when Raph is 19, in the year 295 AC. And through a series of events (including the fact that they saved Earth from the Kraang invasion and Mikey’s instrumental role in the ‘evacuation’ of Earth) that the Hamato Clan practically becomes major nobility, possibly being the closest thing to royalty, in the new Ulthos civilization by the turtles early twenties.

Suggested Pairings: I was thinking they could be Leo/Usagi (they met during the beginning of the preparation for the evacuation and got married not long after arriving in Ulthos)

Raph/Dacey Mormont (A Mormont woman would probably be the only type of noblewoman not to be scared off by Raph’s appearance and size, plus she’s awesome and I hate how she got killed off in canon. Her being in Ulthos with her husband, would be better then killing her off in my opinion)

Donnie/ a daughter of Bu Gai, the current Azure Emperor of Yi Ti (initially a political arranged marriage due to Yi Ti’s close proximity to Ulthos, as well as being a major trade partner, but they do eventually fall in love. Leo and Raph are NOT happy about their family being put into a position by the newly created Ulthos government where their father had to accept the betrothal, since Leo and Raph both married for love, but Donnie is pragmatic enough to not publicly put up too much of a fuss. Might make for good plot, since Yi Ti by the time ASOIAF starts is based on Imperial China, vaguely based on the Three Kingdoms era.)

Mikey/ A daughter of a Braavosi Magister (another arranged marriage from another major trade partner of Ulthos, but they do grow fond of each other). Course these are just suggestions, feel free to pick what you want as long as it makes sense.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Sunday, September 8th

ANGEL: What you did to me was unbelievable, Connor. But then I got stuck in a hell dimension by my girlfriend one time for a hundred years, so a few months under the ocean actually gave me perspective. Kind of a M. C. Esher perspective. But I did get time to think. About us, about the world. Nothing in the world is the way it ought to be. It's harsh, and cruel. But that's why there's us. Champions. It doesn't matter where we come from, what we've done or suffered, or even if we make a difference. We live as though the world were as it should be, to show it what it can be. You're not a part of that yet. I hope you will be. I love you, Connor. Now get out of my house.

~~Deep Down~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

For Good by veronyxk84 (Buffy, PG-13)

Скажи спасибо by B_E_S (Buffy/Angel, G, in Russian)

Birthday at Hellmouth Castle by blancheswallpaper (Buffy & Giles, G)

Fool Me Twice by USS_Genderprise (Torchwood crossover, Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones/John Hart/Spike, Explicit)

For Good by VeroNyxK84 (Buffy/Spike, anthology rated PG-13)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Thin White Duke - Chapter 1 by CorsetedPrincess (Harry Potter crossover, Willow/Tara, not rated)

Aim High: A Stargate Tale - Chapter 1 by Buffyworldbuilder (Stargate SG-1 crossover, Buffy, G)

I Can Show You Lies, Ch. 6 by tragic (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Lost in Desolation, Ch. 7 by Melme1325 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Troubling Deaf Heaven, Ch. 1 by JuneCurry (Buffy/Spike, R)

Two In Harmony (Surpasses One In Perfection), Ch. 1 by EllenBrand (crossover with Star Wars and Sonic the Hedgehog, FR15)

The Dresden Angel, Ch. 1 by Traszgo (Dresden Files crossover, Angel, FR7)

The Immortal, Ch. 1 by Traszgo (Dresden Files crossover, the Immortal, Buffy, FR15)

Breaking the Code, Ch. 1 by Buffyworldbuilder (Star Wars crossover, Dawn, Buffy, Illyria, FR7)

Viral, Ch. 2 by Harlow Turner (Buffy/Spike, R)

A Champion is More Than the Amulet, Ch. 2 by Acb6293 (Buffy/Spike, R)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Manip: I saw people talking about the Pete Wentz Bartskull Jeans and this happened (Spike, probably worksafe)

Chibi spikes by blue-star-charmer-art (Spike, worksafe)

Spike manips: The Great British Mistake (ft. The Adverts lyrics) by spyder-baby (worksafe)

Duo collage - Xander and Willow by gamerrat_13 (Willow & Xander, worksafe)

[Reviews & Recaps]

Bargaining, Part Two by jennys-calendar

Video: Up The Buff! Ep 2 - The Harvest - Belfast boys at the Bronze!

The Body first watch by VikTone

[Fandom Discussions]

Re: ‘does it like women’... by unnamedmedicalprofessional

There's a lot that's frustrating to me... but a major thing is the Gunn and Fred relationship by violettathepiratequeen

Why wasn't Angel's trauma in a Hell Dimension explored more on his own show? by jdpm1991

Things you’ve only noticed for the first time after multiple rewatches. by Real-Fortune9041

What’s with the hospital Faith wakes up in from the coma? by Gullible_Midnight_12

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Join the editor team :)

[kitkatt0430]

Rewatching SG-1 has reminded me of a Tales of Symphonia xOver idea I had that I'd still like to write.

It'd ignore the Tales of Symphonia sequel, so no Dawn of the New World stuff going on here. Instead, a few years post Tales of Symphonia and the reunification of the two world of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla into the single world of Aselia, an archeological dig in Tethe'alla discovers an outpost in the mountains that predates the Kharlan War and the civilizations involved by thousands of years.

It's not ancient Elven technology from their migration to the world from space either and likely predates even that long ago event - and the Elves are related to the Nox, though whether that comes up or not... at least it's world building, right? I considered the Ancients... but I like the Nox better for this. Anywho, the current Elves are an offshoot of the Nox who've lost their history and had somewhat divergent evolution from being on a completely different planet from the other Nox for so long.

It's Ancient technology, but with the Elves having forgotten their history they can't identify it anymore than the human and half-elven historians or archaeologists can. They've even consulted the Summon Spirits, but if they know then they aren't telling. And they do seem to know something.

Seles is fascinated. She's gotten interested in archaeology - Zelos blames Raine, who of course wouldn't see why being interested in old stuff would be so boring to him. But Zelos is trying to be supportive so he's shown up at the dig site.

There's a giant stone circle inside and that Zelos does find interesting. Its made up of a foreign material similar to exspheres, but it's clearly refined the same way exspheres were. While it's still somehow being powered - though they've yet to successfully activate it - it's clear the power source is external and stored in capacitors, not imbued with the power of a human life sacrificed to it's production.

That's when an offworld activation occurs and a Goa'uld and his army shows up. Zelos manages to hide Seles, but then he and two others are 'selected' similar to how Sha're and Skara are in the episode Children of the Gods.

On another world now, Zelos manages to befriend one of the Jaffa guards. Not enough to be snuck out, but enough that Zelos is pretty sure he's not going to get killed by this guy when things inevitably get worse. A selection is going on and, as Mekel explains, the Goa'uld - gods, but not really and isn't that a familiar situation for Zelos to be in? - are selecting new hosts. They're parasites. And that's when Zelos realizes he's in more trouble than he realized.

And so is Mekel and anyone else if Zelos gets 'Chosen'. The Chappa'ai (Stargate) is made of the similar-to-exspheres element. And so is the tech the Jaffa use - and thus the Goa'uld use. And, according to Mekel, the Goa'uld and Jaffa have that element - naquadah - in their blood stream. It's similar enough to exspheres that just being surrounded by so much of it makes Zelos able to feel his now-dormant powers again (dormant ever since he stopped using his angelus crystal) but not enough to actually use those powers.

He's pretty sure if he gets possessed? Those powers will be back and in the control of a wannabe god. Not good.

Mekel is not thrilled to learn this either. He may believe the Goa'uld are false gods, but they're still ridiculously powerful. Giving even one of them more power??? Could only be a bad thing. He's not sure he believes this isn't a ploy on Zelos' part to try and get away safely, but he does like Zelos now so... he decides to help Zelos escape. In doing so they discover a Tok'ra prisoner and after a short explanation about the Tok'ra vs Goa'uld divide, they decide to take him along.

The three of them jump a few planets and Zelos laments that he doesn't know his own world's address to go home. They'd be safe there. Though he's also hoping that they've somehow disabled the gate to prevent further incursions, though he knows Lloyd will be beyond pissed if the King chooses to abandon Zelos and the others to their fate that way.

They realize they didn't get away clean when an Ashrak injures the Tok'ra - Jeren and... I admit I don't have a name for his host in mind yet. They're too badly injured. Jeren could survive in a new host, but it's too late for his current one. Mekel refuses to become a Tok'ra host. If there were a way for him to be free of his symbiote without dying, he'd take it in a heartbeat... except for this. Which Jeren assures Mekel that he understands.

Zelos volunteers. He's come to trust Jeren and he knows the information Jeren seeks to take to the Tok'ra is important. It's just temporary, after all. Until a new host can be found, anyway.

As Zelos suspected, being bonded with Jeren revives his old exsphere/angelus crystal granted powers. He can't bring out his wings, but he's able to call on Judgement and some of his other high-level spells. And when the Ashrak strikes again, the three of them are able to kill the Goa'uld assassin this time.

But even with Zelos' healing powers restored, he never had Raine's gift for Resurrection and so Jeren's previous host is too far gone even for Zelos to heal even now. At least with the Ashrak dead, the man is avenged and they're able to safely seek out the current Tok'ra safe house by contacting another Tok'ra spy who knows where to send them.

The Tok'ra are fascinated by Zelos' powers but also relieved its not something they can replicate. Because if they can't, the Goa'uld can't either. And unfortunately the Tok'ra don't have a way to send Zelos home yet because they don't have the address to his world either.

When a new guy volunteers to become Jeren's host, Zelos decides he likes the partnership and stays Jeren's host after all. Mekel offers his services to the Tok'ra specifically to protect Zelos and Jeren. If the Goa'uld became aware of Zelos' powers, they'd seek to capture him and remove Jeren in order to take his body for themselves.

A few years later, Egeria is discovered and Zelos is brought in to try and use his unusual powers to heal her. He's met SG-1 once or twice before and Mekel and Teal'c have a mutual respect for each other going on. Zelos does manage to heal Egeria enough to stabilize her for travel, but she needs the care of her people going forward - she needs a host. But doing so meant revealing his abilities to SG-1.

Egeria fixes the flaws in Tretonin and Mekel jumps at the chance to try it. And after talking things over with SG-1, Zelos and Jeren tell Mekel they want to request they be assigned as a sort of permanent liaison to the SGC. Mekel likes this idea so they go through with it. Jacob and Selmak think it'll be a great fit.

Admittedly my ideas for this verse skip around a bit. Zelos, Jeren, and Mekel verses an Ori Prior would be very interesting to see happen. At some point they'd make contact with Aselia and Zelos is able to see his sister and friends again. Also... Lloyd and Colette kicking Ori ass with their angel powers, as some of the few still utilizing angelus crystals, would be a great deal of fun.

[sarcasticsciencefictionwriter]

Modern / fairy tale SG-1 Story pleeeeease?

Done! I spent a lot of time trying to figure this out, which is weird for me with the fairy tale genre. So here's a fairy tale story AU with a Sam/Jack element. :) Feel free to ask for another story or a continuation of this story. It got a bit long, so I will be willing to do a follow up.

______

Hooded

______

The day was sunny with a chill to the air, the perfect autumn afternoon. She stepped off the bus breathing in the crisp air and smiling.

The bus let off a bit of a distance from her destination, but she didn't mind walking the rest of the way. Sam was young and fit and the walk was just part of her exercise. Important to get that where she could.

She walked, turning on to a street/road where the sidewalks didn't continue. It was a short cut to her destination, considering the bus route didn't go to where she needed it to. Sam was humming as she walked alongside the road, her hands in the pockets of her hooded sweat jacket, which was perfect for the weather.

The neighborhood she was walking through maintained the illusion of a rural feel, even though it really wasn't. A bigger, upscale neighborhood penned it on one side and similar ones to its own status on the others. The woods surrounding the houses made it feel like it was a fair distance away from everything else. Sam was marveling at the difference in just such a short distance as she walked.

"Hello again." a voice said. It attempted a purr, but sounded more like a growl.

Sam glanced to her right, seeing the man that had just walked down a driveway to join her, walking alongside her. He was older, with fading ginger head and facial hair. At first, Sam had thought he was handsome. Now she just wanted him to leave her alone.

"Jonas." she said, clenching her jaw and looking ahead of her.

"You look nice today." Jonas remarked.

Sam snorted. She was wearing worn jeans, comfortable but scuffed boots, a faded T-shirt and a hooded red sweat jacket. She hadn't bothered with makeup and the brisk breeze had ruffled her short hair into bothersome spikes.

"Leave me alone, please."

"You shouldn't be walking along the side of the road by yourself." Jonas said.

Sam ignored him. She wanted to draw away from him, but he did have a point. She couldn't move away from him without stepping out into the road and into any potential traffic.

"I can and I will, thank you, Jonas." Sam said, quickening her pace.

"Sam! Wait! I just want to talk!"

_____

Jack was working in his driveway, with wood scattered around on various improvised surfaces. He was cutting and staining the wood for a deck and was doing it around front because the driveway had some nice shade at this time of day.

He glanced up at movement at the end of his driveway and he saw a now-familiar figure walking by. She had been going by a few times a week for a few weeks now and he had become familiar with her routine. It was always the same time of day.

Today, however, there was someone with her.

Jack straightened and watched the man following her. They seemed to be arguing. The man was bigger than the woman and seemed to be acting aggressively towards her. Jack acted when he grabbed her arm.

He walked down the driveway, brush still in hand, as she tried to yank her arm free. She was getting ready to kick him in the crotch, which Jack would have enjoyed seeing, had he not been certain that it would end badly for her if she did it.

"Excuse me!" Jack called, deciding that was the best way to go about it, especially since it wasn't like they were on his property.

They both stopped what they were doing and the man immediately dropped the woman's arm, trying to look at ease though he was clearly tense.

"Yes?" the man asked as the woman took two steps away from him, glaring at both of them.

"Why don't you leave the lady alone?" Jack suggested civilly.

"Mind your own business." the man barked.

"Maybe mind your own." Jack said, holding his gaze. "Hansen, isn't it?"

He recognized the man now. He had moved in with a friend down the road a few months ago and they didn't get along. Jack had the impression that he wasn't a great guy.

"Yeah." Hansen grunted.

He looked Jack over, glanced at the woman, and then walked away, headed in the direction he had come from.

Satisfied, Jack looked to the woman. She was pretty. Younger than him, with blonde hair that had been ruffled by the breeze, and blue eyes. Her lips were currently pressed together in an unhappy frown.

"I'm not a damsel in distress, you know. I didn't need you to save me." she said.

"That's a funny way to say thank you." Jack said, arching an eyebrow at her.

"Didn't need the help." She waited a bit. "Thank you."

It was said grudgingly. Jack supposed he couldn't blame her.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"What, so you can follow me there too?" she snorted. "Not that gullible."

"Fair enough."

She gave him a sunny smile that didn't actually seem to be faked and flipped up the hood of her red jacket before turning and walking away.

Jack stayed where he was until she was out of sight.

_____

Sam was grumbling to herself as she walked back from Catherine's. She had told the older woman about the encounter with Jonas and the man that had gotten involved.

Catherine had chided her for taking the short cut and not allowing her to send someone for her when Sam wanted to visit her.

She had insisted that she didn't mind. That she could handle herself and that Jonas didn't bother her. She didn't mind the bus and the walk and she could stay independent. She didn't need Catherine to send a car for her. Especially when the driver seemed to think Sam was too low-class to be spending time with Catherine.

Nevertheless, she had taken the long walk back to the bus stop, to avoid Jonas. Sam knew that she never should have spoken to him in the first place She had run into him walking to Catherine's when he had been out on a jog and they had ended up talking. Sam had enjoyed it at the time. It turned out to have been a mistake.

She had been dealing with him for weeks now. They had gone out on one date a week or two after meeting and now he wouldn't leave her alone when she had decided that it wouldn't go further.

Catherine had told her that if she were smart, she would stop walking by where he was living. Sam had said that she wasn't going to alter her life to accommodate a guy.

She thought about the man that had chased Jonas away. She had been mad, because she could handle herself. But she knew that he had done her a favor. She curled her fingers into a fist as she thought of Jonas. She had been going to kick him in the crotch for grabbing her arm. She had been a little disappointed that she hadn't been able to.

Oh well. Maybe next time.

_____

Things got worse over the next week. Sam kept going to Catherine's by the same route she had been using all these weeks. Maybe it was a mistake, but Sam was stubborn and Jonas should have been moving out of his friend's house some time soon. She was not going to let him intimidate her.

Even though he kept following her. He seemed to know better than to grab her arm or anything again.

Sam noticed every time she passed the driveway, the man who had interfered was working out there. She would watch her, even when Jonas wasn't there. She had the weird feeling that he was looking out for her. She had no idea why.

After a few days of this, Sam took to waving and smiling at him, whether or not Jonas was with her. She saw the look on Jonas's face when she did, but she didn't care.

She thought that the man was rather handsome, even though she had only seen him up close once. Then she wondered at the attraction she felt and if it was a bad thing. The man was older than her by quite a bit, just like Jonas was.

Sam brushed those thoughts aside, heading to Catherine's. She knew that she didn't need to visit so much, but the woman was practically her grandmother, in ways. Sam had caught Catherine's eye as a bright high school student and Catherine had paid for a full-ride scholarship to college for her. Sam was one of quite a few she had done that for, providing Sam an alternative when she had forgone the military path of her family. They had bonded very well and Catherine had been ill recently.

There was no way that she was going to stop visiting, even if she kept walking by Jonas.

No Jonas today. He didn't join her when she passed his buddy's house. His car wasn't in the driveway. That put a bounce in Sam's step. Maybe he had finally gotten the message. She passed the man's driveway. He was gathering up the boards she had seen him working on, presumably to take around the back of the house.

She raised her hand and waved. He waved back.

A light drizzle started and Sam flipped up the hood of her jacket as she kept walking.

She was passing a patch of woods, skittishly moving away from the road as a big, fast truck passed, when someone grabbed her from behind and dragged her into the trees.

_____

Jack was really getting into the construction of his deck. It was almost complete at this point and he had done everything himself. Maybe it was a pure male thing, but doing every part of it himself made him feel insanely proud.

He was trying to finish the railing, hammering some pieces into place, before the rain got too heavy. Then he heard a scream.

It was short and cut off, but it made Jack go on the alert. Screams weren't exactly an uncommon thing, really, especially in a neighborhood with kids. Screams were actually a lot more common to hear than people thought.

But Jack had been a solider and he knew that sort of scream wasn't a good thing. So he took off running in the direction it came from, entering the trees at the back of his property, hammer still in hand.

____

Sam was fighting as hard as she could, but Jonas had one arm pinning her arms to her body and the other hand clamped to her mouth as he dragged her back into the trees. Kicking him meant that his arm would end up around her throat if she lifted her feet up and she could barely stay on her feet.

She bit at his hand and he squeezed her face tight enough to make tears well in her eyes and nearly cut off her breathing.

"We didn't have to do it this way, Sam." he breathed in her ear as she struggled. "But you made me have to do this."

She had made him do anything, but it wasn't like Sam could point that out right now. Sam fought harder. Jonas slammed her into a tree, whacking her head into the trunk hard enough to make her see stars. He pinned her with his body, yanking down her hood, his breath hot on the back of her neck. Sam jerked and whimpered as he kissed her there.

"Don't fight it, Sam. It will be easier that way."

_____

Jack ran through the woods, listening for any sign of what was going on. He had he bad feeling that the person who had screamed was the woman that Hansen had been stalking. And that Hansen was the cause.

"Jonas! Please! No!"

It wasn't as loud as the previous scream, but it was desperate and broken at the same time. It was her voice. Jack slowed his pace, looking around. He crept quietly through the trees.

He stopped when he could see what was going on.

Hansen had her pinned up against a tree and was fumbling with her clothing. There was no doubt in Jack's mind what he was going to do to her. She was still fighting, despite everything. He admired her spirit.

Jack took a deep breath, adjusted his grip on the hammer, and moved forward.

_____

Jonas's hand was yanking at her jeans and Sam tried to throw her weight back, trying to throw him off, but he was too heavy. Tears welled in her eyes. She had never thought it would come to this. Had she really been so stupid?

She heard a twig snap. Jonas didn't notice. There was a sudden impact and a grunt and the weight pinning Sam vanihed.

She jerked away and spun to see the man that had previously interfered was with Jonas on the ground, fighting him. Sam was stunned and at first didn't know how to react. A hammer was laying on the ground.

Jonas rolled on top of the man, pinning him and starting to hit him.

Sam didn't think. She acted.

She grabbed the hammer and swung it at Jonas as hard as hard as she could.

She hadn't been aiming, truly, and was stunned when she caught him in the head, dropping him instantly.

He didn't move again.

The man stood up, rubbing his jaw as he looked at Jonas. Sam tensed, tightening her grip on the hammer, staring at him.

"Nice shot."

"I killed him." she whispered, mind trying to comprehend this.

"Good."

Sam stared at him in shock, pulling her gaze away from Jonas's body.

"Good?"

"Good." he repeated, stepping closer to her. "He deserved it for what he was doing to you."

"Thank you." Sam said, lowering the hammer, realizing she was shaking.

He gave her a smile despite a face that was bloody and definitely going to be bruised.

"You're welcome. Are you okay?"

Sam assessed herself and nodded. She let the hammer slide from her fingers. She looked down at Jonas.

"What now?"

"We call the cops from....where are you heading?" he asked.

"My grandmother's house."

"Okay. We call the cops from grandma's house. I'll make sure you get there safely."

Sam stared at him, not sure what to do. A part of her wanted to scream. Cry. Run. She ended up throwing her arms around him instead.

"Thank you." Sam repeated.

He returned her embrace and they quickly parted. Embarrassed, Sam held out hand. They shook.

"I'm Sam."

"Jack."

He literally shrugged off what he had just done. Sam liked that. She needed that right now. He moved away and waited patiently.

Sam looked back at Jonas's body one more time, then flipped the hood of her jacket back up as she walked to join Jack.

The wolf in the woods was gone. She was safe now.

[dislocatedskeleton]

MY TOP 100 ALBUMS OF 2023

100. André 3000 - New Blue Sun

99. PinkPanthress - Heaven Knows

98. Blonde Redhead - Sit Down For Dinner

97. Louise Post - Sleepwalker

96. Slowdive - everything is alive

95. Mitski - The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We

94. Juan Wauters - Wandering Rebel

93. Jenny Lewis - Joy’All

92. Devendra Banhart - Flying Wig

91. Vagabon - Sorry I Haven’t Called

90. Claud - Supermodels

89. BETWEEN FRIENDS - I Love My Girl, She’s My Boy

88. Rêve - Saturn Return

87. Barry Can’t Swim - When Will We Land?

86. Laufey - Bewitched

85. Poolside - Blame It All On Love

84. Melanie Martinez - PORTALS

83. KAYTRAMINÉ - KAYTRAMINÉ

82. Kim Petras - Feed The Beast

81. Slayyyter - STARFUCKER

80. Sufjan Stevens - Javelin

79. Sid Sriram - Sidharth

78. RAYE - My 21st Century Blues

77. Maxo - Debbie’s Son

76. Navy Blue - Ways Of Knowing

75. Bad Bunny - nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana

74. Cleo Sol - Heaven

73. Kiana Ledé - Grudges

72. deem spencer - adultSW!M

71. Mick Jenkins - The Patience

70. Earl Sweatshirt/The Alchemist - VOIR DIRE

69. Amaarae - Fountain Baby

68. Beach Fossils - Bunny

67. Blue Mena - Multi Adolescence

66. The Drums - Jonny

65. Indigo De Souza - All Of This Will End

64. The National - First Two Pages Of Frankenstein

63. The Kills - God Games

62. James Blake - Playing Robots Into Heaven

61. Little Dragon - Slugs Of Love

60. Yves Tumor - Praise A Lord Who Chews…

59. Lapsley - Cautionary Tales Of Youth

58. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - V

57. Adi Oasis - Lotus Glow

56. Pale Jay - Bewilderment

55. Olivia Dean - Messy

54. October London - The Rebirth Of Marvin

53. Jamila Woods - Water Made Us

52. Leon Thomas - Electric Dusk

51. NEIL FRANCES - It’s All A Bit Fuzzy

50. Fever Ray - Radical Romantics

49. Disclosure - Alchemy

48. Arlo Parks - My Soft Machine

47. Cautious Clay - KARPEH

46. Jorja Smith - falling or flying

45. BLK ODYSSY - DIAMONDS & FREAKS

44. Janelle Monáe - The Age Of Pleasure

43. El Michels Affair/Black Thought - Glorious Game

42. Miley Cyrus - Endless Summer Vacation

41. Joesef - Permanent Damage

40. Eartheater - Powders

39. SG Lewis - AudioLust & HigherLove

38. Lucinda Chua - YIAN

37. Lil Yachty - Let’s Start Here.

36. Chappell Roan - The Rise and Fall Of A Midwest Princess

35. Sampha - Lahai

34. Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good!

33. SBTRKT - THE RAT ROAD

32. Kylie Minogue - Tension

31. Masego - Masego

30. Reneé Rapp - Snow Angel

29. CARRTOONS - Saturday Night

28. The Japanese House - In The End It Always Does

27. Jungle - Volcano

26. Christine & The Queens - PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE

25. Oneohtrix Point Never - Again

24. Yaeji - With A Hammer

23. Yeek - Future Reference

22. yeule - softscars

21. Wakai - Some People Scream, Some People Talk

20. Blondshell - Blondshell

19. Yazmin Lacey - Voice Notes

18. Youth Lagoon - Heaven Is A Junkyard

17. Victoria Monet - JAGUAR II

16. Doja Cat - Scarlet

15. billy woods/Kenny Segal - Maps

14. B. Cool-Aid/Pink Siifu/Ahwlee - Leather Blvd.

13. Romy - Mid Air

12. Daniel Caeser - NEVER ENOUGH

11. Chiiild - Better Luck In The Next Life

10. Kelela - Raven

9. Kali Uchis - Red Moon In Venus

8. Beirut - Hadsel

7. Liv.e - Girl In The Half Pearl

6. Troye Sivan - Something To Give Each Other

5. boygenius - the record

4. King Krule - Space Heavy

3. Noname - Sundial

2. Speakers Corner Quartet - Further Out Than The Edge

1. Gotts Street Park - On The Inside