#also we need to stop misusing words please

[xxlelaxx]

I think people need to learn to be normal again

[what-eats-owls]

Show vs Tell, Or: Please Stop Making Things Difficult for Yourself

I said a while ago that I'd write a brief essay about the most misused craft advice in writing once I wrote 10k words, and for once I actually held myself to that! So now, I'm here to tell you about Show vs Tell, or why people make it more complicated than it needs to be.

First, a basic primer for anyone who hasn't heard this term before: "Show vs Tell"/"Showing vs Telling" refers to "showing" the audience information instead of "telling" it to them. You may be thinking, gosh, that sounds unspecific to the point of being readily misapplied, and you would certainly be right! Lots of folks throw it around without fully grasping what it means, how to use it, or when it doesn't actually apply. And I'd really like everyone to stop making it harder on themselves when there's a very straightforward way to conceptualize it.

So for starters, Chuck Palahniuk has an old but good essay about eliminating "thought" verbs from prose that holds the hell up. But I'm going to tell you an even simpler way to conceptualize the difference between showing and telling:

Eliminate the inner thoughts entirely.

Ask yourself, if my narrator's interior monologue was inaccessible to the audience, how would I convey the same information—literally showing it?

Forget for a moment that your medium is the word, and imagine you only have dialogue and visuals. If this was taking place on the screen or in a graphic novel, how would you convey that this character has a crush on someone in their class? That they're hotheaded? That they're struggling with a decision?

Here's a perfect example of this from the opening scene of Howl's Moving Castle.

Devoid of context, we have a girl trying on a hat in a mirror, and also trying on a fake smile. Then her expression sours and she pulls the hat down over her face until we can only see her frown. She's wearing a plain dress and the hat is simple, despite the elaborate hats and ornaments on display around her.

You don't have to know anything about this character to understand what's being conveyed in this moment: This girl is deeply uncomfortable with trying to be pretty and flirty, but in the safety of privacy she wants that, even though she feels inept and self-conscious about it. She's in this world, but she's not part of it. Even brushing up against it for a moment makes her shut down and reject it with hostility.

More importantly, it's all communicated with a simple gesture and design choices. Not by Sophie thinking to herself, I wish someone would take me dancing—no I don't! I work too hard to have time for dancing!

That's showing. And it's more resonant, because we've all felt silly trying something on in a mirror! Or, say, if you want to show a character has a crush, having them get flustered and laughing too loud. Or showing that they're a hothead by having them snap at a simple disagreement, etc. etc.

This also extends to worldbuilding, dialogue, and stakes.

Worldbuilding: If your story is set in a town run by a crooked sheriff, you could have the narrator say "everyone knows Sheriff Smith is squeezing the shops for bribes." Or the sheriff can stop the narrator for "smelling like weed" while the sheriff's drunken son speeds by, about to total his third BMW.

Dialogue: If your character is angry, they can say "I'm furious." Or they can slam dishes in the sink and insist "I'm not angry" while openly crying. They can snap "I'm not discussing this again." They can demand "What is he doing here?"

Stakes: You can have an all-seeing oracle say "If you do not return the Mystic Orb to the Sunlight Altar by the solstice, the world will plunge forever into darkness." (And as we'll get into it below, sometimes you actually need that.) You can also have intermittent but increasing periods of total darkness occurring as the party travels to the Sunlight Altar. You can have the Mystic Orb start cracking the longer it takes, and the sun getting a little dimmer with every fracture. You can have people's shadows growing bigger and bigger and acting autonomously.

But showing isn't the end-all-be-all; telling absolutely has a place. Sometimes it's better to quickly and plainly state information and move on, such as a little earlier in the scene, when the other hat shop girls have spotted Howl's castle:

"Look, it's Howl's castle!"

"I've never seen it so close!"

“Do you think Howl will go into town?”

“He’s gone!”

“No, he’s just hiding in the fog from those planes.”

“Did you hear what happened to that girl, Martha, in South Haven? They say Howl has torn her heart out.”

“Now I’m too scared to go out!”

“Don’t worry. He only preys on pretty girls.”

This tells us some stuff directly: Who owns the castle we see in the first few seconds, that he's hiding from soldiers, that he has a reputation for preying on beautiful girls. We can infer also that he's a bit of a coward, he stays away from civilization, and that his reputation for cruelty has spread over multiple regions.

This happens so quickly, and it's couched in enough character between the teasing and the gossip, that it doesn't stand out as capital-t-Telling. That's exactly what expository dialogue should do. "Showing" us all that information would take a lot of screen time that can be saved in ten seconds of dialogue.

It's also not just about saving time; it's setting up an image that Howl initially fulfills when he helps Sophie escape the soldiers... only to be punctured when she actually goes to his castle and sees the real Howl. Telling is good for setting expectations that you know will be subverted later.

So yeah, tl;dr: If you're tied up in knots about "am I showing?? am I telling??" just ask yourself how you'd convey the same information in a movie or graphic novel, without access to interior monologue, and evaluate if that'd be better. Most of the time the answer is yes, but not always!

[hugmekenobi]

S3: The Bad Batch (6)

Chapter Six: Infiltration

Gif by @timetodiverge

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Series Summary: Ever since Eriadu, Clone Force 99 had been a fractured squad. Months have passed but you're finally back with the Batch but Omega is still out there and you won't stop until you find her again.

Chapter Summary: A reunion with Rex unveils some more intel

Masterlist for S1 and S2

<Previous Chapter

Genre: Friends (idiots) to Lovers (we're in the lovers stage now)

Chapter Warnings: Canon-typical violence, light spice (making out, dirty talk, teasing touches, praise, nickname 'sweetheart'), I make up Fireball lore, brief call back to Order 66, general threatening atmosphere, I also dance around the M-count stuff (please be nice and just accept it lol), suggestions of misuse of the Force for interrogation purposes, brief mention of food and referenced character deaths

Word Count: 4.3K

Author's notes: Don't get excited about CX-2 because I still haven't thought about a way around his fate in S3 finale and my current plan is probably going to be very boring lol. Also Ch7 is out too!

The meeting between Senator Chuchi and Senator Singh had started promising until a rather crude assassination attempt disrupted matters.

Unfortunately, Greer had fallen victim to the black armoured assassin– the grim silver lining being that he was the only casualty and they’d managed to capture the shadow clone sent after the senators.

--

As the ship flew through hyperspace, Rex and Howzer stared at the unconscious assassin- both of them wondering how such a change was possible. There was a distinct different to the clones that had remained loyal to the Empire and these shadow clones.

“Think he’ll cooperate?” Howzer asked apprehensively.

“I wouldn’t count on it, but we have to try.” Rex replied.

“We recovered this from his gear.” Howzer pulled out the puck. “It’s a data puck. Highly encrypted.”

“Have Fireball find out what’s on it when we get back to base camp.”

--

Teth

Rex stepped into the interrogation room to join the two other clones already in there and he saw that the clone assassin still unconscious. “Did you extract the device?”

Howzer handed it to him, “The electro capsule was implanted in one of his teeth. Just like you said. His identifying number’s been wiped too.” Howzer stared on the clone, “What exactly did the Empire do to him?”

No sooner had Howzer finished his sentence, did the clone open his eyes.

Rex knelt in front of him, “What’s your name, trooper?” He was met with stony silence, so he tried a different approach. “Listen, no matter what they did to you, no matter what you’ve done, you’re still a clone. Still one of us. I can help you, but we need answers.” Again, he was met with no reply, and he got the sinking feeling that whatever the Empire had done to him couldn’t be easily undone.

--

Tantiss

Scorch entered the communications office to stand in front of the holographic image of CX-2.

“Why have I been activated?” Came the modulated voice that had an air of contempt to it.

“One of the other operatives has gone dark. His internal homing device remains intact. So, we know he’s alive.”

“My orders?”

“He’s been compromised. Track him down and neutralize him.”

--

“We know there are others like you. Where are you based? Coruscant? Daro?” Rex asked. They’d been at this for hours now and all they’d gotten out of the clone was a series of hateful glares. “Tantiss?” That finally got a different reaction, the clone’s eye’s widening gave him away. “Oh, yeah, we know about Tantiss. And the clones imprisoned there. Were you one of them? Tell us where it is.” He said, more force behind his words now but again, the clone stayed quiet.

Rex shared a glance with Howzer who jutted his head and the two of them came together closer by the door.

“You need to push him harder.” Howzer stated in a hushed voice.

It had been what he’d been hoping to avoid but it was looking like all other alternatives were ineffective. Rex sighed but before he could do anything else, the door whirred open, and Fireball called his name.

“Rex.”

Rex and Howzer left the clone in the room with Nemec and met up with Fireball.

“The data puck was a target register.” Fireball revealed.

“Who was he after?” Howzer asked.

“Senator Singh. But that wasn’t the only person on his list.” He activated the device and showed the first image.

Rex saw the slight unease in Fireballs face as he changed to the next image and noticed a distinct sinking feeling in his stomach as he recognised the two targets. “Contact Echo and Hunter. We need to let them know.”

Fireball nodded and went of to do just that.

“We should bring them here.” Howzer insisted.

“No. No. I- I don’t want to involve them in this.”

“It’s too late for that.” Howzer said simply. “Crosshair is with them. This is our chance to question him.”

“Echo’s already done that.”

“But we haven’t. He knows more than he’s saying. If you want to locate Tantiss, then we need him to talk.” He moved away from him.

Rex thought through Howzer’s words and whilst he didn’t want to drag you all into this, he had to admit that Howzer was right.

Howzer paused after a couple of paces and turned around. “Rex.”

Rex angled himself to face him.

“You’ve talked about the kid before, but the woman, who is she?”

--

Strong hands gripped your hips as they backed you into the wall of the Marauder and an agreeable groan left your throat at the enthusiastic insistence of the man currently kissing you with such fervour and hunger, it made your head spin. You attempted to weave your fingers in his dark locks, but you didn’t get very far.

Not breaking away from you, Hunter gathered your wrists in one of his own hands and raised your arms above your head. His hold was strong as pressed them into the metal wall, not to hurt but to send the message that that’s precisely where you were going to keep them for this time alone that the two of you had managed to coordinate for yourselves.

You were utterly powerless to resist- not that you wanted to. You had to pull away for air eventually, but Hunter never faltered, he just turned his attentions to the rest of you and your body arched into him to rid yourselves of any offensive gaps between you.

Hunter pressed doting kisses to the skin of your neck, teeth scraping along your pulse point. “What do you want, sweetheart?” He murmured seductively.

Breathless whimpers were the only noises that came from your mouth. You were overwhelmed by him, by the feeling of his body pushing against yours, by the sensation of his touch, by his lips. Words were hopeless a hopeless venture with him against you like this.

Hunter grinned against your skin before he kissed the hollow of your throat. He pushed his thigh between your legs and relished in the soft moan that left your lips. He trailed his lips across your jaw as he rasped, “Tell me what you want.” He kissed the sensitive spot behind your ear.

Your entire body was pliant against him, and you couldn’t fathom one single word of basic due to his ministrations.

Hunter continued what he was doing, and he moved to the underside of your jaw, “Do you want my fingers?” He hovered his lips a mere few inches from yours before whispering in a low voice, “Do you want my mouth?”

And when he felt your pulse quicken at that last one, he brought his lips back to yours and kissed you deeply, teasingly. “You want my mouth, sweetheart?” He uttered softly against your lips whilst simultaneously applying more pressure between your legs with this. He swallowed your moan with another kiss before he started to lower himself to his knees.

Your hands scrambled for purchase against the wall, and you just about managed a nod as he mouthed his way down your still clothed body. You inhaled shakily as you felt his gloved hands dip under your layers stroke against the bare skin of your stomach before they suggestively toyed with the waistband of your leggings. “Yes, that’s what I want.” You panted, the dark lust you saw behind his brown eyes had you weak at the knees.

Hunter smirked up at you. “Good girl.” With that he properly took a hold of the waistband and got ready to pull them down.

And then the most objectionable and devastating of sounds materialised around you and the delicious anticipation of what was about to happen instantly evaporated as reality came crashing down around you.

Hunter paused what he was about to do and exhaled a deeply dissatisfied sigh as he readjusted your clothing.

“And I want that to be a software glitch and not our comms going off.” You grumbled; the words punctuated by you lightly banging the back of your head against the wall in annoyance.

“Hunter, (Y/N), do either of you copy?”

Hunter hung his head in his own disappointment before he stood up tall. He kissed your cheek before pressing his comm, “Yeah, we copy, Echo.” He confirmed.

“What’s going on?” You asked as both you and Hunter slipped back into your squad roles.

“Rex got in touch. We need go. Now.”

You two grabbed your gear and hurried out the Marauder to head for Echo’s ship.

--

“So, where exactly are we headed?” Hunter asked Echo as the ship travelled through hyperspace.

“It’s a base of sorts.”

“I thought your rendezvous with Gregor was top priority.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll pick him up after dropping you lot off.”

“Any idea why Rex wants us there so urgently?” You asked as you rubbed Batcher’s belly. The hound’s demands of attention were the distraction you needed from the growing nerves surrounding going to a base made entirely up of clones and although you knew they had no loyalty to the Empire, you weren’t sure how far that sentiment would extend with regards to you.

“He didn’t say. But it must be important.”

Hunter pondered over this for a moment before he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He glanced around his chair and thoughtfully observed Crosshair and Omega- who had a toothpick of her own- and she was mirroring the way Crosshair was using it. The behaviour was typically exhibited by her when she felt particularly close to someone or looked up to them in some way. Clearly their experience in Tantiss had it had brought them close in ways he hadn’t considered or in ways they- particularly Crosshair- were yet to fully realise.

You and Wrecker had been paying Batcher some attention, but you stopped as you noticed the way Hunter had looked between Crosshair and Omega. You saw what he saw but as you reached into the Force around him to get a gauge of his feelings, it wasn’t jealousy or hurt behind his eyes, it was more contemplative. She’ll have to learn to be a moody teenager from someone. You smiled over at him as he half-turned to face you.

You felt a wet nose nudge your palm and you went back to petting Batcher.

--

Teth

Rex and Howzer watched as the ship landed. Once the doors opened, they went to meet up with the oncoming group.

“They don’t look happy to see us.” Wrecker said. “Just like old times, huh?” He remarked cheerfully with a nudge to Crosshair’s back.

“Are you alright?” Echo asked as he saw you had yet to follow the others out.

“Yup.” You answered distantly as your hand subconsciously came to unclip and reclip your lightsaber to your belt.

Echo picked up on your tense fidgeting. “Rex assured me that it wouldn’t be an issue.”

“I know, I know.” You inhaled a calming breath and jogged to catch up with the group.

--

“Thanks for coming.” Rex said as Hunter’s squad came to a halt in front of him. He then nodded at you and Omega.

You had heard the hushed whispers and murmurs from the surrounding clones as you’d approached the rest of the group and you saw the brief moment of shock that flashed across the features of the clone next to Rex. “They already knew before I walked out here.” You guessed, their reactions and shared looks told you that it wasn’t just because they only just noticed the lightsaber on your belt.

“I, uh, filled a few of them in before your arrival. Word travels fast but some of them still didn’t believe it and, well, some of us knew already. I’ve been to quite a few Outer Rim planets… you haven’t exactly been laying low in recent months.” Rex replied, glancing curiously as you.

You sighed, “Fair point. It’s certainly been an… interesting time.”

“There’s nothing to worry about.” Rex reassured you. “We all have that past to contend with.”

“Well, that’s comforting I suppose.” You said lightly before you fell into place beside Hunter.

“It’s good to see you, Rex.” Hunter said sincerely.

“Wish I felt the same.”

You all glanced to the hostile voice of the clone beside Rex who was glaring at Crosshair.

“I have unfinished business with this one.” Howzer stated as he kept his sights firmly on Crosshair. “Remember me?”

Crosshair just stared at him blankly.

“Surprised I’m alive? Most of my squad from Ryloth is dead because of you.” Howzer spat.

“Easy Howzer.” Rex cautioned. “I know you two have history. But we’re all on the same side now.”

Howzer only released a doubtful scoff, but he eased off.

“Why’d you call us here, Captain?” Hunter asked.

“We have something to show you. Follow me.” He led the way to the base.

You got ready to follow behind, but Echo’s voice made you and Wrecker pause.

“Omega!”

Omega turned and ran back to the ship.

“I was planning on giving you this after I made a few more modifications. But, uh, now’s as good a time as any.”

Omega released an excited gasp as she examined the weapon. “An energy crossbow. Where did you get it?” She eagerly took it from him.

Echo laughed, “Well, I’ve made a few interesting contacts across the galaxy.”

She activated it and the green glow of energy hummed strongly before she turned it off. “It’s perfect. Thank you, Echo.”

“Well, I won’t be gone long. You better head inside and, uh, keep them in line.”

They shared in a salute before Omega dashed off the ship to rejoin you and Wrecker and the three of you made your own way to the building.

--

“Your numbers are growing.” Hunter commented as he saw the clones in the room.

“Well, we need all the help we can get. Once we find the exact coordinates of the Tantiss Base, we have to hit it hard if we’re gonna pull our brothers out of there.” Rex said, coming to a stop by the centre console. “I have questions about the facility but that’s not the only reason why I sent for you.” He picked up the puck and chucked it to Hunter. “We recovered a target list from an Imperial operative. And both of them are on it.”

“Not a surprise. You’ve got a Jedi and someone who escaped Imperial custody.” Crosshair replied, sounding bored as he put a toothpick between his lips.

“So did you. But you’re not on the list.” Howzer retorted.

“Guess I’m not as valuable to them.”

“Or you’re feeding them information.” Howzer accused.

Hunter frowned at that and came to his brother’s defence. “You’re gonna have to back down, Captain.” He warned sternly.

“You expect us to believe he was held on Tantiss for months, but he doesn’t know how to get back there?” Howzer said angrily.

Crosshair removed his toothpick and faced up against Howzer. “Whether you believe me or not, it’s the truth.” He waited for his words to sink in before speaking again, “But I’m not loyal to the Empire any longer.”

That wasn’t enough for Howzer. “Your squad may trust you. But I don’t.”

Any further argument was cut short as the doors whirred open again and they all looked to see you, Wrecker and Omega come in.

You almost ran into the clone that was exiting at the same time and your eyes widened as you saw his face. “Fireball?!” You gasped as you recognised the clone that had been your trusty second in command of the battalion you had been assigned during the war.

“General?” Fireball replied, completely stunned as he instinctively straightened his posture. When he’d seen your holo-image, part of him still couldn’t believe it. Even with Rex’s confirmation, he still had his doubts but that all vanished that very second as he heard your voice. As he saw your face. As you were standing in front of him. It really was you.

You couldn’t help it; you gave him a quick hug. “It’s been years! I’d heard Master Tobar Ka-Teen took over from me…” You trailed off and cursed yourself as you realised the added effect of your words and you immediately became apologetic. “Fireball-”

“About that day… I did- and Order 66- I couldn’t- And I know if it had been you, I know I wouldn’t have been able to resist-” He stuttered.

You placed a hand on his shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault, Fireball. I’m not holding anything against you.”

Fireball released a sigh of relief before he said, “There’s something else you need to know, General.” He jutted his head over to the others before he headed out the room.

You then saw the way Rex, Hunter, Crosshair and Howzer were all glancing between you and Omega. You felt the tension in the Force around them as you approached. “What’s going on?”

“The Empire’s targeting you-” Crosshair started to say.

Wrecker let out a dry chuckle. “No surprise there.”

“Yeah, we already knew that.” You replied with an unconcerned shrug.

“And Omega… again.” Crosshair added.

That got your attention and achieved a sufficient amount of worry. You came to stand just beside Wrecker and behind the young girl. Your voice was serious as you asked, “Do we know why?”

“Not yet.” Rex answered before he addressed Omega, “Why were they after you before?”

“To force Nala Se to cooperate and conduct certain experiments.”

“Which were what?”

“She was working on something involving M-Count? I don’t know what that means, but they were taking blood samples from everyone, even me.”

“They were looking at your M-count?” You repeated. You thought through the possibilities but dismissed the main one that ran through your head because surely you would’ve sensed if she had that particular potential. You racked your brain for other theories but came up empty.

“Uh huh.” Omega glanced up at you curiously.

Her inquisitive look matched the expression the rest of them were giving you. “I know how it can be significant, but I have no idea as to how it would relate to her or any clone that matter.” You admitted ruefully.

Rex took a knee in front of Omega. “What else can you tell us?”

“When we escaped, there wasn’t enough time to free the other clones. We have to find a way to get them out.” She said resolutely.

Rex rested a hand on her shoulder. “We will.”

The door opened again, and Fireball re-entered holding a bowl of food. “Chow time!” He announced. “Gregor’s recipe, with a few spicy modifications.”

“Oh, now you’re talking.” Wrecker said eagerly, leading the way as he, Batcher and Omega went to the table.

You watched them go with a small smile before Crosshair’s voice brought you back to the discussion at hand.

“Wait. There’s more you should know.” He paused for a second as he readied himself for what he was about to say. “Not all of the clones on Tantiss are prisoners. Some are loyal to the Empire. There is a division of clones trained as specialised operatives and initiated into a secret deep cover program run by Hemlock.” His voice grew quieter as he recalled the time spent in that room. “Their identities are erased. They undergo conditioning. The few that make it through come out different.”

“If the program’s so secretive, how do you know about it?” Howzer questioned suspiciously.

“Because they tried to make me into one of them.”

“Tried?”

“It didn’t work. Being defective is in my nature.” He finished his explanation.

“You’ve encountered one before. The assassin on Coruscant.” Hunter said.

“We’ve known they existed but never knew exactly what they were.” Rex said cagily.

It wasn’t just their visual mannerisms that gave them away, you felt the evasiveness around them. “What aren’t you telling us?”

Rex hesitated a moment before he said, “We captured one. I’ve tried questioning him, but he hasn’t been very cooperative.”

“This is where you come in.” Howzer said to you.

You noticed the grimace on Rex’s face and regarded the clone captain warily. “What do you expect me to do about it?”

“Well, you’re a Jedi, aren’t you?”

You gave a single slow nod of your head as you awaited further information.

“You’ve got certain… skillsets.” He took half a step closer to you. “Ones of persuasion that we don’t have.”

You realised what he was getting at. You shook your head. “That only works on the weak-minded and from what Crosshair just described, he’s anything but. No clone is.”

“You could make it work though if you really had to. You could get him to say what we needed him to.”

“Captain-” You objected as you sensed his growing desperation- it was rolling off him in waves.

“But could you do it?” He took another step towards you.

“Doing so verges on torture, Captain.” You attempted to explain. You felt Hunter gravitate closer to you in response to Howzer’s movement.

“But could you do it?” He asked again.

You remembered the last time three Jedi tried that- against Cad Bane of all people- and the impact had nearly been disastrous. You held his stare with a strong one of your own and spoke steadily and with plenty of conviction behind your words. “One, I don’t have that kind of power.”

“But-”

“Two, even if I wanted to, it could destroy his mind and you get nothing.”

“The time for debate is long gone. We need the information.” Howzer insisted. “It’s a risk-”

Further debate was silenced as Crosshair interrupted, traces of panic in his voice. “You have one here? Alive?”

Rex nodded.

“Impossible. The Empire would be on top of us already. They have ways of tracking their operatives.”

“We scanned him. He’s clear.” Howzer said.

“It’s not the kind of tracker your scans would pick up.” Crosshair asserted. “Hemlock’s smarter than that.”

“Where’s the operative? Show us.” Hunter requested.

--

Sneaking into the base had been all to easy and as he scanned the room ahead with the scope of his sniper rifle, he saw the other two targets in the room, but they weren’t his first priority. He’d bide his time with them. He retreated back outside.

First, he had to give Scorch the news about the targets and his location for the Recovery Strike Team.

Then there was the other operative to take care of.

Then he could get his hands on the next set of targets that were so easily within his grasp.

--

The five of you stood in the interrogation room and studied the cuffed clone in front of you.

You weren’t sure if it was solely because of the look of pure disgust he gave you as you walked in, but there was disturbance in the Force that you couldn’t just dismiss. Your guard was up.

Crosshair inhaled a sharp breath as the clone then looked directly at him, “We need to leave. Now.”

You glanced at Crosshair and saw a level of fear you’d never witnessed from the clone before. It sent a chill down your spine.

“If you want answers so badly, why aren’t you asking him?” The clone sneered as he looked at the familiar clone ahead of him. “Right, brother?”

“He’s lying.” Crosshair shifted uncomfortably as all of your eyes fixed on him.

The dark, menacing voice of the operative spoke up again. “You’re right about one thing. They are coming for all of you.”

An explosion suddenly rang outside.

“Comms are down.” Rex said as he attempted to check in with those patrolling the perimeter. Another dark chuckle from the assassin clone told him their time was up. “We move out. Now!”

Howzer opened the door but just as he went to press the button, you sensed what was about to come.

“Rex!” You shoved him down just as the shots fired and dove to cover but you couldn’t stop them as they hit the operative in the centre of his chest. You tugged your coverings up just as the others put on their helmets.

“We’ve got a shooter out here!” Wrecker yelled as he put his helmet on and provided a round of cover fire for you all to get out of that room and to better cover.

“Shots coming from the back of the room!” Omega yelled from her position.

“Nemec, we need to get comms online” Rex said.

Nemec went to the centre console at a crouch, but a shot made contact with the exposed wire and all he saw was the light of an explosion as his body was flung backwards into a crate. He struggled to get back up as he fought for consciousness.

“Backup plan. Into the command post!” Rex ordered before looking at Wrecker and Omega. “I’ll cover you!” He timed it out. “Go!” He stood up and fired on the assailant as he helped Nemec to his feet.

You began running with the others but paused as you realised Fireball had split off from the rest of you. You saw him grab a flamethrower and run directly towards the attacker. “Fireball!” You yelled in warning, but Hunter pulled your arm to get you to follow the rest of them back to the room.

Rex could only watch in dismay as Fireball took a shot to the shoulder and crashed into a crate of grenades, but the flamethrower was still activated.

The resulting series of violent explosions had the roof of the base collapsing and Rex was left with no choice but to sprint back to the room. He dived through the entrance just as it was completely blocked by rubble, and it was then he felt a stray piece of rock collide against his helmet and black spots clouded his vision.

--

The Recovery Strike Team entered the planet’s atmosphere.

“Commander, we’ve lost contact with the operative.”

“Prepare to land and set blasters to stun. Our orders are to retrieve the targets alive.”

Next Chapter>

Tagging: @noeasyisnoisy, @arctrooper69, @dominoeffectsworld, @andreaaxy, @notgonnaedit, @nightmonkeysstuff

[ohmaillegode]

Thanks for your post about Laudna and Imogen. I love how supportive they are of each other and it always felt a little strange that so many defined it as unhealthy.

Just curious though since I'm not well versed with the terminology, could you enlighten me on what codependency actually is or what it's defined as? I feel like the term gets thrown around and misused a lot.

Sure I can! And thanks for asking :) Keep in mind please that French is my first language and that I struggle to explain concept in another language.

I felt the same way, and as a therapist, I find it hard to see people misuse concepts and pathologize behaviors based on false information.

Codependency is when a person has a hard time being themselves in a relationship (friendship, romantic relationship, professional relationship, etc.) and has a tendency to completely disregard their own needs, wants and sometimes personality to meet the other person's needs and expectations. They usually have low self-esteem, and usually feel worthless except when they meet the other person's needs. Most of the time, only one person in the dyad is "erasing" themselves to please and tend to the other person.

I was in a relationship like that 10 years ago (and it lasted for 7 years). It was a bit violent too. I could never express any anger, sadness or discomfort 'cause I was met with rejection, gaslighting and more anger. I had to ask for anything I wanted to do outside the relationship. I felt like I had no power, but I loved them so much and I wanted to "save" them from themselves. I loved being their favorite person, and I loved it when I made them laugh, made them happy. When it ended (they ended it), I felt like I would never find someone else 'cause nobody would love me. I though that all our mutual friends would choose them and leave me. Two months after the break-up, I just bloomed.

Based on what we know and see of Laudna and Imogen, this is not their dynamic. Both are themselves, have moderately good self-esteem (don't start me about how Laudna doesn't have a good self-esteem 'cause it's not true), are able to express their needs, are making choices for themselves and are able to compromise together. TOGETHER is a very important word here. Usually, in a codependent relationship, one person feels like a victim or a martyr, which is so not what we are seeing here. They are both taker and giver in the relationship.

They are both able to give the other support, validation, agency, praise, and honesty. Are they perfect? No. The rock incidentTM is a good example of that. Imogen became passive-aggressive (common with people pleasers) and Laudna felt guilty for something that Delilah did (common for someone in a violent relationship). But in the end, both were able to express regret and apologized.

Both are also able to see their own worth. Laudna embraces her weird, and knows that she is a good caregiver. She has never questioned the love that Imogen has for her, she accepts it fully, and even sees herself as Imogen's better half. She feels loved. She told Imogen about Delilah being back 'cause she knew that Imogen wouldn't blame her and wouldn't stop loving her. She knew Imogen would be the one to help her regulate her own emotions, and feel like a good person again.

Same goes for Imogen. She is aware that Laudna is gonna love her no matter what she choses, and no matter if Laudna doesn't approve herself. She knows that she's powerfull and capable, she doesn't need Laudna to tell her that, but she loves it anyway.

Everyone has or wants a "tether", someone who helps you being grounded on what's important in life. It's not unhealthy to be able to count on someone, on their love and their adoration. They just love each other, that's it.

[stazvlt]

NottPott Fanfics Rec Lists

After checking my bookmarks and the tags on ao3 i'm proudly present to you the nottpott fanfictions recommendation. TW: Please check / read the tags. Some of this fics touch a very heavy subject and it might not be your cup of tea.

Shadow magic by Lomonaaeren (Series- 73000 words total) AU.

Harry was born with a power the Dark Lord knows not: the magic to see into shadows, to walk the shadows, and to send the shadows everywhere. This changes his life rather dramatically.

Harry is very independent in this one. If you'd like to see Harry as a morally grey and powerful lord with a very devoted Theo this is your fics.

Enough is Enough by AnonymousMagpie (33k words)

In the spring of 1992, a massive magical discharge shakes Lily Potter’s legacy. Harry Potter, its raison d’être, nearly dies. It has until now been a passive enchantment, reactive, and burns away his attacker only once violent physical contact has been made. But the backlash is enormous. The protection is disrupted. For the first time since the day of its creation it must strain to the utmost. And it determines that Harry Potter is wildly, systematically unsafe.It reacts.

Gryffindor and Slytherin Inter house relationship, and many more!! Nottpott might not be the focus here but it deserve the place on this list on the base of it being very fun to read.

Clearly Granger Will Be the Brains of This Operation by Dart (2k words)

Someone has got to save Potter, so he can save the world. ~or~ Nott and Potter sitting in an BMW, S-N-A-R-K-I-N-G

Theodore nott kidnapping Harry Potter. Do i need to say more?

Another Way We Are Not Alone by thealmostrhetoricalquestion (15k words)

Theo barges his way into the afterlife to demand assistance from the Master of Death. And apparently fall deeply in love with him while he's at it.

The bonding here is Amazing. The banter, The journey, The Sentient Boat. 15k words of Nottpott bonding.

The Heir to the House of Prince by elph13 (series - 1.136 000 words)

Summer of 4th year and Harry's all alone, dealing with his grief and the sudden revelation that James Potter is not his father. Support comes in a strange form. The form of Theo Nott, son of a death Eater. A strange friend who says he'll help him find his true father, whoever this Lord Prince might be.

I legit didn't sleep for the entire night bcs i can't stop reading it's just that GOOD. The quality and lenght of this series are amazing. House of Prince Theo is the base of my fanon Theo. Smart, Observant, Loyal and utterly Scary. Theo who's very devoted with  his traditions. Theo who wield KNIFES. And it doesn't need to be said but Harry is also amazing in this one. He's stubborn, strong, and utterly loyal. Not Dumbledore or Sirius friendly though so i do warn you if you like both of them.

Amends by SheWhoMustNotBeNamedEver (1.6k words)

"How was my... You nearly cut me in half, Potter." Harry squinched his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose over his glasses "You're being a bit dramatic about it, don't you think?"

Harry attempt to bribe Theo's forgiveness with a curry. You can guess how that goes ;)

Round and Fluffy by CaityBell @caitybellfics (1.5k)

Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter arrive at the DMLE to retrieve their spouses.

Uhh misuse of Confundus? Jail?? Hermione and Theo friendship, Draco and Harry 10 years rivalry. Got all you need here.

The Answering Machine Message by SunsetRiot (13k)

The answer machine beeps again; someone’s going to leave him another message. He hears his voice. It sounds so alive. They sound so happy. It’s getting harder to hear his voice these days; it’s getting harder to accept that he’s gone. He wonders what the person leaving a message is saying this time; probably offering their condolences, trying to send a message of hope through a stupid muggle machine, it’s all people seem to be doing these days. He hears another beep and he knows the persons finished leaving their message. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t want words, or hope or anything. What he wants is gone. Theodore Nott is dead and Harry Potter doesn’t know how to carry on living.

We have too much fluff therefore i need to recommend some angst. It's a bleak world for Harry without Theo there.

Harry Potter and His Saving Theo Thing by Lomonaaeren (21k)

Harry can think of worse things to do than helping Theodore Nott rejoin society. And after a while, so can Theo.

Adult Harry and Theo is always fun to read especially when Harry is an Auror. Their banter is delicious on this one. One of the more ... mature fic? I don't know how to describe it but this one has different vibes than the other fics on the list. Also this list isn't complete without the two lovely NottPott fics i got as gifts from HP rare pairs last year:

Silver Surprise by @lumosatnight

Theo joins the DA in Fifth Year, much to everyone’s surprise. His corporeal Patronus leaves Harry intrigued.

A Classic DA activity. Everyone is suspicious of the one lone slytherin but not our boy Harry. So SOFT and Cute, two traumatized children bonding over patronus <3

My Favorite Colour by @sandervansunshine

Tired of the monotony and hum-drum of adulthood, Harry seeks out a new source of happiness. He finds it— this pure, unadulterated blend of peace and joy— in a flowery meadow, a cool stream, and a storyteller by the name of Theodore Nott.

Feels good fics 100%. The way they shared a secret meadow and them unashamedly being themselves without judgement. Story teller Theo stole my heart <33 That's all for now! Thank you so much for checking this list out. I would love to add more fics in this list but my spirit need recharge after i accidentally deleted the last rec list last night. Most of these authors also wrote a lot of other amazing fics!! Please check them out :D OH and feel free to reblog or comment with your favorite NottPott fics, your pal here needs more nottpott.

[absolutebl]

Wedding Plan Trash Watch!

You ready to snuffle-kiss the burn? 

Before I start...

Find out about Mame and the Mameverse here.

Find my other trash watches of her and others here. 

We all know what we are getting in for, 7 episodes of BLduggery. To crane your neck as you drive by the car wreck or not... that is the question. Me? I'm wallowing in the guts. 

Episode 1 - In which I craft an ode to Dumpster Fires Everywhere 

I am sorry, but they opened with Battle Hymn of the Republic for PrapaiSky’s wedding? I busted out laughing. 

Also, you KNOW I can’t just let that go. 

Ready?

LET’S SING! (Bet you’d never thought I’d type those words). 

Battle Hymn of BL Tumblr

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the burning of the trash This is barely even BL it’s just Mame writing slash  She hath set ablaze such garbage in pursuit of all our cash But the trash watch must go on! 

 (Buh buh ba buh) 

Glory, glory hallelujah!  Mame hit us with a sewer.  Spoiling all our fun, Oh the shit storm has begun, But the trash watch must go on! 

I have seen the dumpster-fires of a hundred BL tropes She will sacrifice her ukes ’til they’ve lost all of their hopes We will watch in righteous anger while the refuse burns and smokes But the trash watch must go on! 

 (Buh buh ba buh) 

Glory, glory hallelujah!  Life’s rough for a BL reviewer.  When OG BL fans run afoul of Mame stans  But the trash watch must go on! 

 Buh buh buh buh! 

Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here for the next 7 weeks. Yes some of my rhyming conventions are awkward af but I never claimed to be a filker. Now where was I?

Oh YES, 

STILL AT THE VERY BEGINNING. 

Where have I seen this seme before? Oh! Top Secret Together. 

Micky D sponsorship? Nice. I’m impressed. 

Too many sound effects, abort! Is that the sound tech from Lovely Writer I sniff? Someone please fire his ass. Yes, it must be him. Only a straight dude misuses buttons like that. 

I feel Nuea’s pain I too hate the gym. 

This better not be in one of those situations where after instalove our seme arranges for the wedding planner boy he likes to plan his own wedding so that he can marry him at the end. 

Lots of pronouns going astray in that sentence, but you get my meaning. 

Drag baby around. Locker room. Kabeldon 

Honestly? And this is not usually a criticism I lob at Mame ( I know is there anything I have lobbed at her?) but the leads seem a bit stiff and uninspired. 

It is just me? 

Episode 2 - What’s this? Oh is that boredom? 

What are these boys in these office BLs doing behind their desks on those computers? They never actually seem to be working at all. They’re like brochure stock art ads for boys on computers. 

I had to skip most of the humiliating stuff with the food in the car and whatever was going on because… aargh. 

They keep ordering food in this episode of nobody’s eating it. And it looks really good and I’m hungry and this is very upsetting to me. 

Lom is just totally jerking Nuea around. Just tell him what your relationship is with the bride. 

There’s no need to be so fucking coy about it. 

I love the flaming yelling fit from Nuea tho.  

It was also a good kiss. 

But that’s what we expect from a Mame. 

Mame giveth and mame taketh away. 

Somewhat dull episode frankly. Even with the kiss.

Sigh. What have I become?

Episode 3 - WHAT IS THIS? There is nothing about this episode that pleased me even a tiny bit. Except Noel’s hair. But that wasn’t part of the script. 

Buckle up, I got A LOT to say. 

It’s a pleasure to welcome you back to your normal and expected ABL meets Mame interface where... ABL LOSES THEIR TINY MIND. 

Right on schedule it feels like. 

Ready?

Oh who am I kidding, you sadists life for this shizz. And you can’t tell me you don’t. 

Lom is so frustrating. 

I wanna punch him too. Sing it, sister! 

Random water sports. (And not of the kind one might expect from Mame. Stop it. You know she would go there. She’d think it was edgy.) 

Peeps! 

We need a name for when a BL reviews itself. 

It keeps happening. 

Should you tell him everything? 

Yes. 

1000 times yes. 

I’m basically screaming it at the screen. 

TELL HIM!!!! 

You tricked him into a date without telling him a single thing about what’s actually going on. Are you insane? 

What the hell. 

You keep kissing him but he is planning your wedding. How fucked up are you? You monster 

A Mame show calling out its own exploitive sexism is so fucking awkward. 

Mame. Sweetheart. Snookums. Sugarbeans. Shaken-baccon. You don’t have enough fucking talent to go meta. Leave it to the better BLs to follow trends. Your shizz is old fashioned and that’s why people like it. Don’t try to be classy, it makes this whole shit show just look even more shabby. 

Poor baby. 

Now he’s doubting himself completely. 

What are these assholes doing to you? 

Come with me. 

I’m going to transport you to this other terrible BL trash watch happening right now, where there is a LOVELY adorable boy named Max and I think you would be perfect together. 

So it’s basically just Narnia-level closet cases we are dealing with here? 

THAT’S IT?

THAT’S THE EXCUSE FOR THIS LEVEL OF MANIPULATION?

WHAT IS GOING ON? 

Nuea is such a cutie.

I want to punch Lom all over again.   

Noel looks v pretty as a blond. 

The proposal sequence was unnecessary. But at least I don’t wanna punch anyone. 

THIS IS NOT AN EXCUSE for lying. For manipulation. For not understanding how you’re betraying another person’s faith in himself. 

Especially not if you’re in the position of power: social, cultural, employer. 

Why doesn’t Mame EVER understand this? 

You can’t have a character that is sincere and earnest in love and yet entirely lacking in all forms of integrity. 

This is driving me crazy. 

No one is in the show is as crazy as this show is making me.

I started this episode wanting to punch Lom, and I’m ending this episode wanting to punch Lom.

That’s a mame plot for ya. 

No character development at all, on any side of the screen. 

And someone, mostly me, is always left with a mad desire to punch something. 

Frankly, I kinda want to punch the screen.

Episode 4 - I Am Going to Start Drinking

I like consent especially when “no” is activated. But this being Mame she shoe horns it in and then the seme ignores it. 

It’s so awkward. She’s actually incapable of making any non-problematic tropes sexy. It’s like there is only one lane for her shows and that lane is...

the WORST 

My “Punch Lom in the face 2023” campaign continues.

I don’t see how he can ever become a sympathetic character. He just trundles along lying by omission (when speaking up would make everything better). I hate him. 

I’m glad we get to see Nuea suffering, now show Lom what he has done and make him lose the boy. 

No? No.

Instead Lom gets rewarded with sex for being a sleazy lying gutless jerk? Well terds to both you fine gentlemen. 

I mean, very gay of you, Nuea sweetie. 

“Because just SOOOO hot” being the #1 excuse in my personal “I slept with WHAT?” experience. (Heh, to be fair I’m often the WHAT? in that equation. I live to be someone’s bad mistake... just not Lom-level-bad. 

Where was I? 

Oh yeah, Gaga has the sex scene. FYI. Came outta nowhere, that sex scene did. Very disjointed... not that kind of joint. Not that kind either.

It’s not a particularly impressive sex scene, which is disappointing. Because WHY ELSE WOULD WE BE WATCHING?

I mean, if you’re going to have your characters (and by extension us) forfeit all integrity and taste in order to watch your stupid show, the least you could do is give us decent chemistry. 

I’m not saying this is worse than LITA but at least LITA was hot.

It wasn’t anything else. But it was hot.

This this is 

not hot. 

In conclusion: if Nuea’s baby bro doesnt’t punch Lom in the face next week I will have to start drinking on Weds...

oh wait!

BMF ends this Friday! I can switch to drinking mid week!

YES

(I have a new rule: only one BL a week is allowed to drive me to drink in any give rotation.) 

Imma preemptively point out that I am aware that bearding and lavender marriages are still quite common all over the world. I would whole heartedly support a good depiction of it. (Even one where it stays fix in the beard position.) This is NOT a good depiction. 

I shall draw your attention to 2017′s rarely discussed (not really BL) We Are Gamily out of... you guessed it... Taiwan. You can argue with me about this only AFTER you have watched that. 

Okay, back to the trash watch. 

Episode 5 - I Neglected to Drink and that was a Mistake

Ate a lot of crap traveling home today (feel gross) + tumblr new desktop UX has me pissed + Mame & alcohol? I’m not sure I’d survive. So no alcohol. 

Here we go. 

Poor Nuea feels so guilty. 

Please save me from ever feeling that way after sex. *shudder* 

Before you ask, to the best of my knowledge, I have never slept with a married person. I’ve slept with married people... married to each other mind you... but I hope that makes it clear everyone was consensual. (I recommend it, by the way. Being a unicorn is lots of fun.) 

Where was i? 

We were dealing with punching Lom not my misspent youth. 

(looks at calendar. wait, that was last month.) 

PUNCH LOM 2023! 

Queen! 

I love her.

It wasn’t a physical punch but a verbal one is almost as good. (And can be more damaging in the long run.) 

Could we please still have an actual punch?

Pretty please?

Mame punches her characters all the time. And no character ever deserved a punching more than Lom. 

I do wish there was a nice boy back home to scoop Nuea up. 

That line of boys wanting him, could we see it, not be told it? 

I do like the random sinshine hyung side couple. 

Omg. COLD MICKY D?! 

That might just be the most objectionable moment in this whole show. 

And that’s a tall order. 

Pun intended.

(straight, HA! pun not intended but still very much THERE) 

Was I pleased we got multiple characters who are just outright gay? Yes. 

But representation has not been one of Mame’s issues. 

I mean Tharn was one of the first openly gay seme leads in a Thai BL, and she also had rep for lube and condoms in that show. That’s not the issue with TharnType. Or Mame. 

Her issues tend to revolve around story structure and audience manipulation. 

Was I pleased that Nuea knew what was going on? Yes, I’m glad he’s not totally clueless. 

I still want Lom to be punched in the face and I’m still mad at this show. 

Episode 6 - Too hot to drink, still a Mistake

I finally figured out my real problem with Lom. It’s not that he was closeted and manipulative without good reason (although he is). It’s not that he lied and strung Nuea along for a lot longer than was necessary (because he did). It is that he basically does everything for himself and his own ends. Even when he’s confessing his love it comes off as flat because it isn’t about Nuea and what Nuea wants or needs, it’s about Lom wants.

Hanging a lampshade on it doesn’t make it right. 

It was good bridge kiss. And car kiss. And sex kisses. 

There is something corrupted grunge romantic asking the person you love most in the world to hide that love and climb back into the closet with you for the sake of your nasty arse family (is that a queer taboo, hum). I’m not saying lavender marriages are necessarily wrong, I’m just saying it’s an interesting plot twist in a BL. 

I think we HAVE to hold this up and examine it in stark contrast to the final ep of Bad Buddy. It’s interesting how the closet retreat didn’t bother me at all in BB, and I thought it was quite a clever and elegant ending twist. Whereas here it’s just annoying. It’s not making me as angry as it probably should. But it is annoying as a narrative conceit and denouement.

Can I ask a question.

 It’s not a serious question, of course. 

What is up with all of the shows this year having dates on lakes featuring that thing where you ride a funny little floaty-boat while being dragged behind a fast boat. I’m sure it has a name, but I could not care less. New sponsor? 

The sex scene was fine. But I have to say, I wish they had leaned into the fact that Lom is a virgin and Nuea has more experience. It would’ve been a really interesting dynamic to see honestly represented on screen.

In conclusion, Nuea is a saint and next week everything comes to a head that didn’t already get head this episode.

Episode 7 - Finally I’m drinking! 

I am having a tiki beverage this evening to round out this show. Coconut rum and mango popping Boba are involved. Don’t judge. I have the alcohol palate of a 7 year old. 

I’m ready! Let’s shave this beard!

And, well, that was a pink saturated drama of the mothers in law. Enjoyable lakorn style scenery chewing. The ladies seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Lom pretending to be sad and pitiful. Also funny. 

Using his evil against his mom is acceptable. Suddenly his manipulative lying ways are working in the right direction. 

Honestly? 

This was a fine ending, I’m not mad at it. 

They managed to keep Lom in character until the end, he remained deceitful.  I would never trust him, but clearly Nuea is willing to ride that dragon. 

I guess 7/10? 

If you can tolerate Mame and liars (kinda the same thing) you’ll be fine with this show. 

But, frankly? Lom as a character would sit better amongst the drama bananas of Only Friends.

In summation: 

A lackluster Mame offering with less of her usual stellar chemistry, but all of her usual manipulation. An innocent wedding planner falls haplessly and hopelessly in love with a groom who relentlessly pursues him, even though he’s about to marry someone else. 

(source) 

[glazedsnail]

Fanfic time fellas

Misery Loved Company

ShanexOCFarmer (♀️) 18+ / swear words/substance misuse/explicit/suicide ideation/mention of abuse.

Part 1 is there, part 2 here, and there is part 3

Alsoooo - Sorry 'bout the formatting, I know it's weird but I'm trying I swear!

I'd also like to share a screenshot of the Pelican Town fair of my husband and our son a while back when I was still playing the game and not writing about it like a weirdo.

How stinking cute are we. Imma frame that thing.

Could the rain cool me down? I’m surprised it doesn’t evaporate at the touch of my skin. What about Shane?

‘Your farm. Now.’

‘Yes, sir.’ I reply, half jokingly.

‘Good girl.’

Dear…Fuck. I feel the fire between my legs, the sticky lust ready for him to defile every inch of me.

He stands up, grabs his bag, my basket, and helps me back on my shaking legs. He then hauls the blanket over our head. The way from the beach to my farm seems uncharacteristically long. I just know we both glanced at Elliott’s cabin, the saloon, Harvey’s clinic. But why would anything be open and, moreover, free for us to fuck like animals? The light emanating from the farm, transformed into a halo by the heavy rain, feels like a beacon of salvation. Shane throws everything in the mud and swipes me up, carries me towards the door and pins me against the wall, legs wrapped around his body. I blindly reach for the doorknob.  His tongue plays with mine in a mix of groans and deep breathing, punctuated by some swear words and oh so delicious moans.

Once inside, he throws me on the couch like I’m nothing. I watch him undo his belt, biting my lip, thinking about all the bail of hay he must have hauled away on the ranch to be able to carry me like this. He’s now done to his tight underwear and I try to undress.

‘Don’t move.’ He commands, growling.

He joins me on the couch and pulls my trousers down. I let him do, I’d let him do everything and anything he wants to me. My dirty strawberry juice stained  t-shirt is falling on my panties I long to get rid of. His stubble grazes my stomach as he makes his way to my breasts. His warm lips play with my nipple and I’m about to explode. I couldn’t even feel his hand reaching my hip. I gasp as I feel his fingers on my thigh, the palm of his hand on my panties. I bite my lip as he presses his fingers in between my swollen lips, still prisoners of the now damp cotton.

‘Mmh.’ he whispers in my ear ‘You’re already so wet’. He looks at me, at his complete mercy. 

‘Good girl’ he groans, massaging my clit under the cloth, looking straight into my pleading eyes. A sleazy smile spreads on his face. He finally gets rid of his underwear, freeing his throbbing cock raised towards his belly button, pre-cum sticking to his messy happy trail.

Something takes over me. I. Need. It.

I push him to the armchair on the other side of the room. He knows. No surprises. He shuffles down and spreads his legs, inviting me.

‘I’ll be your good girl’ I say in one breath, falling on my knees, between his warm open thighs. I look straight at him, intently kissing his inner thighs, slowly making my way to the main meal. He's breathing heavily, and passes his hand softly through my hair. I slowly lick the shaft, stopping myself from reaching the top. He groans in frustration and his hand grabs my skull, shaking,almost begging for me to take him whole. I keep eye contact as I put the tip between my lips and swirl around with my tongue. Then I finally let it slide, guiding it all its way to my throat. 

‘Oh fuck!’ he exclaims, grabbing the back of the chair.

That's it, I think to myself, let yourself go. Let me take care of you, let me show you how much I want you, your everything. 

‘Good…Girl…’ He manages to utter in between groans, still playing with my hair.

I've never quite performed like that. All I want is to please him. All I am in this instant is a machine built simply to satisfy Shane.

‘F-Fuck, stop!’ He lifts my hair and grabs me by the chin. I let his slobbered up cock out of my mouth. He brings me up to his lips. 

I'm now sitting with my wetness against his tweaking rock hard dick, his face buried in my breasts, and let him gather his senses.

‘You're not allowed to make me cum’ he whispers in a raspy voice. ‘Not yet.’ I shiver at the sound of his command. ‘Not before I can feel your pussy.’

I gasp as he grabs my ass and slides my panties down. Before I can say a word he rams himself inside of me in a grunt and I simply cannot help but scream.

‘Fuck..’ I manage to articulate. ‘You feel so…Ha!’ 

He laughs, grabbing my waist to help me up and down his wet cock. I sink my nails in his shoulders, feel his warm wet breath on my chest. A shiver goes through my whole body as I cannot help but bring out primal pleasure sounds. He stands up, keeping himself inside of me, and lie me down on the rug, slowly restarting fucking me. I’m on another plane of existence. Each and everyone of his strokes deliciously hit my walls perfectly. He must feel how much my insides are slowly milking him, begging him. Slowly falling on me, he softly caresses my lips with his, and smiles, as if to prepare me for his next move.  Now planted on his knees, he lifts my hips and starts pounding into me. My squeaks are now proper screams. ‘Oh you like that don’t you?’ He asks between his teeth. I only manage to nod. I do, I fucking do. He pounds me like I’m nothing but a ragdoll. Sweat is dripping from his forehead and he clenches his jaw, concealing a growl. I almost choke once he accelerates, incapable of fathoming how good his cock feels inside me.

Now I can no longer feel my toes curling. The heat is reaching my legs, my core, my whole body. I let this fantastic small death take me entirely. My body shakes, I can’t control anything, every part of me belongs to him, I’m but a slave to his every movement.

I hear myself scream his name as I fall back on the rug. Through my blurred eyes I see Shane smiling triumphantly. He bends back down to kiss me. I try to find my breath again, and even remember where I am. ‘Shane…’ ‘I’m not done with you.’ He growls, flipping me over, on my knees towards the couch. He mutters under his breath, slowly caressing the shaking skin of my thighs, the wetness of my crotch and legs, admiring his work. I use the couch to turn to him. He looks back at me in amazement, softly caresses my arched back, touches me so delicately like I’m the most fragile artefact in his universe, quickly forgetting how hard he was penetrating me just a few seconds ago. He pulls his sweaty hair back in a stroke. It immediately falls back down on his adorable face. I’m smitten. Completely lost in the contemplation of this man who just gave me his everything and who I want to please and satisfy for the rest of my life. ‘I know a way you can make the view even better.’ I say, swaying my butt slowly, realising just now how much of a slut I actually am right now. ‘Fuck me’ I hear myself plead. ‘Use me.’ That’s new. ‘ Use me to make yourself cum, Shane.’ Never ever those words had left my mouth. Normal me would be so embarrassed right now. He gulps, gently placing his warm hands on my hips, and insert himself inside me once more, in a delightful groan. I grab the old couch cushion so hard that my nails tear into it. He slowly plays with my inside, heavily breathing, trying to make the game last, knowing he already won and brought me to my knees. I can’t help but move my hips towards his, picking up the pace. ‘Well, aren’t you a little slut.’ Fuck I am, and I’m his. ‘Shane’

He slaps my butt before I can continue.

‘Shh… Good girl. My own little slut.’ The sound of his cock slowly coming and going inside my wet pussy echoes with his words. I am his own little slut. He spanks me again. I never knew this could feel so good. Each time I try to take the initiative he punishes me. Commanding me to keep at his pace. But quickly the punishment feels like delicious treats. ‘I know how to treat disobedient little sluts like you.’ He says behind clenched teeth. He grabs my arms, letting me bite into the couch, pounding into me, riding me to his own salvation. It can’t be. I can’t come a second time.

And still I do. My legs shake with all their might, my screams muffled by the couch, tears running down my face. Shane removes himself in a grunt. A deep moan fills the room as I feel his warmth covering my skin. I can barely move. Out of breath. Shaking. My ass covered in Shane’s cum dripping down. ‘Oh wow’ I hear him say. ‘You weren’t wrong. This is so hot’ He adds between long breaths. I want to turn around and kiss him, but I’m too anxious about depriving him of the view. He groans, struggling to stand up.

‘Where are you going?’

‘I’ll be right back, don’t move.’ He says, planting a kiss on my sweaty forehead.

He comes back with a towel and slowly pat out the mess. Tenderly, thoroughly. Each stroke feels like a caress on my very soul. I think I love this man. Once cleaned up he pulls me towards him and we sit on the couch. Still out of breath, in a whole new state of mind. The sound of the rain is finally reaching our ears. I’m thankful I don’t have any close neighbours. I nestle into Shane’s extended arm. He grabs my chin and kisses me. The smile…His smile… I nuzzle, content, into his neck. I never felt so fulfilled in my entire life. His calm breathing and arm wrapped around me tell me he’s probably the same. I want to stay like this forever.

He starts shuffling in his place and groans. ‘Is everything ok?’ He chuckles

‘Yeah, it’s just…Y’know I’m probably too old to make love on the floor.’

I laugh.

‘My knees are killing me’ I say, nestling more into him. He squeezes me against him in a laugh. My heart skips a beat as I repeat in my head what he said. I can’t help but giggle. “Make love” he clearly said. “Make love” I repeat again and again in my poor tired brain. I let out a long satisfied sigh.

‘You ok…Huh’

I sit up, eyes wide open.

‘Fern, my name is Fern?’

He bursts out laughing, and blush, slightly embarrassed.

‘No. I mean, yes I know’ He scratches the back of his head, still laughing. ‘I was looking for, I dunno, a pet name? Since we’re, y’know.’

I gasp.

‘We ARE a couple, aren’t we?’ 

He chuckles.

‘I mean, it’s fucked up that you’d want that but.’

I slap his arm.

‘You stop that this instant!’ I sit back up and kiss his red cheek. ‘So, pet name, heh?’

‘Muffin?’

‘No.’

‘Boo?’

‘Yoba, no!’ ‘Honey butter?’

‘What the fuck?’

‘Sweet meat?’

‘Ok, now you’re just having fun.’

‘Biscuit? Jam?’

‘Are you hungry?’

‘Oregano? Thyme? Sage?’

‘Shane you’re just listing herbs.’

‘Safran!’

‘Shane! Stop!’

No please don’t, your smile, your laugh, being so silly, so comfortable with me. Yoba, fuck’s sake I love him.

‘Heh’ I start again once we stop laughing. ‘You can always call me what you called me earlier.’

His eyes widen as he remembers.

‘Oh damn Fern no, you’re not, you’re not a slut. It was, you know.’

I can’t hold my laugh. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so flustered.

‘Not so brazen now are we?’

‘I’ll show you brazen.’ He replies, pinning me down on the couch.

Sadly the phone starts ringing.

[stellarxdeath]

thanks to @galileo-figero for prompting this addition to accompany my previous tags on the bad smut booktok post.

[ take all of this with a grain of salt bc i have not nor will i ever likely read any of these smut books and I'm A Faggot]

But essentially, through a bit of rambling in Galileo's messages [ thanks btw ! ], these kinds of booktok reads are part of a genre I shall call: The Hetrosexual Status Quo, or PanoptoPorn [ thanks user fleshdyke you will be missed ] - Smut primarily written by CisHetero White Women who engage with their desires as the patriarchy has dictated to them.

To save everyone the incoming ramble if you don't feel like reading pedantic pontification on Porn For White Women, TLDR; These 'Spicy Booktok' Authors, stuck in the bubble of shame built for them since birth, write porn in which Misogyny is the foundation.

Ignoring the brief "Getting fucked by thanksgiving leftovers" screenshot bc that one doesn't exactly count; The way in which the foundational misogyny manifests in each book is sorta formulaic, bc you can't really Iterate or subvert Misogyny without shattering the framework of the smut you're trying to make. You have the Young Spunky Female Protagonist, likely a virgin, definitely "innocent" but adequately sassy and Independent* - the pinnacle of purity without being.... Boring. [ it's still fucking boring ].

Spunk and sass, the "I don't need no man" attitude is actually what's being broken here. This nameless protag, is just capable enough until the Daddy Dom Love Interest shows up and, through a sticky series of borderline assaulty events, ends up "Curing" Female protag of what little autonomy she had - I use that word extremely liberally here. That's really all there is to it, though, in regards to the contents of this content.

The issues begin to arise when you Blink to readjust your eyes and come to understand that these books make no effort at all to break out of the aforementioned Status Quo. The uncomfortable, stunned humor most of us probably feel when reading these brief one-liner ads is because this is Just fetishized patriarchy. These writers fundamentally don't understand BDSM or kink dynamics, they cannot conceptualize sexual desire from men as anything other than borderline abusive, predatory and controlling and because they either Haven't confronted it, don't know how to confront it or simply just don't Want to confront it - "it" being The Entire Fucking Patriarchy and how it works.

But please don't misunderstand me; I am not trying to claim that each and every one of these women are Bad for writing these books. They are, in the end, still victims under the system and I wouldn't be surprised if this was all one complex coping method [ albeit unknown to the writers, oops ]. However, I must also acknowledge that these are Grown adults and we live in the year of our lord 2024; Remaining uninformed is... Difficult, to say the least.

Instances of Misogyny don't just stop there either, from what I've seen and heard, most of these Spunky Sassy female protags are no older than 25 and behave like "Bratty teenagers". Sexy Sexism requires you to write women like they're fucking stupid and frames the "I don't need no man" attitude as frustratingly and even attractively naive for the Daddy Dom in the story. The Idealization and sexualization of youth and Purity.

This is just... Rape culture in a velvet box. Go back to the post and read each screenshot, seriously. "He knocked her out and tattooed his name on her finger" "She pretended to be dead but he did it anyway" "When he pays 1.6 mil for her vagina" "You'll need a safeword when I'm done with you." What the fuck does that sound like? A woman saying no and not being respected, a woman trying to avoid sex but failing, straight up prostitution [ which isn't bad, I'm no anti-sexwork pundit, but the context of this sucks], and flagrant misuse of safewords in pseudo-kink situations.

Of course, all of this is fictional, so what's the hullabaloo? Honestly, I don't know. I can't truly assess the morality of these books bc they too exist in a state in which all fiction does where nobody irl gets hurt, and that's all I personally care about. I think I summarized the issue in a message I sent to Galileo:

this isn't as simple as "oh it's just cumbrained self-insert erotica" it's "oh no these women have fetishized an abusive institution personified into a hollow facsimile of what they wrongly assume BDSM dynamics look like."

Ultimately I suppose my conclusion is that I think I feel sorta bad for them. Sex and Romance and Desire can be so much more intricate and intimate and tender, even in it's most brutal or whumpy/snufflike forms in media, literature or art. From where I'm standing, having such a reductive, restricted view on love and sex is tragic.

[starcanwrecked-confessions]

On the Charlotte and Same stuff:

I do agree that Charlotte is uh... "woobified" as people keep putting it. People tend to pretend that since Charlotte is seemingly cheating as a way to get back at Sam that it makes the cheating ok, it doesn't, she's still a cheater and that's bad. However. There's also stuff I definitely disagree with.

"she can clearly leave Sam he wants to be with Zoey anyways" buddy it is not as simple at that. It's not always that easy to just. Divorce someone. And there does seem to be a part of Charlotte that does want to try and fix the relationship, I mean she's actually wanting to do what the counsellor suggests... Of course again she's also cheating with the counsellor.

Sam may not be physically abusive but that doesn't mean he isn't abusive. We haven't actually seen enough of their relationship to see how bad it is but they way this worded made it sound like the anon was seeing abuse as just physical. He also still murdered someone. I get that the argument here was meant to be since he was violent with it that means he's not (physically) abusive but, it's still murder man it's not good, it's just really funny that your brought this up as a point.

Charlotte is not emotionally manipulative or a gaslighter. What. I can see where you're coming from with emotionally manipulative, but I don't think that's really what she was doing with Ted, it felt more like roleplaying, but I can understand it being taken different ways. But gaslighter? That's just straight up not correct. That's not what gaslighting. I'm glad you admitted you wrong with this but please people need to stop misusing this word, also ironic you mixed up fanon while at the same time talking about fans woobifiying her. As for if the genders were swapped: Sam gets woobified to. Maybe not as much, but he does.

I'm conclusion: they both suck and are bad but I think everyone should be able to enjoy them how they want.

~~~

[ilovecupcakesandtea]

Chapter one Chapter four My master list

Title: Chapter three

Word Count: 1397

Archive Warnings: Smut in future chapters. Slight angst. Alcohol misuse.

Rating: E

Pairing(s): Eddie Munson/Steve Harrington Robin Buckley/Chrissy Cunningham

Character(s): Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley, Chrissy Cunningham, Benny, Uncle Wayne & The Party

Tags: Smut. Angst. Steddie. Buckingham. Steve Harrington. Eddie Munson. Robin Buckley. Chrissy Cunningham. Band AU. TW Alcohol use.

Summary (optional): Two different styles of music, two boys that really don't like each other. What could possibly go wrong?

Beta Reader: Thank you so much to my beautiful beta readers @slippy-slip @ladydarklord & @dontwasteyourchances

Art link and credit: Art is by the wonderfully talented @pink-luna-moth (as is the banner)

Fic link and credit: Ao3 Link

AN: First off thank you to Alex for the art and being just amazing to work alongside. Thank you to Slip for dragging me back from the edge so many times over this. I really am so excited to have this out here!!

I wrote this for the @strangerthingsreversebigbang event and had a lot of fun doing so!!

Divider links: reblog and music notes

A week later saw Eddie and Chrissy in her garage moving boxes around and laying a huge blanket over a couch to make the space bigger and more comfortable. Both of them had brought their own amps and set them up too. They had even found an old mini fridge and stocked it with chocolate, cans of soda, and bottles of water ready for practice. 

"Hey bunny" Robin greeted Chrissy with a kiss as soon as she stepped into the garage later that evening, 

"Stop being so gross and put each other down." Eddie grumbled at the pair. 

"No need to be so homophobic, Munson" came the response of Steve as he also walked to the garage. 

"Yes, me, a bit of a whore in the local gay scene, homophobic, that checks out." Eddie rolled his eyes before he walked away and picked his guitar up and made sure it was in tune.

"Chrissy, where did you want me to set this up?" Steve asked Chrissy, pointing down at the big bag he had brought in with him.  

"Towards the back, kind of centre if you want, makes the most sense," Chrissy answered, pointing at a vague space towards the middle of the garage. 

“So Robin, this is the first time we’ve properly spoken since you started dating my little Chrissy, she won’t tell me so I know it’s got to be embarrassing, how did you and Chrissy get talking enough for you to end up together a few weeks later.” Eddie quizzed, noting Chrissy blushing out of the corner of his eye.

“Oh, there’s not really a lot to tell to be honest, she sat next to me on the bus, asked me what I was listening to, I said The Clash, she said she loves them, we listened together and then switched between our styles of music” Robin shrugged as Chrissy got redder and redder. 

“Fuck off did she, what a lying little bitch. Christina Cunningham, why would you tell such a lie? You hate The Clash, always have .” Eddie cackled, turning to look at Chrissy who was bright red and trying to hide behind her hair. 

“I just wanted to listen to music with the cute girl from band, ok? so sue me.” She replied, sighing, his reaction was exactly why she hadn’t told Eddie the full story when he asked weeks ago. “Can we just play something now please?”

Five minutes later and the band was ready to start playing together. Steve sat behind his drums and everyone else picked up their instruments.

"Chrissy, you want to start a beat on the bass? Steve, try not to sound like shit ok, we all know punk drums are a mess and don't hold a rhythm." Eddie said, getting himself comfortable with his guitar.

Chrissy started with a beat that Steve apparently knew the drums to, and soon enough Eddie was leaning into the mic and singing. 

"I sit around and watch the tube But nothing's on I change the channels for an hour or two Twiddle my thumbs just for a bit I'm sick of all the same old shit In a house with unlocked doors and I'm fuckin' lazy" Eddie sang as he started to play the guitar with it. 

"Bite my lip and close my eyes Take me away to paradise I'm so damn bored, I'm going blind And I smell like shit" Robin joined in the singing and playing her own guitar with him. 

The four of them played the whole song and didn't miss a beat, ending with all four of them laughing. 

Steve and Eddie caught each other's eyes and stopped laughing straight away.

"I guess for a couple punks you two can play well enough" Eddie sniffed, putting his guitar down and heading to the mini-fridge. 

"The fuck is your problem, Munson?" Steve asked defensively. 

"I just don't want us sounding just like noise, bad noise at that when we play." Eddie replied, whilst drinking his water.

"So what? All punk is just bad noise to you?" Steve questioned, standing up from his drums clearly unimpressed.

"Yeah, it is. Just bad drums, bad guitar, bad vocals. I guess it’s good that most punk songs are really short." Eddie shrugged. 

"Fuck you, punk is more than the music, more than the drums, guitar, and vocals. It's about the people, the lyrics, the message behind the songs." Steve seethed, moving towards Eddie. 

"Oh yeah, because metal isn't political at all?" Eddie asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"It's really not," Steve responded, clearly pissed off at the other brunette.

"Alright princess, sit down and let me play a few songs for you that show you that a song can be both political and actually good." Eddie rolled his eyes and grabbed his phone. 

"No, enough of this dick-measuring contest, ok. Either shut the fuck up so we can continue to play or take this tension to a bedroom, giving you 5 seconds to decide." Chrissy said loudly, pointing between the two of them.

"Chris, baby, we both know they aren't going to fuck just yet. They need to pretend to hate each other first before it happens" Robin laughed. 

Both boys stepped away from each other. Eddie drank more of his water and Steve went to grab his own, throwing one to Robin who caught it without looking.

"I'm down to play more if Munson can stop being a bitch and play something that isn't just loud guitar and screaming." Steve shrugged, sitting down behind the drums again.

"I give it 3 weeks before they're fucking" Robin giggled, earning her a death glare from Steve.

“Well that was fun,” Robin said sitting in the passenger seat of Steve’s car. “It was really nice to spend more time with Chrissy. I still haven’t asked her to be my girlfriend by the way. Do you think she’ll say yes? I’m not sure she wants that.” she continued to ramble. 

“It was something, I really hope he gets that stick out of his ass before next practice, I can't be bothered with that each time. But yes, she will say yes if you ask her out.” Steve said, sounding exasperated. 

“You just want the stick out of his ass so you can stick…”

“You can walk home if you finish that sentence,” Steve interrupted her. 

Robin laughed, buckled her belt, and sat back in her seat. Steve sighed, started the car, and drove her home. Neither of them talked about how right she was.

“Eddie, can you play nicely with Steve next time we have practice? I’d really like this band thing to work, ok? Even if it doesn't really go anywhere I want to have fun and enjoy this.” Chrissy pleaded. 

“Fine I’ll play with the punk jock so you can have fun with your girlfriend” Eddie replied dodging a half-empty bottle Chrissy threw at him before falling over dramatically. “Tell my mother I love her,” he said, throwing himself to the ground clutching his arm.

“Lord help me” Chrissy laughed.

The following week after the first practice found them all sat around in Chrissy’s garage talking about the band and the music they should play. 

“We write enough songs between us, we could just do original stuff. I will say this isn't bad, Munson” Steve commented, reading through Eddie’s finished songs and notes for other songs. 

“Approval from Harrington, just what I've always wanted” Eddie replied, rolling his eyes. 

“Eddie for fuck’s sake, that's enough. He was being nice and you were a peanut head! That wasn't nice at all.” Chrissy snapped, punching his arm lightly. 

“Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry” Eddie mumbled in the direction of Steve. 

“Shall we talk about band names?” Robin put in, trying to change the subject. 

“ My list for names so far is this,” Eddie said, turning to a page in his notebook and turning it so everyone could read.

Corroded Coffin 

Be My Coffin

Your Coffin

Six Feet Under

Corroding My Coffin

Distort Mission

“They all suck to various degrees” Chrissy replied, pushing the notebook back towards Eddie. 

The four of them sat around for another 20 minutes or so discussing band names before Robin finally suggested The Spitfires. 

“Yes, I love it,” Chrissy said excitedly. 

“Of course you love the only one Robin suggests” Steve commented, rolling his eyes, earning him a laugh from Eddie.

[sizzleissues]

If you feed my work or others word to an AI just going to let you know I’ll feed you to a meat grinder. Just please, don’t. Educate yourself on the harm and understand why creators don’t want their voice replicated by mindless robots.

AI does not have my or anyone else’s lived experience. Even if you still disagree with it taking over jobs while using it to make art, copy voices or write for you who are actively training it to eventually take over jobs. The arts are the first to be hit but nothing is stopping technology like this to have significant impacts on your career/ future career.

It disgusts me what I’ve already seen of it used. People making celebs say shit, all fun and games until ‘tape’s start ‘leaking’ that are completely fake because some bozo trained a bot to sound like a celeb to say movie lines and someone misuses it. What’s stopping companies using ai voices to respond to helplines and calls instead of real people, they already have AI talking to you over text.

Side hustle bros have started using different AI’s to write ideas, then scripts for those ideas, say the script and create a video to play under the audio to prints videos for youtube and tiktok. This is practically horrifying as AI has no way to fact check itself without human intervention. Misinformation will spread at an alarming rate as well as inflammatory content as AI realises that’s the main way to get ‘clicks’ never mind if the shit it says is true. Also this type of cheap soulless content being more prevalent than ever as at least before Mike from Corporation company had to sit and edit it all together.

We need to let AI become that thing we thought was going to change everything but instead we realise that taking the humanity out of so many aspects of our lives is depressing.

[nanamismoonchild]

prev: chapter 2: taking ass and kicking names

→chapter 3: last name

→ pairing: demon! ot7 bts x rebel!poc OC named Afternoon

→ genre/au: science fiction, dystopian au, thriller, smut, fluff, angst, enemieis to lovers, enemies to friends.

→ chapter summary: afternoon tells her team the decision and most of them don’t take too well to it. 

→ rating: 18+  

→ wc: 6k

→warnings: misuse of authority, fighting, mention of  testing, fighting, panic/anxiety attack

→ author’s note:  this fic relies heavily on comments and asks!  it also doesn’t have a poll at the end. But what do y’all think Aliah did? also, im hoping to get another chapter out this month to make up for october and november. :D

if you would like to be tagged for this fic, please send an ask or comment below!  Or tell the ghost that’s behind you to send the message.

She was a little girl, eleven years old now, running through the forest of Disturbia. She could stop  if she wanted to but she had one goal.  She came to the clearing where the Moon settled on a specific spot, shining its glow on seven boys, who looked no older than she was. But she knew that was a lie. 

They huddled close, whispering to themselves. Plotting maybe.  

They couldn’t sense her. Couldn’t spot her from her place in the shadows.

If it was one thing the group had taught her, it was how to hide, how to run. 

She wanted to creep closer to hear what they were saying; however, the children back at the lodge were waiting for her cue. Waiting for the  girl who willingly stayed in Disturbia to save those who wouldn’t have made it to day two.  

Her goal of finding her parents was the only thing keeping her here. She had looked to only fail multiple times. Whoever owned this place hid them well. Or had already done what was promised.

Afternoon had seen enough.  She turned and prepared herself to make the long  run back to the lodge.  She halted as umber eyes  pierced through her own. She didn’t get to  scream as he pushed her into the open clearing, out of the shadows, falling on the soft grass. 

She squealed, totally unlike herself, but she had been caught off guard. “Ji-” 

“You should know better than to sneak around here, child,” the boy interrupted her.  His soft voice hid the malice that laced his words.  

Afternoon whimpered as the boy stalked towards her.  This one was the smallest of the group, but he was just as menacing and powerful as his brethren.  

The others had taken notice of them and were silently making their way over to surround her. She was trapped. 

Good.

She kicked out aiming for his privates, but he had anticipated this maneuver–it was what she always did.  He grabbed her leg and easily flipped her over onto her stomach. 

Grunting, she leapt forward, tucking her legs so that she became a ball and free-rolled. A difficult maneuver that had been perfected with practice. Afternoon rolled until she became dizzy.  Releasing herself from the roll, she sprawled on the other side of the clearing.  The group of boys stared in shock–one of them was struggling to keep himself from laughing. 

It may not have been the prettiest tuck and roll, but now Afternoon was getting exactly what she wanted. 

They were distracted for a little while. 

Afternoon schooled her ears  to listen for the tell-tale signs of running.  She could hear them in the distance, not too far from the clearing. Her hearing was getting better it seemed. They could hear them too. Better than she could.  

“We have children escaping, Jin.”

The eldest, Afternoon had learned, simply shrugged, never taking his eyes away from Afternoon’s. 

“I think our bigger problem is with us. Let them escape. They’ll be back sooner or later. It’s this one we need to worry about now.”

If looks could kill, she’d be dead ten times over now. The scalding looks they were giving her were enough to make her wish she had run this time. 

He was handsome. He would have had women and men crawling to lick the dirt off his feet if he wasn’t a brooding asshole. Lips full and red scowled in annoyance as he glared at Afternoon who tried her best not to cower under him. 

She understood that because of her actions  they were constantly under scrutiny from whoever bossed them around. They were puppets as much as she was a prisoner. 

Not that she really gave a damn. 

“How many times are we going to go through this?” Jin tried to conceal his anger but was failing terribly. 

She didn’t answer. She would never stop so long as they kept bringing innocent children to this place. She didn’t like what they did to her. At all. But it was a sacrifice that she had decided to make only a year ago.  

The boy next to him, who Afternoon thought looked more like a vampire than a demon, tsked. His pale skin had a blue tint thanks to the moonlight.  Unlike his brothers, his eyes were the most feline. A lion watching his prey’s every move.  Out of all the seven, Afternoon thought he was the scariest and paid extra attention to him. 

If he caught any of the children…she shivered. 

She stayed quiet as she usually did. As long as their focus was on her, the escaping children would be alright. 

They just needed a few more minutes.

“Jungkook, grab the girl and take her to the Room.”

Afternoon’s eyes widened. Shit. 

The Room meant more tests. 

She screamed and scratched at Jungkook’s face. He was the second biggest and strongest of his group. He was also the least demonic of the group. Bionic brown eyes stared lazily ahead while Afternoon was thrown over his titanium shoulder. Afternoon aimed for his jugular but was met with a painful throbbing in her  hand. His body on his left side was mostly a mind of titanium. A metal that Afternoon knew from personal experience was enough to knock her out for days. 

Whatever tests they ran in the Room made someone less human.  And every time she went, she felt herself 

Falling…

Falling…

Falling…

Every single time.

Waking up was one of Afternoon’s poorest skills. Her dad had called it “ghetto,” and her mom had chastised him for labeling anything as “ghetto.” Then they would argue about what to make for breakfast. Pancakes or waffles? Eggs or sausage? Or maybe eggs and sausage?

She found herself smiling at the memory of her parents before clearing it away in her head. 

Thinking about her parents hurt. But sometimes, she couldn’t help wanting to see them smiling and laughing. Memories of the good days. 

But as always, she couldn’t change the past. She had to focus on her future. 

Aliah was still sound asleep. She could never wake up with the chickens.  She snuck a glance out of their peep-hole called a window and saw it was still dark out. Sunrise wouldn’t be for another two hours, unfortunately. But they started their days early and ended them late. 

Turning over to stare at her bare wall, she sighed. Aliah had given her a difficult decision. One day that had made her sleep restless. 

In the end, though, Afternoon couldn’t take her. Like the chief said, this was her mission and only hers. She believed she knew why the commander had put so much emphasis on Afternoon going alone. 

Those  eyes flashed in her mind for a brief second. Similar to someone from her past who could control and morph into anyone he pleased.  Whenever he controlled someone, he would lose control at times when the person fought for their mind back. They always lost so it happened quickly. 

She felt a migraine forming behind her eyes.

What she was thinking was speculation. She didn’t need to dwell on it and cause herself more stress. Neither of the demons couldn’t have crossed the invisible boundary without alerting any of the agents. 

She could hear signs of her team waking up. The flush of a toilet, the sound of a sink running (and not turning off), some giggles and whispers.  That meant she had to end her thoughts and begin her day. 

Yanking the pillow from under her head, she tossed it at her roommate. When she only got a surprised snore back, she grabbed a sandal and threw it at her dangling arm. Finally, Aliah started blinking her eyes open. 

“Afternoon,” Aliah moaned. “I swear to fucking gods if you don’t stop throwing shit at me, I’ll walk the dog with you.”

“And if you don’t wake the hell up, I’ll…”  she trailed off, trying to come up with something sassy, “make sure the demons bite ya hand.”

“Lame ass.”

“Loud snoring ass. Sounding like Bigfoot. Get the hell up.”

Both of the girls sat up and commenced their daily routine. First Aliah looked in the mirror and fussed over her braids. She was going to need them redone soon.  Then, she’d let Afternoon look at her bird’s nest of hair and help her style it into cornrows. Lastly, they gathered their shower supplies and headed into the hallway to meet with their teammates.

Dorm rooms were too small to have showers built into them. So they all used the communal restroom at the end of the hall next to Marigold’s and Lilith’s room. There were enough stalls for them to use, but they were only given a finite amount of hot water to use for morning showers. 

“Alright, you all know the rules,” Afternoon started instructing them. “Don’t turn on your hot water to the highest point as soon as you get in. That begins our time. Step in and get used to the coldness. Besides, cold showers have been proven to improve mood.”

“Do we have to?,” Holly said, her Scottish accent pronounced with sleep grogginess. 

Holly was wearing Toy Story pajamas and her hair was around 

“Yes, Holly.”

The Scottish girl sighed in defeat.

“OK, let’s get showered and then we’ll go down for breakfast. We’ll eat in one of the private rooms so we can discuss some things,” she made a point not to look at Aliah. She was afraid of how she would take her declination. “Aria?”

Aria looked up from her tablet. She enjoyed taking it into the shower for some reason. “Yes, Cap?”

“Book a meeting  room before the other floors get to them. And make sure you make it so that they can’t hack it and steal our spot like they did last time.”

“On it.” She began tapping furiously at her tablet. 

“Jack and Taylor.”

“Yah,” they both said. 

“Jack, use soap that doesn’t smell like you want every boy in here to drop dead. Taylor, don’t use so much perfume, hon.”

Jack simply shrugged, but Taylor’s jaw dropped–appalled that Afternoon didn’t like their perfume.  She loved it, but they usually tried to shower in it.

“Aliah, don’t take all damn day. Get the hell in and get the hell out. We might be able to save our hot water if you do that.”

Aliah scoffed and waved her away. 

“Let’s go.”

 Freshly showered, Afternoon felt her worry about the coming day's release with the steam from her skin. There was still the upcoming breakfast meeting that, if she were honest, she wished she hadn’t suggested.

One by one, her team filed out of the showers and into the hallway. Taylor and Jack had taken her suggestions and toned it down on their soap and perfumes. Taylor had a hint of rose and raspberries, which they had no doubt blended together. Jack’s hair was slicked back and he had applied a little mascara and gloss.  Both were fabulous as always.

Aria and Holly came out next. The two girls were hunched over the tablet,murmuring to themselves as they walked in-sync to a spot next to Afternoon. 

Finally, Aliah came out after having them wait an extra couple of minutes. Her moisturizer had her skin glistening and her baby hairs were laid. 

Afternoon shook her head, “I thought I told you to hop in and hop out.”

“You did,” Aliah giggled. “But I needed my self-care time.”

Afternoon rolled her eyes and motioned for her team to follow her.  She would not fuss with Aliah on an empty stomach.  

She noticed Holly and Aria wearing matching clothes, their country’s flag and jeans.  Aria was South Korean and Holly was Scottish. The two of them had met over a group they love online, and had become best friends during the First Year. They were recruited at the same time by the Facility, and had been so attached to each other’s hips–Chief had asked them both to be a part of the Computer Whizzes. 

When Afternoon  had met and had been offered the role of a leader, she instantly asked them to be in her group. 

Same with Jack and Taylor. The two of them had been siblings from another mother before they had been split from their families  in the First Year. Jack was a wide guy with the power of a quarterback. Taylor was lithe and delicate, the epitome of a ballerina.  Chief and Afternoon had believed that they could split into different parts of the group. Jack with Action and Taylor with Covert.  It fit them to a tee. 

Marigold and Lilith were apparently sisters and daughters of Chief, a fact she hadn’t known.  Then again,  most of her team members didn’t even know who she was.  She did know that the girls never put each other down and rarely fought. At least not in front of her.  

Aliah and Afternoon were the oddballs. Neither of them had known of each other before being recruited. Aliah was an open-book. Talked about how her mom could use the money she made as an agent.  Afternoon was the mystery. No one had known her background until last night. They still didn’t know much.  Nonetheless,  the way they had fit each other’s molding was as if they were soulmates. 

Together, the eight of them created a friendship that provided the backbone for their team. A powerful one the Facility couldn’t help but always take notice of. Even when Afternoon wished they would turn a blindeye. 

The smell of crisp bacon, sausage, and sweet biscuits wafted into her nose–it made her stomach rumble.  The cafeteria only had a few teams already sitting around. Eating their fill before they commenced the day.  To the west of the room were the four private spaces  that teams could use for classified meetings. Normally, they were always full but one sat empty. 

“Is that private room booked?”

Aria answered. “Yes. We have it until breakfast is done.” 

“Good,” she licked her lips as someone passed her with a plate full of syrupy pancakes. “Fill your plates and meet there in four. Jack, save some food please.”

Jack grumbled something incoherent but set his eyes on sausages. 

Afternoon grabbed her own plate and started piling it with sweet biscuits, cheesy eggs, and diced potatoes. 

It was typical for agents to fill themselves up each mealtime. They had large breaks in between meals and did so much in between. The agenda for Team Ace was: breakfast, sword-fighting, cardio,Afternoon would go to her leadership class while everyone else went to their various classes, lunch, and relax until dinner.  

Sounded boring and rough, but it was honestly the best time for Afternoon except for the class. 

She unlocked the door and scooted into the chair near the whiteboard. There was a marker and a gently used eraser stuck to it.  She dug in while waiting for the rest of her team. The sweet biscuits reminded her of her mom’s.  Fluffy, delicious, and a tad bit too sweet.  The eggs were cheesed to her consistency and the potatoes could not be wrong. 

A heart meal for a stressed-out girl.

Slowly, her team started trickling in with their own plates piled high.  She waited for them to sit down before asking: “We eat first or get the news out of the way?” They mulled it over before each person scooped a portion in their mouths. 

Eat first it is. 

They ate in semi-silence. The occasional burp and sound of chewing filling the air.  They couldn’t hear outside of the room, but Afternoon saw more teams stream into the cafeteria and knew that it must have gotten louder. 

After a few more minutes of eating, Afternoon was full and slid her empty plate away.  The rest of the team followed suit like a game of monkey see, monkey do. 

“I hope you guys had a good breakfast, but let’s get this meeting started. Breakfast is almost over.”

All of them nodded and waited for her to continue.  

“First, let’s address the big issue: me going to Disturbia.”

She saw everyone lean forward. Aliah raised a perfectly arched  eyebrow. 

She took a deep breath, “I am going alone. Even though the file said I may take someone, Chief said it plainly. This is my mission and my mission alone.”

The hurt on her teammates' faces pained her. She was sticking to her choice though.  A captain should always be confident in their decisions. 

Aliah looked as if she wanted to either bolt out of the cafeteria or jump across the table and slap some common sense into Afternoon. 

Jack, Taylor, Aria, and Holly appeared as if they would rather be anywhere but in that room. 

“Look,” she started. “I know it’s not what you guys want, but I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if you guys came.”

“You wouldn’t have to babysit us, Noon,” Aliah scowled.

“Yes I would.”

The group gasped audibly and shame ran its course through Afternoon. Yet, it was true. She knew Disturbia like she knew her body, and there were still areas she hadn’t explored.  Having to watch out for Marigold and Lilith, whoever came with her, and her own back was a recipe for disaster. 

She could only take herself to minimize damage which was death in this case.  

“Mate, are you sure? We could help you in some way?” Holly questioned. Her voice was shaking a little. 

“If I get any help, it will have to be from the safety of the Facility.”

Jack rolled his neck, a sign that he was unhappy. “We can’t help you fight here.”

“No you can’t. But I’ll be fine. I made it through seven years there using my own wits. I can manage a few weeks.”

That didn’t seem to settle any doubts in her team. 

Aria quipped, her tongue too sharp, “We only have five  minutes left.”

Afternoon sighed and decided to move on. It wasn’t going to help her if they didn’t agree.  

She quicked talked about their day’s agenda before dismissing them. Aliah huffed out of the room, while Aria had to carry a trembling Holly. 

Taylor was about to follow Jack out before stopping to turn towards her. 

“Afternoon, I know you’re a strong independent woman. But,” they slowly smiled, “we’re a team you can lean on.  I don't agree with your decision, but it’s one you made.  You might be our leader, but you're our friend first and foremost. We're going to stand with you, not behind you."

Somehow, she had landed on the floor with a plastic sword aiming for her face. Aliah was standing over her with irritation written over her face. 

She had tried to deflect, but Aliah had parried and quickly swept Afternoon off her feet. Her twin blades were across the room somewhere. 

“Yield.”

Afternoon shook her head, flipped the bird, and kicked at Aliah’s shins.  Aliah defended her legs, but left the rest of her body open.  

Twisting, Afternoon shot out her legs, picking up Aliah, and flipping her over. Aliah yelped, throwing her sword away before she impaled herself.  In the end, Afternoon was on top, and Aliah was in the position Afternoon was in a few seconds ago. Afternoon placed her hands on her hips while shaking her head.  

“Anger doesn’t do anything in battle, lovebug,” she scolded. “It only weakens you. Give your enemies the upper hand. Something that will get you killed in Disturbia faster than I flipped you.”

Afternoon fell to the floor with a shocked “oof”, hitting her chin on the carpeted floor.  A booted foot dung into her back and twisted deep, sending pain signals through Afternoon. 

“Talking to the enemy does the same thing, dumbass,” Aliah spat before kicking Afternoon away.

Afternoon grunted but  didn’t yield to Aliah. If the girl wanted to be frustrated, then so be it. She had no qualms with taking multiple ass-beatings from her co-captain if it  made her feel better.  

Afternoon launched into a standing position, finding her balance and getting into a fighting stance. Left leg back, right leg forward and  slightly bent, and hands in front of her face with her right arm lower than the left, palms facing outward.  A kung-fu pose that Sam had taught her.

She cocked her head at Aliah who merely smirked and roun- about kicked. One of Aliah’s favorite and strongest moves. Her legs may have looked soft and pillowy, but they were actually made of cement and metal. When Afternoon had first met the girl, she had learned that a rookie had been sent to the infirmary for internal and external bleeding. Afternoon had sought her out instantly. 

Right now, she was at the opposite end, but thankfully, the position she was in allowed her to swing the killer legs away from her body, and maneuver behind Aliah. 

Afternoon pushed her away and heard Aliah curse. Where she had legs of steel, Afternoon had strength in her arms. Not as much as Sarah, who could pick up a heavy set person like Jack, and throw them clean across the room, but enough to defend herself. 

“I understand you’re upset with my decisi-Damn,” she had been punched while talking.  Afternoon tasted metal in her mouth. 

“Shut up and just let me hit you a few more times,” Aliah grumbled. 

Afternoon shrugged, spitting out blood and wiping her mouth.  “If you can get in some licks.”

She faked a left hook, waiting for Aliah to dodge to the right, and used her right hand to knock Aliah back a couple of steps. 

Aliah shook off her shock and again used those legs of hers to land an uppercut, sending Afternoon flying and landing with a grunt on the hard floor. She felt something crack and couldn’t make herself move. 

Damn those legs. 

She moaned, clutching her back and rolling onto her stomach. 

“You already done?”

Afternoon glared at her co-captain, refusing to let the pain squash her stubborness.  “Are you done?”

“I don’t know. We’ll see at the next match,” Aliah motioned for a nurse to come and help Afternoon. “See you at lunch, Noon.”

Afternoon grimaced as she was picked up and placed  onto a rolling cot to go to the infirmary.  Something was definitely broken, so it would take an hour or two for the nurse to work her magic. At least,  she could get some more sleep. 

As soon as Afternoon was ready, the nurse sent Afternoon on her way. Her hip was healed and it didn’t feel as if someone were sitting on her head. 

She headed to her leadership training. A class that all team leaders had to take at the Facility. 

The class was housed in the building the university had used for its business majors. Old flyers with people in professional clothing were still on the walls. The rooms were built to resemble conference rooms and she could see a few teams talking in them as she passed to get to  her class. 

A few team leaders were already seated. She saw Leah in the front row, who gave her a small wave before turning back to her conversation. 

Chief was the teacher for her class today. 

To her surprise, Chief smiled at her, the usual smile she gives Afternoon. One that doesn’t lift entirely up, but it’s just enough for Afternoon’s day to be brightened. Today, it only confused the hell out of her.  

Chief began to saunter over to Afternoon, stopping right in front of her. The closeness was uncomfortable and Afternoon wished she could slink away and to her normal desk in the corner. 

“Noon! I’ve been looking for you.”

“Sure you have,” she deadpanned. 

“Just wanted to let you know that you have four days left.”

Afternoon failed to stop herself from rolling her eyes. She didn’t need a reminder. 

“Disobedience? Out in the open, Afternoon?”

“Last I checked, rolling my eyes wasn’t disobeying anyone, “ she scowled at her commander. “I’d like to sit in my seat now.”

Chief didn’t bother to move–only held Afternoon’s gaze. Afternoon thought she saw a flicker of red again. 

“Chief-” 

A voice interrupted her, “Chief, if you’re going to stall class trying to intimidate our best agent, then I’m going to have to remove you.”

Afternoon and Chief both turned to who had spoken.

Sangwoo , a commander of a different group of agents, had risen from his seat and was facing the two of them. He was the youngest of them but his visage had the weary lines of someone who has been in the Facility for a long time.  His hair was combed into a ponytail and laid at his neck, keeping it away from his eyes.  Afternoon shivered as those storm clouds peered into her own.  They felt so familiar. 

 Square jaw, slender nose  made for a man who was a work of art.  He was slender, but his height and aura made up for it.  He was shorter than Chief but taller than Afternoon who stood at five feet eight inches.  

Rumor had it that his hips almost made up for his slenderness. 

According to Aliah anyway. And that girl would hop on anything if it could get her through a dry spell. 

Afternoon turned her back  to turn away and find her seat.

Chief cleared her throat and stomped over to the podium where a book was already opened for the day's lesson.  She began to talk and Afternoon began to zone out as she usually did in class. There was nothing a lecture could teach her that experience wouldn't.  

It was only a few minutes into the lecture that she felt someone’s lingering gaze.

“Afternoon!” Chief yelled. 

The girl in question jumped and stuttered out a “yes.”

“What is the allotted time needed to be completely prepared for a mission?”

She knew the answer, but she hated that she had been called on. 

“A few days. Maybe less depending on the team.”

“So do you think your mission to Disturbia should take less time? You could be out of here tomorrow, couldn’t you?”

Afternoon bristled at her boldness.  Missions were confidential between commander and leader. No one outside of the team was supposed to hear details. She had only told Leah since she was a trusted friend. Otherwise, she had, technically, broken code. 

But for her commander to do it?

The room bursted into conversation. Many of the team leaders wanted to know why Afternoon had to go to Disturbia. Some of them gave her nasty looks of jealousy. As if going to Disturbia was a great feat. 

“Are you going to answer, Chananne?”

Afternoon stiffened at the use of her last name. Few people, excluding her team members, knew her last name.  Chief wasn’t included either.  The ones who knew weren’t allowed on this campus.  

She heard someone whispering, probably asking a friend about the name. She hoped everyone thought it was just part of Afternoon’s mystery. 

“Chief, I believe you’re violating a lot of rules,” Sangwoo stated.  “Watch your words carefully.” 

“I’m only asking Afternoon–”

“I think I missed how this line of questioning refers to the lesson of Rationing.” 

Their  argument did nothing to refrain her heart from beating faster and louder.  She forced her eyes closed to dispel her growing panic. 

Her name. Her name. Her name. 

She had gone by Afternoon for so long. She nearly forgot who she truly was.  

“Afternoon!” 

No, no. Afternoon is her name. Must always remember. 

Sangwoo’s eyes were peering into hers. Confusion and worry settled in the gray clouds. 

“Are you alright?” “Whaddya mean?” She heard her words slurring. 

“You passed out for a while.”

Shock sat her up as she took in her surroundings again. She didn’t remember fainting. She had only closed her eyes. It should have looked like she zoned out. 

However, the puddle of slob and the minute throbbing of her head were clear signs that she had been unconscious and had hit her head on the desk.  

The class had been dismissed and Chief was nowhere to be seen. It was just her and Sangwoo. Her face warmed as she realized.  She could practically feel the drool drying on her face. Thankfully, her hair was cornrowed or it would've been pressed flat against her head. 

“Thanks,” she squeaked. 

“Thanks for what?” Sangwoo questioned. 

“For making sure I didn’t drop dead, I guess.”

To her surprise, Sangwoo let out a breathy laugh.  His smile was boxy and made his appearance youthful.  

“Funny, Noon.”

He helped her stand and scanned her body again. She squirmed under his gaze, not used to anyone scrutinizing her except for the nurses and doctors. 

“Well, you look alright. Just a little banged up,” Sangwoo finally said after looking her over. 

“Why did everyone leave?”

Sangwoo shrugged,  “I dismissed them. Chief’s behavior was unacceptable. And weird. Almost like she’s become a-”

“Different person?” Afternoon finished for him. 

“Yes,” he said slowly. “ Extremely different. Like someone took over her body or is even putting thoughts into her head.”

Afternoon said nothing but her agreement must have been written all over her face. 

“I wonder who you know can do that.”

She frowned in confusion. There was only one person she knew could do that and he wasn’t here. But the signs were there. He was most definitely in the Facility. Disguising himself as her former respectable commander. 

Sangwoo shouldn’t know that. 

“I don’t know what you mean,” she chose to answer. It sounded like a lie. 

The man in front of her chuckled, a deadly smile growing on his face. 

“Oh, Afternoon. Have you been here for so long that you forget how powerful I am?” Before she could question him, Sangwoo began to morph before her eyes. His back widened while his hips and waist stayed slim and slender. His hair loosened itself from the rubber band holding the pony tail, and straightened to hang near his shoulder. Wisps of hair formed bands and concealed his forehead. 

The eyes should have given him away.  Hell, his whole persona was a dead giveaway. 

“Cat got your tongue, Afternoon?”  

“You shouldn’t be here,” was only what she said. Nothing else could come out as her astonishment stilled her. Her mind raced to remember when she had first heard of Sangwoo, the new commander of floor twelve.  Only a few weeks ago, right? Surely, he had to go through a rigorous interview and background check. How the hell did the Facility miss him?

“Come on,” he laughed. “You should know that I do as I damn well please.”  He leaned forward so that Afternoon was forced to lean into the desk behind her. 

Her heart pounded through her chest. She wasn’t sure if she was afraid for herself or for him. Maybe both. 

Kim Seokjin, eldest to his brothers, was violating multiple rules and regulations of the Facility. The primary rule being that no entity  from Disturbia was allowed to set a foot on campus. Apparently, the Facility was not able to follow up on that nor had they accounted for Seokjin's ability to let him do whatever he wanted with whomever he wanted. 

It seemed as if several commanders were unfortunately his new playthings. 

She snapped out of her growing alarm and pulled him to the side of the room that was hidden from the door. She silently prayed that a student didn’t forget anything and would come back and see an outsider in their classroom. No one in the Facility had seen Seokjin or his brothers except for Leah and Afternoon. Leah wouldn’t recognize him now though.  

It was only Afternoon. 

“What are you doing here, Seokjin? Taking control of Chief, causing her to order me to go to Disturbia wasn’t enough? Getting into the Facility as an actual commander wasn’t enough?”

“Nope,” he drawled. 

She drew a small breath, her panic turning into unmitigated anger. 

“You have three minutes to explain why you are ruining-”

He interrupted her, “Namjoon told me to remind you of why you’re here in the first place. You’re wasting time Afternoon.”

Her anger remodeled itself into anxiety. 

Seokjin continued, “I thought the simplest way to do that was by getting you off your ass. Your ‘friends,’” he said ‘friends’ with a sneer, as if Afternoon having friends was an atrocity, “was the perfect reason to get you to come back. Save your friends and we reconvene.”

 His voice deepened until it almost sounded like a purr. “Once you’re back, we get to catch up with you. Afternoon has really made a mark on this place. You should hear the things they say about her.” “Noon! We’re missing lunch because of you. Tell Sangwoo that if he wants to stuff you during dinner then he’s more than obliged but right now we’re on a time limit.”

The playful yelling and laughing of her team coming towards the door made Seokjin roll his eyes. It was good they thought she was still with Sangwoo. Kind of bad that they thought she was getting bent over. 

“I have to go. Otherwise, someone’s gonna come in here and see us together.”

“I don’t wish to compromise either of us. I’ll change back,” he told her. 

Taking her face in between his index and thumb, Seokjin lifted her face so their lips barely graced each other’s. 

The small touch didn’t matter to him. 

“I do wish I could hold you as Seokjin, but it seems as if I’ll have to be satisfied with Sangwoo. I’ll see you at dinner. Your friend said I'm ‘much obliged to take you’, so I will.”

She barely managed a nod before getting pushed away from him. 

Afternoon made her way to the door, smoothing down her clothes and wiping at her face. It would only confirm that she had been  making out with the commander Sangwoo. 

Taylor was the first to let out something that sounded like a joyous screech. They were always ready to gossip about the masculine agents. Aria and Holly along with Jack were already heading towards the doors that lead outside. Aliah didn’t say anything but walked ahead of  her and Taylor, who asked questions like “How big was it?”  

Aliah still didn’t understand her decision. And Afternoon wasn’t going to make her understand. She had chosen her action and she was going through with it. 

Besides, only Afternoon understood why she was truly being called. Seokjin had told her as much. She was running out of time.  

“Are you actually going to go see the Sangwoo during dinner?” Taylor asked, much to Afternoon’s chagrin. 

“I dunno,” she pretended to think. “Maybe.”

“I think you should,” they stuck their thumb out pointing to Aliah. 

They made it to the doors that lead to outside. Once they opened, the afternoon sun greeted the three of them. Warmth spread through Afternoon’s body and chased away any anxiety she’d had only minutes ago. 

“She got a stick up her ass,” Taylor huffed as they glared daggers at the co-captain’s back.   

Aliah tongued her cheek and flipped them off. And like that, the anxiety came back. Not even a minute to let her enjoy being stress-free. 

“What the hell happened?” “Missy over there decided to go against you and-”

“Shut up Taylor,” Aliah snapped. Apparently, she didn’t want Afternoon to know. 

They shrugged,  “She’ll find out eventually Aliah. Admit you fucked up now rather than Afternoon finding out on her own.”

Taylor jogged to meet with the rest of the group while Afternoon and Aliah stopped to stare at each other. 

“What the hell did you do?” Afternoon demanded to know. 

Aliah wasn’t one to step over Afternoon’s toes. They were always in sync with each other. Never going behind each other’s back. 

“I’m hungry,” was all she got out of Aliah who took off running towards the cafeteria. Her long legs leaving Afternoon in a dust. 

[bookmaker-untaken]

ghostwritten by my childhood nana mizuki chokehold

jing- yaun x reader // nanoha!au

Word Count: 9Fitty (950)

Author’s Note: My therapist told me to write more stuff for myself,, so,,

i.

A cool breeze blows across the battlefield, it’s whistling echoing in your ears. You have path of destruction, straight as an arrow, and in your wake lie men gurgling their own blood, crawling around on their knees, and grabbing for things they cannot see. Their cries are swept away in the wind.

You march on.

In your path stands a single man. The air crackles around him. He is tall, with long white hair that flaps like a flag in the breeze. His eyes are a color you’ve never seen before. The look on his face is also something you’ve never seen before – eerily calm, free of judgment.

You look up at him.

“I, Jing Yuan,” He announces in a strong, clear voice. “Arbiter-General of the Xianzhou Alliance and leader of Cloud Knights challenge you to single combat,”

You stare at him. You’re used to hearing curses laden with spit and flecks of blood, not this. Combat, though, you recognize. Wordlessly, you reposition yourself into a fighting position and you lunge at him.

To onlookers the battle seems only to be a blur of motion, accented by the yellow glow of the general’s spear and the red of your blade. He forces you to keep on the move, making you work for every jab you take. Your swings are powerful, alike to a machine.

And then … you make mistake, and he knocks your sword out of your hands. It rattles to the ground a few feet away. Both of you follow it’s ark to the dirt.

And then he is upon you, his spear at your throat. Your eyes are locked, both of you heaving.

“Please,” He says, “Surrender. I do not wish to kill you,”

You swallow something sour and bring your leg up to kick his spear out of your face and turn to run, but he appears Infront of you, the air around him crackling with electricity.

You take the spear in both of your hands and pull, which surprises him and allows you to land a solid punch before running to your sword. With a roar of more feeling than you have allowed yourself in years, you lunge at him again. He simply knocks your sword awake and you fall to the ground once more.

He is looking at you with the same face as before, even out of breath.

“Aren’t you going to kill me?” Your quiet and voice is raspy with misuse.

Something sparks in his eyes, something you cannot name.

“That is not for me alone to decide,” He replies. “I am no executioner.”

ii.

The room has a small window from which you can see the endless black pinpricked with stars. They give you food from a slot in the door and you scoop it up and run to the other side of the room, stuffing it into your mouth with your back to the door.

The general has visited you, once or twice. The first time he’d asked questions. When you didn’t answer, he’d stopped. You wished you were trying to hide something then – at least you could say something.

You are waiting, although you do not know for what.

The door’s airlock hisses as it opens and you freeze, whirling around to face the general from the corner, caught shoveling food in your face by the fistful. Your eyes dart around. There is nowhere to run.

“Hello,” He greets, but does not move from his place near the door. It slides shut behind him.

You stare at him. Very slowly you wipe the rice that sticks to your cheeks with the back of your wrist.

“I – “ He breaks off, than sighs. “We were able to contact your master, Lady Testarossa,”

“My Mother,” You correct automatically.

The General draws his lips into a thin line. He inhales, then looks directly at you. “She is not willing to exchange information for your freedom.”

You are silent. You stare at him for a long time. It feels like your bones are freezing over.

“She – “

You force out. “Can I see it?”

“What?”

“The hologram. Can I see it.”

The General gives you a wary look.

“I believe you, I just – I just need to see it.”

The Generals eyes are swimming with an imitation you recognize from Mother’s servants. Pity.

“Let me see it! I need – “ You heave and the General starts to step forward, but stops himself. You still jump back anyway.

The General sets a blue square on the bed and presses it’s top with one finger. A miniature figure of you Mother flickers, wavy in the hologram.

“ – For that failure?” She laughs.

You involuntarily jerk.

“Absolutely not! If they got captured, then they are no use to me. They can die there for all I care! I have no need for defects! – For defects! – For defects – “

Your face is blank, save for your eyes blown unnaturally wide.

The hologram bursts into flame, and the fire alarm above you rings – soaking your sheets and the cloths your wearing that had almost been lit aflame.

iii.

For the next few days you do not eat. Or drink.

You do not move from your bed.

The room’s sensor insist that you are alive, so everybody believes it.

One day, the General returns.

“I have an offer for you,” He says, in that too soft voice of his. “I’ve seen your skills in battle and believe you would make a great asset us. I’d like you to be one of my retainers – as a Cloud Knight.”

“I am no Knight,” Your voice is sharp but holds no malice.

“Don’t worry,” He gives you a small smirk – the stars breaking though a space storm. “No one is, at first.”

[marengogo]

I APOLOGISE IN ADVANCE FOR THIS INTERRUPTION TO MY USUAL CONTENT 😌

I was gonna wait a bit longer, but with Hobi leaving tomorrow, I want to concentrate on that, and never have to bring this up after tonight, also I really did think it would all stop last week TBH

Wish I could have had a tête-a-tete with you, @mrs-monaghan, also sorry I tagged you but I am a nobody you don't know and I don't trust DMs, I've recently had one person disappear and because I trust people too much, I didn't SC convos, so I just thought, let me cut to the chase! but I was at work and as you so kindly pointed out, I need to focus when speaking to you, since you couldn't understood what I wrote in my reblog. Alas, english is not my first language, but we are going to make due, I am sure. Even without a translator, right? If not I'd suggest google, it is free and can work sometimes!

Speaking of free resources, the internet has a lot of them, such as dictionaries. Remember how I called you Ms Bla bla bla? Yeah, all that talking for a whole week yet, for the life of me, I coulnd't understand how you could keep misusing the word "bullying". It was just so jarring! Like Gurl! It's not that hard, no cap, I've held this in for like a week now, because I didn't know how to find the correct english words, but I think I have them now so I can finally let it out! Also I thought I'd start Monday with you not misusing that word anymore, but... I promise! Let me help, this is one of the few english words I know the meaning like the back of my hand!

BULLYING - seek to harm, intimidate, or coerce (someone perceived as vulnerable)

Definitions can be hard by themselves, I know learning english was a mission for me! So let me add examples:

If you ever talk about Tae I'll find you and i will break your fingers so bad, you won't be able to write a comment in your life

You worthless double-faced minion, shut the fuck up about Tae

You don't know what you are saying, take it back. You know you are wrong, you can't be thinking like that; there is no way you think you are right?

Does it make sense? If I, for example, decided to block some accounts which, for example, I know were hella double-faced, it was for me. Were any of the blocked told to change their minds? NO. Where they attacked be me explaining why they were blocked? NO. Would it be my fault trying to think about how every person on this planet could perceive my decision? NO. Feel however the fuck you want to feel, but if my mind perceives it to be toxic, I will not stay in toxicity, so I will not have you around me with that shit, is that so hard to understand? Like damn!

A conversation is had between 2 or more people, and believe it or not, people have the right to refuse to talk to you if they don't want to, and in your case you were ACTUALLY given a reason! WHAT MORE DO Y'ALL NEED? People are going to start WW3 with my decision how is that on me? Please. In the same way you, right now, can decide to reply to this post, not, to talk about me in your blog, WHATEVER, it is entirely up to you. Do you! And I can assure you I'll do me. keep going on and on and on and on and on and on misusing the word "bullying" I wont' stop caring because the relief I feel now that I've pointed out it's misuse; I'm ready to learn more english words!!

Tho, part of me would like to have a conversation with you, but I'm so concerned you will not understand anything I say so I can but feel sorry and apologetic. Whereas, on my side, I understood EVERYTHING you've said in your post the past week, and misuse of the word "bullying" aside, I swear it's been a minute since I've encountered someone whom has convinced themselves so hard that they are right, it is kinda scary. Last time it was in a K-drama named the Glory; Park Yeon-Jin. The verbal onslaught resemblance is uncanny if you haven't watched the glory you should, it's amazing!.

Anyways, I just wanted to correct the use of the word, for the rest you are entitled to your opinion so I don't care; definitions though are NOT opinions. I 👏🏾 CAN'T 👏🏾 STRESS 👏🏾 THAT 👏🏾 ENOUGH 👏🏾. Ayte? I'm sure you are well, I'm sure you've surrounded yourself with people you can trust why am I even saying this? Maybe I am being manipulated into saying this? Or maybe not? Which is it??..., so I don't need to wish you to stay healthy, which is correct english for "be well" right? Don't worry, if you ever reply to me, and whenever I reply to you cause to be fair I've had Anons waiting for months, and I am being unfair to them I promise my english will be better!

Always respectfully, and crassily not a word I know yours,

Marengo.

PS - feel free to call me whatever the fuck you want, but calling Megan the Stallion, Lizzo? What have they ever done to you? 👀 Like gurl ...

[compassionatereminders]

Anon said "And who's fault is it that you are awake for 35h+ not having a good time? You, exactly. That's why it's not useful to do drugs while you are in fucking Japan. You are putting the person you are staying with in danger for doing drugs and scare them with not sleeping. Congrats. Sure when you are in Denmark you can do wtf you want but going into a foreign country and doing drugs? That wasn't the wisest idea 🤷🏻‍♀️"

Ok but like... Will anon kindly know their fucking place and take a seat? I know this kind of thing doesn't really deserve an answer, but it pissed me off, and I deal with that by being argumentive :P

Point number 1: whose "fault" is it that Kat is awake on drugs, feeling poorly, for 35+ h? Well, as anon points out, Kat certainly has some responsibility in this situation. But in any given situation, the "fault" can be placed anywhere, depending on who you feel like attacking.

Unless you imagine Kat is literally stealing meds from me without my knowledge, does this situation not also imply "fault" on my side? Have I not knowingly taken on the responsibility of caring for Kat, drug use and all? Please. Don't reduce me to some poor little meow meow being taken advantage of and "put in danger" by the big bad Kat.

What is actually interesting here is anon's need to assign blame in the first place, and the fact that they present this perceived blame as "gotcha", when in fact they are literally repeating what Kat has already said herself.

Then, it would seem to me, that their primary investment is in hurting Kat.

If they truly are SO worried for the well-being of my brother and I, you'd expect them to sense that Kat is already feeling poorly and some amount of guilt/shame-fuelled anxiety. They would be aware that trying to make that worse, will only make the situation harder on everyone. But fact is, they don't care. About Kat, or me, or my brother.

They see an opening, and they immediately punch at it.

Anon, people like you are the reason people don't get help for legitimate problems, people like you actively make life harder for already-suffering people, people like you create a guarded defensiveness in anyone, you are the polar opposite of a compassionate reminder.

Do you think shame and guilt are constructive emotions? Do you think they are good for encouraging healthy behavior? If you do, consider go do some research...

Point number 2: ok no one is in danger, chill out. I think anon is just wildin', but just in case someone out there is legitimately worried, I'm gonna spell this part out. OBVIOUSLY Kat is not doing anything in a foreign country that could get her into serious legal trouble. If nothing else, I wouldn't let her, but she also wouldn't risk that. Misuse of prescription medication is problematic, but it's not dangerous in a legal sense, the way it would be, if we started acquiring street drugs in a country known for cracking down hard on illegal drugs.

Maybe anon is suggesting, rather, that Kat will become "dangerous" from overdoing drugs. I can assure anon that if either Kat or I thought she could become "dangerous" -and by "dangerous" I mostly mean "psychotic" and "dangerous to herself", then she would not have access to these drugs atm.

3: "scare them with not sleeping" .... Ok now you're just reaching. It might have been recently Halloween, but someone struggling to sleep, and subsequently needing a bit of help taking care of herself physically/mentally is not exactly a jumpscare ^^"

4: people who say "congrats" ironically are the literal worst. Go roll in a pile of pebble.

-Quinn

Some words directly from Quinn - the actual real life person involved in this unfortunate affair. So maybe you can all stop putting words in his mouth now? I mean considering that none of y'all actually know enough details about the situation to do anything but make antagonistic accusations

[glazedsnail]

It's fanfic time again.

I mean it started small but it's a long one so I'd rather send through like rapid fire like taktaktaktaktaktaktak y'know?

Nah I don't make sense to me either.

Anyway.

Misery Loved Company

ShanexOCFarmer (♀️) 18+ / swear words/substance misuse/explicit/suicide ideation/mention of abuse.

Part 1 is there, and part 2 here

Hang on a little bit more the smut is so close you can almost smell it you horndogs.

Also that's how I imagine Elliott's in his cabin wanting to go on an evening walk but he's just stuck.

And now you know why I'm not a pixel artist.

A soft gust of wind plays with his hair. I put back a slightly greying strand behind his ear. I don’t know what to expect of this evening anymore. It’s been all over the place.

‘So, uh’ he starts ‘are we like…’

‘I suppose we are.’

‘Should we drink to that?’

I giggle.

‘Might as well finish the pack, right?’

We each get a new can and enjoy it in silence, in the newfound status quo of our… relationship? We’re both in our thirties, this is laughable.

‘Thank you for inviting me out tonight. The beach was a very nice idea, I’m having a great time’

He still slightly blush, scratching his head.

‘Me too’ he finally mumbles. 

My empty stomach decides to join in so loudly it covers the waves, the wind, the distant seagulls and the crickets. 

Shane bursts out laughing. I squeeze my empty pouch hoping to make it shut the hell up. This date had not one romantic moment, this is a disaster.

‘Sorry’ I’m so darn embarrassed.

He laughs again, and it’s the most beautiful thing.

‘Y’know, we’ve not touched the pepper poppers yet’ He remarks.

‘Oh you’re right. Lemme just’ I grab the tightly sealed tupperware and a note falls from its lid. I hand the recipient to Shane.

This is Emily handwriting:

“If it doesn't work out with Shane I can hook you up. Shouldn’t be too hard :)”

My eyes blink fast. What the hell does she mean? Why the fuck did she think this would be a good idea? I quickly crumple the paper.

‘What’s that?’ Shane asks, in the middle of a pepper.

‘Nothing, some nonsense from Emily.’ 

I try to shove the crumpled paper in my pocket but miss. He takes the opportunity and grabs the piece.

‘Let me have a read.’

No please Yoba no. Not after everything. Why is the universe so against Shane and I enjoying an evening together? These past hours start to feel like weeks. I try to snatch it back but he stands up.

‘No!’ I cry as I follow him up, grabbing him by the arm with all my newfound farmer might.

‘Is it girl talk you’re embarrassed about?’ He laughs, keeping the small piece of paper away from me. I’m desperate to get it back. ‘Ouch!’ I just bit his arm. ‘You’re completely nuts!’ He yells, massaging his arms with the slight imprint of my teeth. 

‘Please Shane, give it back!’

I cannot let him read this nonsense. He’d take it to heart. I know I would. I don’t want a hook up, I never wanted a hook up in my life. I don’t want anyone else. I do not want anyone else. I want to taste his lips again, I want to experience the weight of his body against mine, wake up in the morning and watch him sleep peacefully, kiss him every chance I get, feel his stubble between my thighs. I don’t want anyone else. I don’t need anyone else, I need him. Just him.

‘Oh shit Fern are you ok?|’

I fell face first in the sand. He lifts me up as I cough some sand out of my mouth.

‘That was quite a fall.’ He pats the sand out of my legs.

‘I guess running on three beers isn’t of my age anymore. Where’s the note?’ 

‘Right here.’ He holds the crumpled note between two fingers, above my head. 

‘Can you please give it to me? Please?’

‘What’s so embarrassing, c’mon, it can’t be that bad.’ He laughs and unfolds it. I bury my face in my hands. Between my fingers I can see his smile slowly disappearing.

‘Shane, it’s’

He lifts a finger towards me to stop me and I shut up. My throat hurts so much, there’s so much I want to say. It’s all stuck in there. His smile is gone. He looks furious.

Without a word, he swiftly walks towards the blanket and starts picking things up.

‘Shane I know how it looks but please I beg you, stop.’

‘What? You read the note. It’ll be easy to find you another hook up. I don’t doubt it myself the way you can twist people around your finger.’

‘It’s not what I want!’

‘Or another relationship, why do I care.’

‘I did not ask Emily to hook me up, she was just being silly, I don’t know I… There’s no “if it doesn’t work with Shane”, please. Please! You have to believe me.’

I try to stop him from packing but fail miserably.

‘I did believe you Fern, that was my first mistake. I believed your insistence came from a genuine place, that there could be such a thing as an “us”. Even believed someone like me could be…Shit, leave me alone Fern.’

‘No.’

‘Move from the blanket.’

‘No.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous. Move.’

‘I will not move unless you hear me out.’

‘Oh that’s just precious. You’re going to try and use your stupid words to twist me around like you did the whole evening, all the times you were ever talking to me, aren’t you? It’s never been about me, just about grabbing an easy cock for the night? Or get some high on saviour complex? Do you think you’re the first one I meet?’

‘Do you hear yourself?!’ I snap, still intimidated by his raised voice. ‘If I wanted a cheap fuck I would have stayed in the city. If I wanted no substance I wouldn’t have been so vulnerable with you. Are you going to judge me based on a silly note instead of all we’ve been through? I like you Shane. A lot. Fuck. A LOT! Yeah, this date could have ended with us fucking, who knows? Who knows with this damn date anymore. But you know why it’d have happened? Not because I want to fuck, but because I want you. I wouldn’t even care if all you ever wanted was a cheap fuck or wanted me cause I’d be happy, stupidly happy, to have you, even for one night. Just you, you, Shane. Do you understand? I’m not the hook up type, never have and never will but I just lo…like you so much.’

‘Aren’t you tired of your big speeches by now?’

I am furious.

‘Shane, look at me. Look at me in the eyes.’ I grab him by the hoodie. I’m trembling, keeping my tears at bay as much as I can. ‘I choose to believe you trust me enough to know I could never lie to you. I know this means nothing. You know, I met the saviour type. the fixing crowd. I know them. The one that takes pride in being part of your recovery while putting you down enough so you're stuck thinking you can't improve without them, that you'll never do or be any better. Don’t you dare take me for one of them. I know you can't believe I'm like that. ’

He averts my gaze. I gently place my hand on his cheek, forcing him to look at me again, slowly caressing the roughness of his stubble.

‘You’re trying really hard aren’t you?’

‘Trying what? I simply hate being misunderstood, misperceived. Hell, at the best of times I hate being perceived at all.’

‘You weren’t too concerned about being perceived by me of all people.’

‘I don’t have any explanation for this. I could try my whole life to explain why I need you.’

My voice has gotten lower, so has his. He grabs my hand still resting on his cheek and lowers it down. I try to get closer but he grabs me by the waist. He reaches my chin and rests his thumb on my lower lip. His eyes fall into mine. I can see he’s scared. I know his grief.

He calmly blinks, his eyes now looking softer.

The candles are almost down to the wick. Their flickering lights send stripes through his conflicted face. I can’t remember when was the last time I took a breath. His hand steadily goes from my waist to my back and, in a defeated groan, he pulls me towards him and kisses me.

My legs are going to give in. I grab the back of his head and kiss him back.

‘Fern’ he starts, leaving my lips.

‘Please, kiss me again.’

He tightens his embrace, not waiting to be asked twice. I part my lips, use my tongue to part his and taste him. His kisses are incredibly soft. His hands on my body are making me shiver and lose complete control. I let my hips roll towards his bulge. He wants me, he can have me. I want to give myself to that man over and over again. I want him, no, need him, to fill me up with sin. 

‘Shane...’ I whisper in a lustful voice.

‘Fuck.’ he answers.

He carries me down the abandoned blanket. I gasp as his hips fall between my open legs, making me arch my back.

‘I want you.’ I manage to say.

He buries his face in my neck and starts kissing the tender skin, gives it a nibble, and bites into it as he hears my moans growing in his ear. 

That’s when the rain decides to start heavily falling on us.