#and horses who are large are not really fast or what you would need as a bandid in the desert

[yandere-romanticaa]

Marriage was often used as a tool of convenience - be it to upgrade one's own social status, get some much needed silver and gold, or to just get one leg up over your enemies, it really did not matter in the end.

Like it or not, you were tied to that person till death did you part.

That was a chant that has been sung to you ever since you came out of your weeping mother's womb. As the daughter of the household, it was natural for you to wed one day. However, the family was one of average standing, it had no special titles tacked onto it nor did it have any grotesque reputation which could sully it to the darkness and back. In its own way, it was oddly blissful, being invisible like that. No one expected you to act like a stuck up lady who would be locked away deep in a tower and you were also safe from becoming a measley wench who would be forced to spend the rest of her miserable days stuck rolling around in the mud, selling her body to all sorts of horrific strangers just in order to eat for a day.

You had the privilege of being born into a happy life. Perhaps a slightly dull one sometimes but regardless, a good one at that. You were content with everything which was given to you, perhaps even happy.

However, all things come to an end, and your end came in the form of a man riding on horseback.

He was strong, capable, handsome... But you kept that thought to yourself as you helped the wounded stranger get back on his feet, his midnight black steed happily trotting away somewhere as it accidentally shook the rider off its back once it locked eyes on you, a stranger in the woods.

"And who might you be?" asked the dark haired man, his curly hair framing his pale face so wonderfully that it took the breath from your lungs away.

You held onto him tightly and pressed him close to your body, the odor of blood and sweat covering him from top to bottom but you couldn't be bothered to care. He wore simple clothing which made you think that he was in a similar position like yourself in terms of finance, which gave you a slight glimmer of hope.

It was embarrassing how much you were swooning over the stranger.

Taking him back to your hut took longer than expected but all was well in the end. The handsome stranger had a name, Robb he said it was, and you couldn't hide the adoration in your voice whenever he would speak to you. The night flew by like a summer breeze - too fast and too sweet. Come first daylight he had to leave, which you understood.

That didn't stop you from feeling a little blue.

He mounted his horse like a knight in shining armor, its mane tussling proudly in the bitter north wind as Robb looked down at you, his warm blue eyes desperate to tell you many stories and secrets, but time was cruel and scarce.

He would come back to you, he promised.

And you gave him a smile sweeter than any juicy fruit, telling him that you would gladly wait for him.

He rode away all the while looking back at you, sending you a heart stopping smile which could make anyone weak in the knees. The horse left large hoofprints in the snow and you focused your attention on that, rather than the bitter stabs of pain in your heart.

There would never be a day when you'd see Robb ever again.

You were due to leave for the South in a few weeks time, in order to finally be wed off. The fantasy of Robb was saccharine and enchanting, many hours of sleep were lost due to him. Even if you barely knew him, the matters of the heart were reckless and stupid.

The heart wants what it wants and your heart ached for Robb.

All the while, you hadn't a clue of him and his plans. The men in Winterfell grew tired of his constant ramblings of this lovely woman he met, this sweet little thing which made his heart sing like no one else. He would walk in the corridors with a pep in his step as he thought of all the ways he could take you back to his home and give you the life you deserved.

His candied tirade quickly came to an abrupt halt once his mother had informed him of the grave news, that you had been promised to another man.

Robb was furious.

Who was this man?! Who did he think he is?! Ever the meticulous man, he got to work immediately. In less than a few days he had managed to gather all the information he could on this mystery fiance of yours, all the papers sprawled across his massive table. The candles in his chambers glimmered gently, the shimmering light a stark contrast to the raging flames in his heart.

If he could have his way, he'd be out for blood. Robb was too much of a jealous man for his own good but he needed to think, he needed to prepare if he wanted to do this right.

In less than a day, he had everything set up. If the man wasn't willing to take the gold he was offering him, he was not above using any scare tactics. His anger ended up getting the better of him though, so a bizarre combination of both was used.

The way in which your fiance left you made your heart sink. How were you going to break the news to your parents? Whatever could you have done so wrong to earn the ire of this lord whom you haven't even met yet...

You weep in your room, staining the mattress with your salty tears, completely oblivious to the small cavalry with House Stark banners raging on your front door.

Robb Stark had come for his bride. And she had no idea what sort of future awaited her...

[fiber-optic-alligator]

Hello! If you still got slots for requests, may I ask for some soft vore with Earthspark Bumblebee? Hope that’s okay!

It is absolutely okay anon! Earthspark Bumblebee...whatta guy. Personally, he's one of my favorite Bee incarnations, so I really enjoyed writing this. Thanks for the request! Feedback is always appreciated! :D

I wanted to make the reader androgynous when it comes to the environment Earthspark takes place in for the sake of all of you who are imagining yourselves into the story. Just assume you live on the Malto property alongside Bumblebee to help train the Terrans and kids if you wish.

Warmth In Raindrops

Pairing: Earthspark Bumblebee x Human Reader

Warning: This story contains soft vore. If this is something that makes you uncomfortable, then please do not read this story.

Word Count: 1661

You can’t sleep.

  The thunder outside keeps you awake. With every crashing boom, you feel like there are a million trash cans toppling over outside, ringing painfully and causing your eardrums to ache. You shiver, drawing the covers over your head, your body curled up into a ball as you shrink back against your mattress. Lightning flashes through the window blinds. You feel like you are trapped within a haunted mansion despite being in your own bedroom.

  You can’t sleep like this, and if the storm continues at this ferocity, you won’t be earning a wink all night.

  More thunder. A whimper escapes your lips, and you squeeze your eyelids shut so tightly they hurt. You can feel the fatigue weighing you down, all the way from your bones to your brain. It’s quite pathetic to find yourself in this state. Childhood is long behind you; thunder is not something you should fear anymore. Yet, you’ve never managed to get over that instinctive dislike for loud sounds. And so here you are, with no way to escape the anger from the skies above, forced to tremble before their booming might.

  You don’t want to be alone.

  Slowly, you sit up and push the covers off of you. Each careful step you take through the house is illuminated by the lightning and shaken by the heavy drumming of raindrops. You have to dress yourself for the weather before you go outside. Your coat and boots do little to ward off the deluge, and as soon as you walk out the front door, you are soaked. Anxiety is quickly overcome by frustration. You run for the large red barn that sits a little ways off from the house, mud and water splashing in your wake as you keep your hood over your head. The comforting farm scents of hay and horse bring peace to your agonized mind when you slip through the doors and into the darkness.

  There are no animals, not right now. In the far corner of the barn, you see a hulking mass spread out on its back. It is big; bigger than anything else in the barn, the giant robot who is currently taking up residence here is fast asleep. You peel off your coat and boots, throwing them to the side before tiptoeing over to the black-and-yellow mech. Bumblebee is huge, even when he is laying down like this, but you feel no fear when you approach the recharging bot. He’s proven himself time and time again that he would never hurt you.

“Bee,” you hiss.

Bumblebee snores.

  You sigh. “Bee.” You shake his arm lightly. “Bee, wake up.”

  He snorts and sits up sharply, optics flickering open with a start. “Huh? Wha…?” His gaze lands on you. “Oh. Y/N. What-what time is it?”

  “It’s midnight,” you reply.

  “Midnight?” He stretches his arms over his head and yawns like a big cat, large incisors on full display while blue light momentarily radiates from his mouth. “Why aren’t you in bed?”

 ��You look down at your feet and shrug, mumbling out a halfhearted answer that doesn’t form into proper words. He takes the sight of you in and softens.

  “Can’t sleep?” he whispers.

  You shake your head and hug yourself tightly. Bumblebee smiles sympathetically and rolls onto his side, opening his arms wide. “Come here.”

  You don’t need any more convincing. He laughs softly when you practically fling yourself into him. He curls himself around you, hugging you tight to his chassis. “Clingy tonight, aren’t we?”

  “Mm, shut up.” You slap him lightly. He laughs and coos, nuzzling his nose into your hair. “Cute little one,” he murmurs.

  More thunder causes you to stiffen. He notices and chuffs questioningly. “What’s wrong?” he asks.

  You tilt your head up to look at him. The glow of his optics is calm, his expression one of soft concern. It’s a bit embarrassing for you, a grown adult, to admit the answer, but the look he’s giving you silently implores you to trust him. You can tell him anything. He won’t judge.

“The thunder,” you reply.

  Bumblebee blinks. “Is it scaring you?”

  You bite your bottom lip and nod, lowering your head to sheepishly hide your reddening cheeks in your arms. The mech’s voice drops to a whisper. “Hey.” He dips his index digit under your chin and tips your head back up to meet his gaze. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I get it, I do.” He rubs his thumb up and down your thigh in a soothing manner and speaks with a honey-sweet tone. “Do you want to go inside?”

  You perk up a little. “You-you mean it?”

  “I wouldn’t have offered it if I didn’t,” he chuckles. “I know how sensitive your ears are to loud noises, and even though I can be quite…noisy…” He presses his servo over his midsection, and you can hear an eager growl echo up from beneath his plating. “I know you would rather listen to me than the thunder. So c’mon.” He opens his intake, casting you in the cyan glow of his biolights. “You want in?”

  You hesitate, casting an uneasy look into the massive robotic mouth that’s so, so close to you. Warm air that carries the slight scent of gasoline wafts around you, beckoning you forward with hypnotic warmth. You’ve never allowed yourself to be…eaten by a Cybertronian before. You are aware of their capabilities, of how they can swallow a human down into their tank. You wouldn’t be digested. You’d be…warm…

  Bumblebee senses your nervousness and tries to soothe you with low purrs. He bumps his nose against you again. “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” he murmurs. “You’ll be safe. I promise, I’ll always keep you safe.”

  You inhale shakily. Warmth. Safety. You’ll take both over the thunder. So you sit up and reach your arms forward to carefully press your hands against his tongue.

  It’s soft, squishy. It doesn’t have a fleshy feeling to it, but rather its texture is like silicone, allowing you to sink into it with little resistance. Bumblebee looks down at you with a twinkle in his eye. Slowly, he shifts your hands to the side by curling his tongue up to taste them. The sensation of it rolling underneath your palms causes you to giggle. “T-That tickles.”

  “Does it? Sorry. You just…you taste really good.”

  “I…I do?”

  “Yes.” He presses his tongue up against your palms with more force. “I can definitely see myself craving you.”

  You giggle again. “I don’t know whether to be flattered or disgusted.”

  “Ehh, maybe both.” He laughs. “But I’d prefer the former over the latter.”

  He nudges you forward. You comply and allow him to guide you into his mouth. Climbing over giant teeth, you flop forward, biolight washing over you as you peer down his throat. He lifts his tongue to slide you further in. He’s patient with this; there’s no hunger in the way he draws you in, no sense of urgency or possessiveness. He lets you go at your own pace, and only when you are completely inside does he close his mouth. The sound of the thunder is barely audible now. You nestle in and close your eyes, soaking in the heat, content to remain like this for the rest of the night.

  Bumblebee hums. His tongue rises only a little, and you inch closer to his throat. Though he doesn’t gulp you down, from the way saliva is practically dripping from every surface of his mouth right now, you can tell he desperately wishes to swallow you. Not wanting to torture him any longer, you give him the all clear. “It’s okay, Bee. I’m ready.”

  Another hum is what you get for a response. He gives one last little lick to your face before he swallows.

  It’s a slow journey down. You close your eyes and let his esophagus carry you further into his body. All around you is the sound of his purrs. When you finally do slip into his fuel tank and sink into the thick, squishy cables that close in to hug you close, you feel such an intense level of comfort that it makes you want to beg him to keep you in here forever.

  “Y/N?” Bumblebee whispers for you. “Are you alright? Can you hear me?”

  “Mm.” You make a soft, relaxed noise. “M’ okay, Bee. I can hear you.”

  “Is it alright in there?” he asks. “Are you warm? Can you see?”

  “Bee, trust me, I’m fine. I’m very warm and I feel very happy.” You lay flat on your back and stare up at the tank’s “ceiling.” All around you, his biolights shine. It’s like a light show that feels so good to look at. “I don’t know why we haven’t done this before.”

  “I didn’t think you’d want to do it,” he says. “I haven’t done this with a human in…oh gosh, I want to say years, but it's probably been a decade.” The tank walls squeeze you in one big bear hug…or, bot hug, you think humorously to yourself. “But I’m glad I could do it again with you.”

  You smile and close your eyes. “You are such a sap.”

  “What can I say?” He squeezes you again. “I’m always a sap for you, little one.”

  You murmur incomprehensible noises and turn onto your stomach, squirming with a flustered feeling rising within you as your cheeks turn red. Bumblebee coos and cuddles you, wrapping his arms around his midsection to hold you tightly within. You say nothing else, and yet, you know you don’t have to. He understands. He always does.

  There is no thunder here. Only gurgles and purrs and his sparkbeat. You find yourself slipping off into sleep before you know it. Your rest is deep and undisturbed. It’s safe here. You are safe here. With him surrounding you, protecting you, there is no reason to remain awake.

[forasecondtherewedwon]

get ya thinkin' (that you need me)

Fandom: Twisters Rating: T Word Count: 6028

Summary: Kate, Javi, Tyler, Lily, Dexter, Dani, and Boone—they're all one crew now, and they need funding. Trying to look more responsible on a grant application, they come up with an unconventional solution: two of them should get married. But which two? Javi and Tyler prompt Kate to consider what her friendships could become.

“I know it was me,” Tyler prefaces. “I know I’m the one who said our crew didn’t need PhDs, but…”

“But it might be nice to have one right about now?” Lily guesses.

There’s a collective sigh as they all stare at the screen together. Javi, controlling the touchpad, scrolls down and back up again, like the words might have changed, like this grant application isn’t punishingly particular and hopelessly intimidating.

“If we type it up in the wrong font it gets rejected?” Lily checks, jabbing a finger at the line she picks out of the blur.

Boone shifts and turns to Kate. “You’re doing your PhD, right? How soon you gonna be done?”

Kate gives him a look that asks if he’s shitting her. “Not by next Monday, which is when this application’s due.”

“Fuck,” Javi groans, rubbing his forehead.

“Well, hey, you gotta be good at this kinda thing, Storm Par,” Tyler reasons. “Your old crew had money comin’ out its eyeballs.”

“That was from investors. Highly unethical investors,” he clarifies, with a glance at Kate, who frowns sympathetically. “Private money. We never held a government grant.”

“We need more time,” Kate declares, like just saying that could possibly extend the deadline.

She shoves herself up and away from the motel bed they’re all gathered on the end of. If any of them were responsible adults, they’d be able to admit that they don’t need the deadline to be later, they need to have started working on this sooner. A lot sooner. The trouble is, they’re the furthest thing possible from responsible—at least, not in any way a government grant application would define the term (and, Jesus, does this application ever love defining terms—Definition of Terms is a whole section of the instructions, right at the top). They’re storm-chasers, risk-takers, and no, no one has yet seen fit to bestow upon them large amounts of money to fund their research, so it’s tough to prove they’re a safe bet, a good call, a fast horse.

“The only aspect we may be able to exploit,” Dexter pipes up, “is format.”

“It’s all online, I thought,” Dani says, seated beside him.

“Most of it is, but… could you scroll back up?” he requests of Javi. “Right… there. In the research proposal section, there’s an option for delivery method.”

“Thirty minutes or it’s free?” Boone quips.

Lily rolls her eyes at him.

“No,” Kate says, pacing. “No, it means we might have a better chance if we submit an audio recording of us explaining our research, maybe Javi talking through the data to make the significance really clear. Or we make a slideshow, or film a video.” She pauses to smile. “You guys would be great at that. The point is—”

“The point is,” Tyler picks up, meeting her eyes, “we could convince them on our own terms. No PhD necessary.”

“Though we’d still have to seem stable,” Kate stresses. Everyone nods back at her. “Professional.”

“Who says we’re not professional?” Javi demands.

“Do I need to bring up the pants thing?”

“…No.”

“Everybody in this room knows their shit,” Tyler says.

“Right,” Dani says slowly, “but you can’t say we aren’t… slightly erratic. Not that it’s a bad thing, for what we do. But Kate did say ‘stable.’”

“To be clear,” Kate says, “I’m not telling anybody to quit driving like a total jackass, or making up catchphrases that promote reckless behaviour—”

“Or shooting fireworks into a tornado,” Javi contributes.

“These non-criticisms feel oddly specific,” Tyler says tightly.

“Our roster’s not even stable,” Lily points out. She folds her legs on top of the bland coverlet and the mattress’s springs shriek. “Kate’s only been part of the crew a couple days longer than Javi, and that hasn’t been very long.”

“That is a valid point,” Dexter says.

Kate sighs. “It is. So, I’m asking honestly,” she finishes. “What can we do, by next Monday, to convince some government committee”—she slaps the back of one hand into the palm of the other as she lists criteria—“we are sane, we are stable, we are going to go the distance with this research?”

Into the silence that follows, Javi says, “We could get married.”

There’s another second of absolute quiet before Tyler asks, “Was that an open proposal, or is there a happy couple you had in mind?”

What Kate thinks they’ve probably all been enjoying about the new (or just newly expanded) crew is the lack of awkwardness. Javi’s Storm Par crew was rife with it. While having zero members with a PhD is sometimes a challenge, Kate saw how too many PhDs could be even worse; there was a hierarchy amongst those guys, and if anyone dared offer a suggestion, the rest of them would throw sidelong glances at one another. Kate figured a few of them could straight-up go to hell (particularly Scott), but she still doesn’t know how Javi stood it.

But even that awkwardness was clearly power-based. Javi’s suggestion is different, more personal, and definitely more awkward.

The vibe in the motel room is immediately screwed up. Some people look like they want to laugh, others are frowning in contemplation, and Javi’s just blushing, not looking anyone in the eye. Still, because he’s Javi, he doesn’t chicken out. He tries to make his case.

“You guys heard of Jo Harding?”

“Fuck yeah, I’ve heard of Jo Harding,” Dani announces. “Who in the tornado game hasn’t?”

“Well, she’s an Oklahoma girl, so I was just checking.” Javi shrugs. “Her husband was her partner when she chased.”

“Yeah, but she had a whole crew,” Boone says.

“Yeah, but she also had a husband.”

“Stop mansplaining Jo Harding,” Lily complains, flinging herself backwards on the bed.

“It’s not like having a husband made her a good scientist, or a good storm-chaser,” Dani says.

“I’m not saying that!” Javi protests.

“Yeah, dude, Jo’s husband isn’t the most interesting thing about her,” Boone adds.

“I can’t believe we’ve now spent more time talking about Jo Harding’s husband than Jo Harding,” Lily groans.

“They won the grant!” Javi bursts out. “They won the fucking grant!”

Tyler, who’s mostly just been observing the crew with amusement up to this point, looks at Javi and cocks an eyebrow. “This grant?”

“Yes! This grant! I’m just trying to say they’re a powerful team. Formidable. I’ve read, like, every article ever done on them—”

“Woah, woah, woah. You have? That’s intense.”

Kate glances at Tyler and explains, “He had a crush.”

“Sounds more like an obsession.”

“I admired their work,” Javi says defensively.

“Oh, is that what you were admiring in that one article where you cut across the text and just kept the photo of Jo?” Kate checks, smirking.

“What have I done to you, Kate? Goddamn.”

“Finish your point,” she prompts.

Javi sighs and braces his hands behind him, leaning back carefully so the laptop doesn’t slide from his lap.

“They always talk about how they make each other better. Not that the other person is why they’re good at their job in the first place,” he clarifies, shooting glances at Lily, Boone, and Dani, “but that they look out for each other, stop each other from making stupid decisions, keep each other safe. And yeah, a crew can do that too. A good crew. But a married couple just sells devotion and, and conviction in a different way. All I’m saying is it’s something to try.”

“It’s not an unreasonable proposition,” Dexter allows when it’s clear that Javi’s done. Dexter’s calm, steady voice giving the idea his tentative approval strengthens its merit for everyone in the room. Kate can see it. She exhales.

“Alright,” she says. “Well, we don’t have a lot of time to mull this over before the deadline, but let’s give Javi’s suggestion some thought. And any other ideas you guys come up with. Maybe reconvene on this tomorrow?”

There are nods and murmurs of approval.

The room they’re in is Lily and Dani’s, so the crewmembers not hanging around to chill file out onto the sidewalk that lines the motel. Kate’s just thinking about going back to her own room—well, hers and Javi’s, with matching twin beds in baby-blue coverlets that make her think of the Shining twins—and getting some sleep. They chased yesterday, then stayed up late last night going over the data. They’ve all been eating at weird hours, and now with the stress of the grant application… Kate runs a hand over her face. She can hear Javi and Tyler talking behind her, but she doesn’t think anything of it until she’s unlocked the motel room door and Tyler follows her and Javi inside.

“We need to talk,” Tyler states the second the door’s closed.

“‘We could get married,’” Kate quotes. (Sarcastically, but yeah, she’s beat.) “‘We need to talk.’ You’re both so dramatic today.”

“That’s what we need to talk about,” Tyler says, ignoring her sarcasm.

“What?”

“Getting married.”

Kate gives him a slow blink.

“We just did,” she says. “That’s what that conversation was.” She points in the direction of the other motel room.

“But we need to decide,” Javi says.

“We will. Everyone needs some time to think.”

“No, they don’t,” Tyler says.

“Uh, yes, they do. If they’d either thought it was the best solution or a total flop, they would’ve said right after Javi explained.”

“I know our crew better than you do, Sapulpa��just a fact. Trust me, they had an opinion.”

“Then how come nobody said anything?” Kate asks skeptically.

“Because it isn’t about them,” Javi says.

“What? Of course it is! The grant is for the team. We can put it towards a new drone for Lily and get Boone some more—”

“Not the grant. The marriage.”

“The marriage would be for the grant.” Kate has a bad feeling that she’s started talking to Javi like he’s an idiot, but she’s seriously just not getting it. Why isn’t he just saying what he means? She’s tired.

Tyler laughs. He laughs! She stares at him.

“Come on,” he says, “you have to know why they all clammed up.”

Kate looks to Javi. Javi, the guy she basically ghosted until he showed up at her workplace to drag her back here. Javi, who’s still her best friend, no matter what. Javi, who she really needs to make sense right now.

“They didn’t ask any questions,” Javi says gently.

“Most importantly,” Tyler cuts in, “nobody asked who this hypothetical marriage would be between. You catch that?”

“That’s just because we need to decide whether or not we’re doing it first,” Kate says, crossing her arms.

“You really think that’s why? And not that it’s because of the way Storm Par here looks at you, or the fact that he’s the one who suggested getting hitched? It’s not just a grant application, Kate. There are other stakes here.”

Kate flushes lightly, and when she chances a look at Javi, he is too. Tyler’s not exactly wrong, but he isn’t quite right either; she and Javi go back a long way. They care about one another—which is natural, especially after what they survived. Kate would also be lying if she tried to tell Tyler she hasn’t noticed those looks of Javi’s, that she’s blind to the way his steady brown eyes linger on her when she speaks, find her when she’s still, working out the math for their next planned chase. She doesn’t hate it, that way he has of looking at her.

Javi temporarily saves her from responding. Once he’s made his point, she’s not entirely grateful.

"Me?" he says to Tyler. “Those guys aren’t keeping their opinions to themselves because of some obvious claim I was staking on Kate. I’m subtle.”

The remark is so pointed that it’s no wonder Tyler reacts to it, even as Kate has a private, silent panic.

“I never staked a claim on Kate,” Tyler assures him.

“Sure you did,” Javi argues. “You stayed at her house. You met her mom. You basically poached her from Storm Par.”

“I didn’t need to poach her. She came willingly. And I bet you’ve stayed at her house and met her mom! You’ve known each other, what? Forever? That about right?”

“Well, what about you two?” Kate interrupts, gesturing between the men. “Old rivals, new allies. Some unresolved tension from chasing the same storms, maybe? How do you know the crew weren’t picturing you at the altar?”

While this seems to genuinely bewilder Javi, Tyler hitches his jeans and shrugs. “Wouldn’t be my first rodeo.”

“I just don’t think anybody’s thinking anything.”

“They might not all be thinking the same thing,” Tyler allows her, “but they’re all thinkin’ something. The two people getting married to give us a shot at this grant are standing in this room right now. I guarantee it.”

The three of them eye each other.

“If there’s going to be a marriage,” Javi says.

“Oh, there is,” Tyler says. “You made too good a case for it. Whole lotta money on the line. Seems too logical not to try.”

“Nothing about this is logical,” Kate decides, and goes to brush her teeth in the tiny bathroom.

When she comes back out, Tyler’s gone. She cedes the bathroom to Javi so he can get ready for bed too. They exchange a look as he passes her, but she waves him on, pats his shoulder as he passes. They can talk when he’s ready. Well, maybe not ready, but ready for bed. She goes to her squeaky twin and sits down to wait.

“It’s insane,” Kate says a little later.

They’re lying down, facing each other across the divide between their narrow beds. There’s an old movie playing on the perhaps equally old TV that sits against the opposite wall; they’ve turned the sound way down. The screen’s glow provides the only light. Kate thumps her pillow for emphasis rather than elaborating. She just doesn’t have anything smart left to say on this topic.

“It’s also not,” Javi counters. He’s run out of more sophisticated arguments too.

“So, two of us are really going to get married?”

“Hey, we do crazier shit literally every day. And it’s not, like, real. Whether or not it helps us get the grant, the marriage can be annulled, or they can get divorced, or whatever. It doesn’t have to be a big deal.”

Kate laughs, and then Javi laughs too. She likes watching him laugh; his smile hangs on for such a long time after he stops. It’s sweet.

“Who do you think it should be?” she wonders.

“I mean, I would do it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I suggested it, right? Gotta put my… I don’t know, my vows where my mouth is.”

“So rational,” Kate notes, sort of joking, though she does also admire Javi’s pragmatism. He’s thinking of the crew, how to look out for them, both by securing this grant and by sparing them the need to enter into this plan which is—regardless of what he says—a little insane. When she thinks of it that way… “I guess I would too.”

“You would get married?”

“Why not? Since it has to be somebody. You’re my best friend, anyway,” she says, sending him a soft smile. “It wouldn’t be like marrying a stranger. Besides, nothing would really change.”

“You don’t think so?” Javi asks earnestly. Which is not the easiest question to answer. But Javi has more to say before he’ll let her try. “You know… I mean, I told you…”

“That you would’ve done anything for me, back then,” Kate fills in. She sees Javi nod against his pillow. She exhales slowly. “Yeah. I didn’t really pick up on that. I just thought we were friends.”

“We were friends. We are. I just felt a little more for you than that. Not that I ever would’ve done anything. You and Jeb were great together. I wouldn’t have been dumb enough to try to come between you, and I didn’t want to. I just sort of quietly…” Javi grins like he can’t help it. “…had this thing for you.”

Kate returns his grin, amused because it’s easier to feel amused than to feel sad. She wants to be able to talk about Jeb, hasn’t let herself in so long, putting herself more than a thousand miles away from anyone else who knew him. Now, it feels so good to hear Jeb’s name in the mouth of somebody who cared about him too. With Javi, Jeb will never be forgotten. Kate will never lose the opportunity to talk about Jeb, to reminisce. Javi will be as respectful now as he apparently was then, keeping his own wants reined in so Jeb and Kate could be happy with each other. Who should she—should either of them—allow to make her happy now? With his caring, trusting eyes trained on her as the light from the TV flashes and shifts, Javi seems like a pretty good choice.

“It’d be more than practical for you,” she acknowledges.

“It would.” Javi sighs. “I thought you’d better have all the facts.”

“I appreciate that.”

“And now you can admit it,” he prompts.

“What?”

“That you got the hots for me too.”

They share another laugh. But Kate can only laugh so long as a reaction to his teasing tone, because, yeah, she kind of has started to think of him in that way since being back here in Oklahoma. She’s been trying to wait it out a little. Part of that’s fear; Jeb was her last serious attachment. She hasn’t been able to love somebody like that again (she hasn’t even really tried to date), too scared that something awful will happen. With Javi, it’s a real possibility that he could meet Jeb’s exact same fate, and there’s no place in the whole world Kate could move to that could get her far enough away from here if that happened.

The other reason she’s waited is that coming back, coming home, has provoked a swirling mess of feelings in her—an emotional tornado, if she’s honest, and it has taken honesty to let herself be hit by the force of those feelings instead of retreating to the mental bunker where she’s spent the last five years. Those winds are still calming. In the meantime, Kate hasn’t wanted to confuse the feeling of being home with a desire to be more than friends with Javi.

“Not then,” he says kindly, when she doesn’t reply right away. “I know you didn’t then.”

“Coming back,” Kate starts, her gaze drifting, “hasn’t been totally what I thought it would be. I’d be lying if I said you weren’t part of that. You’re the same as you were then, but different too. I’d never seen you lead a team before.”

“You surprised those guys listened to me?”

“No, I guess I just wasn’t expecting the way you made room for me. I saw that you were still on my side…

“I always have been.”

“I know,” she promises, meeting his eye. “And you trusted me again, immediately—”

“No reason not to,” Javi says easily.

“There were reasons not to,” she insists. Does she need to remind him of their first chase after she arrived? How she panicked? How she was the reason they didn’t get the third scanner set up and so couldn’t collect data that day? “But you vouched for me. Last time, with our team, you trusted me because I was the head of the project. It felt like you trusted me just as fully this time, even though it meant committing all those other people and all your resources.”

She’s surprised, while she’s being this sincere, that Javi laughs at her.

“I never trusted you just because you were the head of the project,” he explains. “I trusted you because you were you. You’re still you. You’re so you that Tyler’s ready to marry you too, and you’ve known each other less than a month.”

Kate makes a dismissive sound.

“You know there’s something between you,” Javi says. “That man is crazy about you.”

“I think he might just be crazy. It’s well-documented on the internet.”

“He’s always close to you.”

“So are you.”

“Exactly,” Javi agrees. “So I can speak to his motives.”

“We survived an EF4 together. He sheltered me with his body in the bottom of a swimming pool. Maybe we just shared an intense, near-death experience.”

“Is that all?”

Kate deflates.

“No. He is pretty hot.”

“That’s what I thought,” Javi says triumphantly.

There’s more to it than that, but Javi can obviously tell that already, so it doesn’t seem worth saying. Kate folds her pillow in half so she can sit up a little higher.

“Well, can we talk about the look on your face?”

“When?”

“‘Wouldn’t be my first rodeo,’” Kate quotes, badly mimicking Tyler’s voice.

“As if he meant anything by that.”

“How do you know?”

“He’s Tyler Owens! He just says shit for dramatic effect!”

Kate crosses her arms and stares at her friend with amusement.

“Probably!” Javi adds weakly.

“I could see you two married. Fake-married.”

“He is good at what he does,” Javi concedes, “when he’s not being a total jackass.”

“Is that all?” she teases.

She hears Javi’s deep sigh.

“I’ve watched a few of his YouTube videos,” Javi confesses. “He takes off his shirt sometimes.”

Kate sinks back down into bed after that. At some point, half-asleep, she hears Javi get up to use the bathroom. He switches off the TV on his way past, and the light quits flickering across Kate’s closed eyelids.

—

They aren’t chasing the next day, so they decide to stay in town for breakfast at the little diner. Because they’re together so much—hunched over the same screens, crammed into the same vehicles, bunked in the same motel rooms—it isn’t unusual for them to not eat together. Four of them practically feels like a family reunion, but Kate’s glad of the company. She, Javi, Tyler, and Boone grab a booth and flap open their cracked plastic menus.

Javi, seated opposite her and next to Boone, keeps looking at her. Kate can feel it without returning his gaze. When she relents and looks back at him while they’re eating, she sees (as she suspected she would) that he isn’t making eyes at her over his pancakes—he’s watching her with Tyler. She makes a face at Javi. There’s nothing to see! Tyler might be sitting beside her, but he’s intent on dipping his bacon into the yolks of his eggs, laughing across the table at something Boone’s telling him he captured in recent footage of the crew goofing around. Tyler and Kate aren’t looking at one another. They aren’t even touching. Yeah, maybe she can feel the heat of him because their thighs are almost close enough to touch on the seat, but it doesn’t mean any more today that it did yesterday. Javi’s just trying to make it weird, because of their conversation last night.

I could make it weird too, she threatens with her eyes. That makes Javi smile and go back to his pancakes.

After they’ve finished though, when Boone and Javi get into a discussion that quickly becomes so focused that it shuts out the other side of the table, Tyler nudges Kate’s arm with his elbow and jerks his head towards the door.

Outside, Kate takes a breath that doesn’t feel deep enough. It’s dry today. A field borders one side of the diner parking lot, and the wheat rustles crisply. Taking it all in is second nature, requires no thought at all. There’s the windspeed she can guess at when a breeze strokes across her arm; there’s wind direction, determined when a slightly stronger gush sweeps a strand of hair loose from her ponytail; she judges the atmospheric pressure with her sinuses; and she gathers all of this without even looking at the sky. When she does, it’s cloudless, flat as a blue tablecloth.

She looks at Tyler. He’s studying her.

“Just trying to pick up some tips,” he says, before she can say anything.

“And? What’ve you learned?”

Tyler just smiles mysteriously.

“You guys talk last night?”

“Me and Javi?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure,” Kate says. She knows it’s a vague answer, but Tyler will be bold enough to ask for the information he really wants. She’d bet on it.

She turns to face him fully, crosses her arms expectantly.

“Did you decide anything?” Tyler asks. He has his cowboy hat on, but the morning light slants low, making him squint when he looks at her. She circles him a little so he’s not staring into the sun.

“It shouldn’t really be a unilateral decision, should it?”

“Typically, yeah, it is just one person who decides to propose.”

“This isn’t about just one person,” Kate reminds him. “It’s about the crew.”

“I’m aware.”

“Well…”

“Well. Are you guys waiting on a group vote then?” he inquires facetiously.

“I didn’t say Javi and I agreed to get married,” she says, frowning.

“You didn’t say you didn’t either.”

She sighs at how frustrating Tyler’s being. He shifts his feet, making the gravel crunch under his boots. There’s a grit to him too—in how he only seems like he’s going along with this but obviously has something he feels he still has to say, something he hasn’t yet given up on. But Kate has a hard time with waiting. She likes making decisions quickly. Somehow, this—the prospect of marriage—is an exception. More complicated than it should be, if it’s just about securing the funding.

(It’s not. She knows it’s not, especially after talking to Javi last night.)

“I’m better at running,” Kate says quickly. “Lately.”

“What?”

“Than chasing.” She offers a weak shrug, not sure what to do with herself, with her body. Tyler’s so solid, standing here in front of her. So steady in his eyes.

“Do you wanna chase me?” He doesn’t sound surprised, exactly, but his words are less than a challenge.

“Seems like it’s my turn. You followed me to New York and all.”

“I didn’t follow you. Your flight got delayed and I had time to buy a ticket. I went with you.”

It’s true, he did. First, they waited out the delay together. The weather didn’t turn into what it might’ve, so it was only an extra hour. Tyler had time to call Boone about coming to get the truck, and Kate had time to call Javi about the storm warning. Javi hadn’t left the airport yet. Initially, he came inside. A tornado was about the only thing that could excuse there now being two trucks parked in the Drop-off Only zone outside. (That poor man.) They sat together in the chairs by the check-in desk, Kate and Tyler on either side of Javi as the three of them studied the weather data on his laptop, the hard-edged coloured shapes that scudded across dark county lines. As soon as they knew it was nothing, Javi said he’d drive back to get Boone himself, then bring him to the airport to collect the truck. Tyler said he didn’t have to. When Javi insisted, Tyler gave way. That surprised all of them. It was maybe the start of the new team.

In New York, Kate let Tyler come to work with her. Her coworkers were the weather-geek demographic Tyler appeared to have never even dreamed of; many of them were familiar with his YouTube channel. One of them asked if Dani was single. Kate grinned as she stood back and watched Tyler lean into his persona for the fans, into his accent—just the same as she had leaned away from her accent when she moved up here, not wanting questions about where she was from. Not wanting to think too often of home. She stood and watched, and then she went to her boss’s office and quit with as much grace as she could manage after taking a week off on almost no notice. Tyler urged the whole place into his trademark call and response on their way out the door.

“That’ll numb any hard feelings for a while,” he assured her as they took the elevator down to the lobby.

“What hard feelings?”

Tyler frowned at her.

“About losing you. They’re gonna miss the hell outta you, Sapulpa.”

“Too bad,” she said. She didn’t think it was true.

“Too bad is right. You belong to the South, and we’re takin’ you back.”

She wouldn’t let him help her pack up her apartment. What had once seemed fresh to her—the white walls and clean lines of starting over—now seemed barren and sad. She found she was glad to leave it. She didn’t want Tyler to see.

He spent his time in other ways. Took a ferry out to Liberty Island. Ate pizza in Brooklyn, pastrami on the Lower East Side. He got up to the Bronx to watch a baseball game at Yankee Stadium. Kate didn’t know how he managed it all. They were in New York for three and a half days. Tyler just beamed and told her his feet were killing him. He still helped her carry all her boxes down the stairs of her walk-up while the train rattled by.

They drove back to Oklahoma in a rental truck. Somehow, Tyler made it take four days, when they probably could’ve done it in two. He bought her an ice cream in St. Louis, laughed as it melted so fast that it ran down her hand.

She guesses this, now, standing in a diner parking lot, is overdue. Even though, like Javi said, she and Tyler have known each other less than a month. It doesn’t feel like it.

“What about you and Javi?” she asks bluntly.

“That could be fun,” Tyler allows. “There are a few more buttons there I wouldn’t mind pushing. Think he’d go for ‘Javi Owens’?”

A laugh bursts from Kate.

“I think you’d be taking your life in your hands if you asked him.”

When Tyler smiles at her, pleased but gentle, she gets it. She got it from them both: they’d get married for the application, probably even find it a lark, but it wouldn’t mean much more than that. There’d be less danger in it. That should be a good thing—a reason for Tyler and Javi to be the ones—but Kate knows it’s also the thing that’s making them all hold their breath. They’re used to this type of crossroad, the three of them, used to tilting their faces to the sky to check the conditions. In the end, they’ll always pick the road that leads them into danger, not away from it.

They both want Kate.

“You don’t have to chase me just because you think you should,” Tyler says sternly. “You don’t have to chase me at all.” His face softens. “I’m standing still.”

She laughs and, incredulous, asks, “Since when?”

“You,” he says simply. “I like Javi, Kate. I do.” But I want it to be me, his eyes say when his mouth stops.

“Yeah.” She knows. She can see that he does.

She and Tyler leave it there, because Boone and Javi are coming out of the diner now. They came in two vehicles and Kate goes with Javi because she knows he’ll let her think.

It’s officially not about the grant anymore. It’s not even about getting married. This is bigger and smaller than that. Kate puts the passenger-side window of Javi’s truck down (an older truck, no Storm Par logo) and leans into the onrush of air. The marriage would be strategic, but a relationship with either Tyler or Javi would be completely real. Real feelings, real expectations, real mess if it fell apart and they kept working together. Which they would; they all love this job too much.

For just a second, Kate shuts her eyes and wishes this wasn’t happening to her. Then she feels silly because, after Jeb, ever falling for another human being seemed astronomically unlikely. She stuck to storms. Had crushes on cloud formations. Made lovesick eyes at the sky when it turned a spooky shade of green. That Javi and Tyler are both ready to be with her seems like a miracle. She’s grateful. She just doesn’t know how to choose.

Javi leaves her alone for the entirety of the short drive. They pull into the motel lot behind Tyler and Boone and drive to the end where the doors of the crew’s motel rooms stand in a line. Dexter, Dani, and Lily are there as they pull in. They’re excited about something; Lily’s practically dancing on the sidewalk and Dani says something to Boone that makes him yank her into a hug.

Kate and Javi spill out of his truck.

“What’s going on?” she asks.

Lily springs towards her, raising her hand to show off a ring that’s slightly too big, slipping up and down her finger as Kate tries to look. Kate’s eyebrows shoot up.

“Dani and I got married!”

“Congratulations,” Tyler says, butting in before Kate can blurt out another What? or When?

“It’s just for the grant,” Lily reminds him, laughing and waving off his sincerity.

“Never thought I’d say somebody married me for the money,” Dani remarks wryly. She’s wearing a ring too. Hers fits better. Kate wonders where they got them, and assumes the tiny antique store on the main strip.

Lily blows Dani a kiss.

“I went as a witness,” Dexter says.

“This just happened?” Javi asks, looking at each of the three conspirators in turn.

Lily shrugs and says, “Yeah.”

“You didn’t talk to the rest of us about it,” Tyler says. Kate doesn’t think it’s quite a complaint, but he seems thrown to have been left out of the loop.

“Oh, like the three of you let us in on whatever you’ve been planning?” Dani demands, pointing out Tyler, Kate, and Javi.

Tyler looks a little sheepish after that.

“Haste was the order of the day,” Dexter says. “It seemed efficient. We can move forward with our application now.”

“Yeah,” Kate agrees, still a little stunned. “For sure. Efficient. Thanks for taking one for the team, you guys.”

“No problem,” Lily says, and pulls her into a hug.

It’s not until later, out at a bar to celebrate the wedding (or the marriage, or their hopes to deceive the government for financial gain, or just their crew, really, who delight in one another’s exploits), that Kate, Javi, and Tyler find themselves at the same table. As if it’s a coincidence. Kate presses the rim of her bottle of beer into her smile.

“Lived to fight another day,” Tyler says over the vibrant twang of music, staring at the rest of their crew as they line dance to and fro across the floor.

It’s so typically dramatic of him that Kate and Javi glance at one another, and Kate has to pinch her nose shut so beer doesn’t shoot out of it when she laughs.

“Owens, I saw you talking to Kate outside the diner this morning,” Javi reveals. “Didn’t look like you were pleading to be spared.”

“You were spying on us?” Kate demands, rounding on Javi. She gives his shoulder a half-hearted shove as he laughs.

“Hey! I wanted to see how things were gonna turn out!”

“I’m pretty curious about how things are gonna turn out myself,” Tyler asserts, leaning forward with his elbows on the table. He gives Kate a significant look. She dodges it, ducking her head with a smile. She can feel the both of them watching her.

Javi reads her right:  “Too soon to say, huh, Kate?”

She looks up, letting her eyes slide from one face to the other, incredibly fond of them both. Slowly, she grins.

“Guess you’ll just have to keep watching the weather,” she tells them.

Kate slaps her hands on the table and rises to join the others on the floor.

[justagalwhowrites]

I also have a pretty weird question? I thought about it occasionally for some reason and I'm just curious. (It also hurts my heart sometimes but that just might be when I'm on my period lmao).

Do you have any thoughts on Bambi's family from before the outbreak? Like if any of her brothers made it or are alive behind the scenes? I'm also curious how it would be if (even in an alternate universe or something) she gets to see them again. I feel like they would be so proud of her finding herself her own family. I'm so sorry if this was a weird ask 😭.

-🍑

Hi again, peachy keen bestie!

Not a weird question AT ALL.

I actually waffled quite a bit on whether or not I wanted to have a definitive answer to whether or not her family survived the outbreak. I considered having Richie show up in Jackson but that seemed a bit outlandish all things considered?

Bambi's parents I think definitely died pretty quick. Her dad would have thrown himself into the fray with the ranch hands not realizing what was happening, just trying to calm people down and get shit under control, and he'd have either been bitten or torn apart really fast. Her mom just did not have it in her to hack it on her own in that environment so I think she would have gone quick, too.

Mostly based on logistics, I think people working on large scale ranches like Bambi's father's ranch (where Richie was also working so I don't think things went great for him but he was very capable and a bit of a lothario, he may have been out with a woman and been fine) would have been pretty fucked. Food would get eaten through quickly so they probably got tainted flour, everyone eats at about the same time from the same contaminated stock, everyone turns all at once - similar to Bambi's experience. Bambi just got very, very lucky.

Of all her family, Brendan I think had the best shot at making it. He'd moved in with his fiancee at that point - so not in close quarters with a bunch of people turning all at once - and they were both very capable. It's possible they did something similar to Bambi, setting up in the wilderness and making a go of it on their own. I could definitely see Brendan naming his first daughter after his baby sister if that's what they did.

Buttttt I do love the idea of them seeing her again and getting a chance to see her be happy with her family in Jackson so... see a little Drabble below :)

The girl is what gave Joel pause.

She would have, anyway, as young as she was out in the wilds of Wyoming when he ran into her while out with Ellie on patrol but when she turned toward him, something in her face struck him.

She looked like you.

She gasped when she saw him, her hands going up and her eyes going wide.

"S'OK," Joel said, his hands up, too. "Not gonna hurt you. Just you out here?"

"Dad!" she shrieked, high pitched and panicked and Joel flinched. "Dad, help!"

Joel turned to Ellie, on her own horse beside him and gave her a look. She rolled her eyes but put her hands up, too, as the two of them waited for whoever was about to come out from the brush near the girl to appear.

He didn't need to wait long to see who it was, a man who looked a bit older than you - and also a LOT like you - all but bursting through the trees, rifle raised. He threw the girl behind him and leveled the gun at Joel who just kept his hands up.

"Joel!" Ellie hissed, her hands still up too.

"Sit tight, baby girl," Joel said, watching the man closely. He had your eyes, your nose, the same determined set to his jaw. "It's OK."

"Not lookin' for trouble," the man called out. "Just passin' through."

"Don't mean you any harm," Joel called back, the girl - 13, 14 years old, he thought - peering out from behind her father. "Just from a settlement, not far from here..."

"Good for you," the man snapped.

"We've got a good set up there," Joel continued, ignoring him. "Safe with women and children, too."

"Not interested," he said. "We'll be out of your territory soon."

Joel looked at him, at those eyes that were so fucking familiar, and decided to try.

"Your name Richie, by chance?" he asked. "Or Brendan?"

The man blinked in shock before slowly, carefully, lowering his gun.

"What'd you just say?"

"Is your name Richie or Brendan?" Joel asked again.

"Dad?" The girl asked, stepping around and looking up at him.

"Richie," he said. "How... how the hell'd you know that?"

Joel smiled a little, feeling choked up.

"You and your girl there just happen to look a hell of a lot like my wife," he said. "She was working up this way when everything went to shit, she had brothers before, brothers named Richie and Brendan. She's told me a lot about..."

"What's your wife's name?" He asked, and Joel answered, first middle and last.

"That was her name, anyway," Joel said. "Last name is Miller, now. And everyone where we are calls her Bambi."

Richie laughed his voice a little wet.

"Bambi?" He said. "Shit, hard time seein' that."

"It's his fault," Ellie said, nodding to Joel. "He found her hurt in the woods and she wouldn't tell him her name..."

"She had these big eyes," Joel said. "Looked like a deer. If you and your girl want to come back with us, you can see her. I know... I know she'd really love that."

He paused, something in him apparently still skeptical, but Ellie started talking before Joel had a chance to try to convince him again.

"She trained these horses," she said. "She told me she started breaking horses when she was like 13 or something, and that she used to ride in rodeos and that your mom made her do cotillion which she fuck... sorry... freaking hated."

Richie laughed, a tear glistening on his cheek.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, she really did."

Ellie joined Joel on his horse and they put Richie and his daughter - who he named after you - on the back of hers. Richie told him what had happened over the last 25 years, that he'd been on his own for a while, roaming much of the southwest dodging raiders and infected alike. He'd eventually settled down with a woman and they'd had a life together for a while but she got bitten a few years back, leaving just him and his daughter. They were making their way toward Seattle, their paths crossing with Joel and Ellie's patrol totally by chance.

He'd assumed that you hadn't made it, that there wasn't a chance in hell of ever seeing you again. Much like you'd assumed with him.

Joel felt an odd sense of pride, bringing your brother and niece into town. You were on the council now and your work with the horses in town had contributed more than your fair share to the community. Much of how Jackson had come to thrive in recent years was because of you and he liked showing those things off as the four of them made their way to the stables.

Joel heard you before he saw you, calling out instructions to what sounded like a beginner rider. He led the horses to the gate to the paddock and watched as you worked with one of the kid in town who was getting big enough to start learning.

"There you go," you said, beaming at him. "Good job, see? You got it. Don't let your legs fall open, gotta keep 'em on her sides there..."

Olivia nodded to the gate and you noticed Joel first, giving him a smile that damn near made his heart crack open with love for you. But then you noticed Richie, your face falling, mouth hanging open in shock as you all but jumped off your horse before racing across the paddock, Richie doing the same.

The two of you met in the middle, more colliding than actually hugging, your arms around his neck and his around your waist, the two of you clinging to each other. Joel dismounted, too, helping your niece down from her horse and bringing her over to meet you.

"You're alive?" You asked, separated from your brother now but your hands still on his shoulders, your eyes looking over and over him. "All this time, you've been alive?"

"Yeah," he sniffed, smiling and crying all the same. "So have you."

The two of them got set up to stay with you and Joel for the night, introducing them to Savvy and telling him about your life here. You glossed over so much of what happened with Mitchum but Joel didn't press it.

"I can't believe it," Richie said quietly, eventually. "That you're here, that you're OK... hell, you're more than OK, you've got a whole family and people and..."

"Yeah," you laughed, sounding a little choked up. "I know, I can't believe it, either. And now you're here, too."

"Leave it to you to survive the apocalypse and somehow still find a way to get thrown off horses," he said and you laughed. "But you did more than that, too. You built a whole family."

"Yeah," you smiled, reaching for Joel. He took your hand in his, kissing your fingers. "I guess I did."

[luthsthings]

A Sims 4 Horse Ranch* review, by a Simmer who's not all that into horses

* Software not final. Sponsored by EA.

First, many thanks to EA/Maxis for the early access! This was a treat for me, to get access to an early build to try out for a while, as I'm not exactly a high-profile streamer. Or a streamer at all. Or even a creator (though I'll upload a household I came to love to the Gallery when I get a chance!). But I do love this game! And I love that I can help more of you play it the way you want to. Anyway, the review…

What I liked!

The great range of build/buy! I'll get LOTS of use out of this. It complements some other packs well too.

There are lots of helpful rooms in build mode for fast stables and nectar-related spaces! As a non-builder who sometimes tries to build, I was really happy to have a premade horse stall for my lot.

[image: a pre-built stable room in Build mode]

There's lots of Teen–Elder clothing and hair, and I love the dirty clothes swatches. I'll get LOTS of use out of this pack's CAS! And it will go well with styles from some other packs, too.

The new Afro-textured hairs are a welcome recognition that the cowboy culture of the Old West was not a White culture — there were lots of Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous cowboys and entrepreneurial women in the Old West!

I deeply appreciate the Indigenous content in build/buy, recipes, and CAS — I could see lots there in CAS, for example, that the Navajo people I saw and met in Utah and northern New Mexico (which is a part of the world I really want to go back to) wore IRL.

Lots range from fairly small (15 x 20) to quite large. I appreciate the range as someone who isn't a fan of building on large lots when I do build. There are horse practice areas in the land around some small lots, so you can still keep a horse there.

For Strangerville owners who love that landscape (which I do!), there's now somewhere for that valley, with its smaller population, to be "near". I can imagine that you'd drive up into a range from the new world and drop down into hidden Strangerville. Driving the other direction might take you to Oasis Springs.

The horse-riding and other horse animations are really detailed and fluid. They interact a lot with each other, too. I felt like parent and child horses recognized their relationship even.

[image: a mare lovingly nuzzling her foal]

The sheep and goats are endlessly adorable. Plus profitable! :D And they can sleep in your house!

The rabbithole adventure location out in the countryside has a very different gameplay than previous ones! And it has great sound effects -- play it with the volume up! It's hard to find, though. But it was nice to not need other tricks to get access. (I still have not done the secret places in Oasis Springs or the Outdoor Retreat pack!)

What I didn't like:

No new fridge, stove, bathtub, or toilet (I do like getting more of those!)

Very little boys' children's clothes. And no chaps for Children, even though they can ride and even though Toddlers got some

I would have liked a higher-tech/automated version of a nectar maker. However, this isn't a feature I care about much anyway.

You can't breed the mini goats and sheep, and there aren't even smaller baby ones. I'd have liked to have a full-on sheep farm. I like sheep. (I can practically see my husband glaring about how much I like sheep, even though he's waaaaay far away at the office right now.)

[image: a smiling, leaping mini-sheep, with a spotted goat behind it]

I definitely would never have found the countryside rabbithole without help, but maybe you will? If I could figure out how to do spoilers here, I would...

The horse-toy balls are a little… glowy? for my taste. They also weren't where I looked for them in the catalog, so you'll want to use search for them.

Cross-pack things?

I'd have liked to check out these before now, but with the pre-patch builds, that's not an option, and I'm always kind of busy when patches come out! For example ...

How do cats and dogs interact with horses, sheep, and goats?

Can horses be familiars for spellcasters?

Are there new Milestones?

Are there new Lifestyles?

Are there new Club rules, and are there enough of those?

This Simmer needs to know! (And eventually will.)

Neat things to know!

There's a rabbithole building in town where you can change or plan outfits like a dresser! And just off the main road in town there's a rabbithole building where you can buy goats, sheep, and groceries and other useful things, like horse age-up treats. I liked having an alternative way to buy these things and a whole new way to plan outfits. I'd be happy for more of that. If I can't go into a building, I might as well at least be able to pretend I can. As long as they don't end up being worlds stuffed with rabbitholes in place of gameplay (actually watching horse competition would have been nice!).

You can use a Community Board in town (or from B/B if you want one on your lot) to take local one-off jobs for money. Most need you to own a Horse or some sheep or goats. There are lots of ways to make money as a rancher without needing someone in the household to have a job. My relatives who are farmers will be seriously jealous.

Get to know that Crinkletop guy! He's very useful.

Bugs? Bugs!

Things to watch out for that were issues for me in the early-access build, which is NOT the release build, so hopefully it's a bit better:

Ranch dancing is EXTREMELY popular. You might want to not keep a radio at home until the new dancing has a mod to … moderate it. Or is tuned down by the devs. But I do like it when I'm in control!

[image: five Sims ranch dancing (line dancing) as a group, including two Don Lothario and Eliza Pancakes]

The beautiful stone fireplace was also very, very popular, and of course potentially deadly. Watch out for that.

Ranch hands are NOT reliable. They might stay really, really late. They might stop showing up after a couple days. They might forget the things you instructed them NOT to do the day before. They might be super into kicking the garbage bin over. Keep an eye on your ranch hand. At least until the day, someday, when they get fixed. I'm hoping this is also moddable for those of us on PC.

At one point I had a weird bug where my Sim decided she would NOT eat. The rest of the household could eat. Guests could eat. They could eat HER food. It was fixed by going to the world map and back into the household, so I didn't find out if she was going to just starve to death.

I couldn't find some of the new CAS at first because some men's outfits were under "jumpsuit" for no apparent reason. So, if you're looking for some cool outerwear, try "jumpsuits." Hopefully it was recategorized for the release build!

And that's it! I'm happy to answer questions!

[seokmthw]

butterfly effect | shen ricky

⇢ pairing: ricky x reader

⇢ warnings: stalker!ricky, angst, horror, thriller, explicit language, depictions of stalking/graphic murder, major character death, gore (no photos), violence, blood, manipulation, literally not a drop of romance

⇢ word count: 9.8k

⇢ synopsis: after deciding to prank text a phone number written on the wall of a diner, your life takes a turn for the worst.

⇢ note: this fic is not for the faint hearted. i do not actually think this is something ricky would do or has done, nor do i condone any of the actions displayed in this fic. please read at your own descretion. this is actually based off of a seventeen fic i wrote years ago, and decided to actually fully develop. the plot is meant to move fast, and show just how quickly someone's life can be ruined by things like this. i'm actually quite proud of how this came out, so i hope those of you that read it enjoy.

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT.

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the city of seoul was always bustling at night. streetlights casted a soft orange hue on the sidewalks below them, which allowed people to feel safe as long as they were nowhere near the darkness. the laughs of drunk friends filled the air as they got into their ubers and went home. signs to diners that were open late flickered welcomingly and the smell of greasy burgers and fries was almost hard for anyone to resist after a long night of having fun.

which was exactly why you were sliding into the booth across from gunwook at 1am on a saturday night. the two of you made plans to venture out into the city, opting to let your feet guide you into a club for the two of you to dance and sing your hearts out for the first time in a while. you deserved it; you were busy nonstop through most of the week from both your shitty attempt at online schooling in hopes of getting your master’s degree and working full time at the breakfast diner just a couple blocks down the street from where you lived. 

“i could eat an entire fucking horse right now if i could,” gunwook groaned. he picked up one of the worn plastic menus from the table, his gaze holding a hint of suspicion as his eyes scanned the questionable pictures of food that were fading with time. he was always so dramatic.

your own stomach was churning at the thought of finally being able to stuff your face with food. you had eaten earlier in the day, so there was really no need to eat a second big meal so late at night, but you supposed an evening full of sweating and more physical movement than you’d done in the past month warranted for it. besides, it was impossible not to have your mouth water at the aroma the moment you opened the door with the little tinkle of the bells above it.

you knew what you wanted from the moment gunwook suggested grabbing a bite to eat. chicken tenders and fries with ranch to dip both of them in. it was always what you wanted, really. you were a creature of habit, you didn’t see any issue with that. 

but the boy sitting across from you did, so the moment the waitress went to put in your order with the chefs in the kitchen - who were probably exhausted considering the time of night - he didn’t hesitate to call you out, “you really need to change it up sometimes. you’re going to turn into a chicken tender before it’s over with.”

“i will order chicken tenders every time we go out if i want to, thank you very much,” you poked your tongue out at him in response after taking a rather large sip of your drink, “besides, we both know i end up being sad after ordering something different.”

the night feels cozy and familiar, your heart glad to be spending time with your best friend after a stressful week and your mind relaxed. you even forgot about the opening shift you agreed to take in the morning because happiness was riddling every single cell in your body. you grinned contentedly, wrapping yourself further into your jacket and falling into a pleasant conversation with gunwook.

your food was brought out to you quicker than you thought it would be considering the amount of people filling up the tables in the room. gunwook dug in, grateful for finally being able to get something on his stomach. he had told you he was sure he would wither away to nothing if you guys didn’t scarf down a middle of the night meal, and with a quick roll of your eyes you followed him into the restaurant.

but you had to admit, the hot food on your belly was one of the most satisfying ways you could have ended the night. you wouldn’t ever tell gunwook that though, didn’t want to boost his ego and all. 

while the two of you awaited your checks from the server, you took note of a phone number scrawled in thick black letters on the wall behind the ketchup and mustard bottles. you smiled slyly, pointing at it to show gunwook, “should i text it? for old times’ sake?”

“go for it! i can’t even remember the last time either one of us prank texted someone,” his grin held just as much mischief as yours, his large hands clapping together excitedly as you opened your messages app and started a new conversation.

[you] wanna see a picture of my cock? ;)

this was usually the thing you always texted to people. sometimes you got varied responses and you were hoping that with this one, you could actually get somewhere with it. most of the time people simply just ignored you or said that you were childish and immature. people just didn’t know how to take a joke, in your opinion.

your server finally returned to your table with your checks and within minutes of paying you and gunwook were in his car and on the way back to your apartment complex. the warm air of the night filtered in through the windows and the music shuffling on gunwook’s phone played softly through his speakers, completely unlike the music at the club. 

you nudged gunwook’s arm gently as he pulled into the parking lot, “i had fun tonight, even if you did force me to go out to eat at one in the morning.”

“shut your mouth, you know you wouldn’t have been able to resist the thought of chicken.”

by now you were heading up the stairs to the second floor, stopping just in front of your door with your key already shoved into the lock, “you’re right. my addiction to it is concerning sometimes.”

that earned a laugh loud enough for you to hiss at him to be quiet, “i’ll see you sometime this week?” gunwook questioned. you gave him a nod, “yeah! maybe we can just hang out at my place or yours? have a movie night?”

“sounds good. have fun waking up in four hours.”

“god, don’t remind me.”

with that, gunwook bid you farewell and walked down to his end of the hall with a yawn. you pushed open your door, allowing it to gently close behind you once you stepped inside. you were a little relieved to be in the comfort of your home if you were honest, simply because going out and dancing as much as you did exhausted you more than you thought it would. 

you breezed through your nightly routine of brushing your teeth, washing your face, and changing into your pajamas before you finally crawled into your bed with a content sigh. there was nothing like curling up under your heavy comforter after exerting more physical work than you initially anticipated. your phone buzzed on your side table next to you, and you quickly picked it up to see a text from an unknown number.

[unknown] who the fuck is this?

[you] your mom LOL

[unknown] if you know what’s good for you, i would stop texting.

feisty one, this one was.

[you] it was just a joke, lighten up

[unknown] if you want to play games with me then so be it. i promise you that you will lose.

[you] what is that supposed to mean?

[unknown] you’ll find out eventually.

[you] is that a threat?

[unknown] maybe, maybe not. it depends on how well you play the games and if the decisions you make are beneficial to you or not. calling the cops will only make things worse. i hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.

opening up your phone app, you quickly typed in gunwook’s number, hoping he would pick up. after the second ring, you heard his voice on the other end of the line, “why are you still awake?”

“hello to you too,” you joked, “i just wanted to update you on what this person i prank texted sent to me. they’re like, really pissed.” you couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, screenshotting the messages and sending them to gunwook so he could see for himself.

he was silent for quite some time, before finally clearing his throat and saying, “they seem serious, y/n. i wouldn’t reply to them again if i were you.”

“this isn’t the first time someone has threatened me, you know,” you teased, your smile still never faltering despite gunwook’s concern for you. he was being dramatic as ever, but you expected nothing less from him in a situation like this. 

“don’t do something to get yourself arrested, yeah? i do not have the money to bail your dumbass out of jail.”

you laughed at his response, “yeah yeah, don’t worry mom, i know what i’m doing.” with that, you said your goodbyes and hung up for the night, throwing your phone on the charger and nuzzling yourself down into your blankets with a tired sigh.

you decided not to take that person’s messages to heart; surely it was just someone who was trying to mess with you right back. this wasn’t the first time people threatened you with things and it definitely wouldn’t be the last.

if only you had known what kind of trouble this would cause you.

the harsh sounds of your alarm clock painfully reminding you that you needed to go to work was not how you wanted to start off your morning, but here you were; head pounding, makeup smeared underneath of your eyes, and your body unbelievably sore. it’s what you deserved, you supposed, it was your fault for staying out with gunwook so late. 

you waited until the last possible minute to get ready for work and head out the door, apron messy and hair lucky to have even been brushed through. you were fortunate to have a ten minute drive at most, so your commute to and from was a lot easier than other jobs you’d had in the past. however, you horribly regretted agreeing to the 7am shift because you truly felt as if you were dying a little bit inside. 

you let out an audible groan upon seeing the amount of cars in the parking lot of the breakfast diner. if you were being honest with yourself, you probably should have just made some excuse and called in, but you also needed to pay your bills so it really wasn’t an option unless you were in dire circumstances. you trudged inside through the back door, quickly clocking in and at least appreciating the aroma of pancakes and coffee. 

“good morning, sunshine!” one of the only co-workers you could stand, taerae, chimed, his bright smile complimenting his chipper mood. 

“morning,” you half-heartedly responded, giving him a tired smile to attempt and make up for it. 

there was a slight pout on taerae’s lips, “what’s got you all grumpy this morning?” he poked your arm playfully, this time earning a more genuine smile from you. 

“a miserable hangover and the worst body aches known to man,” you laughed, mirroring the boy in shoving your apron with straws and napkins for the tables you’d be waiting on in a moment, “gunwook somehow managed to keep me out until one in the morning.”

“let’s get this day going, yeah?” it’ll be over before we know it,” taerae nudged your arm playfully, “you get off at 3, right?”

“yep.”

taerae just beamed at you, his mood never faltering despite your short responses, “if you want, you can come over to my place after our shift and we can hang out and watch tv or something.”

“as tempting as that sounds, i think i’ll just go home and take a nap,” you gave taerae an apologetic look, though he took it well and reassured you that he understood. 

your day drug on longer than most, and you absolutely hated it.

you weren’t sure if it was due to the exhaustion consuming your entire body and you were desperate to go home, or if it was that after the morning rush, the restaurant seemed to be dead. nonetheless, it had been awful and you wanted nothing more than to just curl up in your bed and sleep for twelve hours straight. 

throughout your shift, you’d managed to spill syrup on your shirt - which was white, by the way - and also dropped an entire platter of eggs for a huge party of people who’d come in after morning church. you hadn’t had such an off day since you first started a couple of years ago, so your entire groove being unbalanced only worsened your mood. by the time three o’clock had rolled around, you couldn’t be happier to clock out and bolt to your car with taerae by your side. 

you waved goodbye to your friend and plopped down into the driver’s seat of your car, letting out a long, much needed breath. you were glad to finally be off your feet for the first time since your break earlier in the day. once you pulled into your parking spot, you decided to park your car and relish in the air conditioning for a little while longer. 

you felt your phone buzz in your pocket, and upon pulling it out and glancing at your screen, you were greeted with a text from gunwook begging you to play video games with him and a text from the unknown number you had pranked last night. you blinked slowly upon taking in what was said.

[unknown] looks like you had a rough day. you’re definitely messy.

a shiver ran down your spine, causing goosebumps to rise up on your arms. you quickly typed up a response, which soon turned into more than unpleasant conversation.

[you] haha, very funny. you’re not as intimidating as you think you are.

[unknown] hm, is that so?

[unknown] you drive a small white car and you live in the same apartment complex as your best friend.

[unknown] am i scaring you know?

[you] you’re wrong, lol. you don’t even know me.

[unknown] if i’m so wrong, how come i can see you sitting in your car?

[unknown] you look stunning from afar, i can’t wait to see you up close.

your eyes widened, mind frantic as you looked around in hopes of spotting someone unfamiliar, but you saw absolutely nobody. the vehicles surrounding yours were vacant and there was only your neighbor outside walking their dog, and you knew for a fact it wasn’t them texting you because you hadn’t seen them pull out their phone the entire time they had been outside. you shook your head, finally finding it in you to give the person another response. 

[you] why are you doing this to me? just leave me alone.

[you] i won’t hesitate to call the cops.

[unknown] i wouldn’t do that if i were you.

[unknown] trust me, it won’t work. 

[you] lmao okay.

[unknown] what, you don’t believe me?

[you] not really.

[unknown] what if i told you that if you even attempt to call the cops, or tell anyone else for that matter, that your friend gunwook might be in a lot of trouble?

as much as you tried to suppress your anxiety over the entire situation, you couldn’t help but let it entirely consume you as you shakily dialed gunwook’s number, hoping to god he would pick up the phone. thankfully he did, though you were greeted with a yell of frustration, “damn it!”

“are you okay?” you frantically asked, fearing the absolute worst was happening to him. however, gunwook simply laughed, and you could hear the sounds of fornite and intense key smashing in the background, “that’s what you get, dumbass! i could out shoot you anyday.”

“gunwook,” you practically demanded, ripping him out of his trance from his game. he let out an annoyed sigh, “you got me killed, y/n! this is the most kills i’ve ever gotten in my life!”

you couldn’t keep the tremor out of your voice as you spoke, “gunwook, i need you to listen to me.”

“woah, what’s with the serious tone?” you hoped gunwook was finally taking the hint because you felt like you were going a little crazy. now was definitely not the time for his usual antics.

you sighed, looking around the parking lot once more before answering in a hushed voice, “listen, i’ll explain later, but i need you to lock your door and every single window in your apartment. then i need you to hide somewhere you can’t be found, okay?”

“y/n i don’t under-”

“just do it, gunwook.”

you could imagine him putting his hands up in defense at your words, “okay, jeez. why are you acting so weird?”

you could feel your heart beating out of your chest as you took your car key out of the ignition and slowly exited the cab, making sure to take in every movement and every person you were able to see within your line of vision. you sighed, “i told you i’ll tell you everything soon, okay?”

you were met with silence on the other end, which caused your heart to drop into your stomach. quietly, you whispered, “please tell me you’re still alive.”

“i’m trying to hide like you told me to,” gunwook grunted, and you could hear rustling in the background of the call. at least he was listening, it was way better than him arguing with you and not listening because you had no explanation, “you’re not doing this just to make me look stupid, are you?” you couldn’t help but chuckle at his honest question, answering, “no.”

by now, you were inside of your apartment complex, hurriedly climbing the stairs to the second floor and rushing into your apartment, hastily locking the door and looking around to see if anything was tampered with or off. thankfully, everything seemed to be okay, and while you let out a sigh of relief, you knew it wouldn’t last for long.

“seriously, y/n, what’s up with you?”

you locked yourself in your bathroom, leaning your back up against the door with a sigh. it was difficult finding the right words to even say, let alone tell him he was in danger with someone you didn’t even know the name of. finally, you parted your lips to speak, voice still hushed despite no longer being outside, “i think i’m being stalked, and i’m being threatened with harm coming to you because of it.”

there was radio silence on his end for a moment; surely he was freaking out, hell, you were too, and you knew that this entire situation was scary. relief washed over you upon hearing his voice, knowing he was okay, “is it from the same number you texted last night? there’s no way someone is stalking you after a silly little prank text. besides, it's only been a day.”

“i-i can show you the texts, they’re dead serious i think. they know where i live, where i work, and what color car i drive, your name,” your voice was beginning to tremble, panic settling in now, “i don’t know what to do, and i don’t want any harm to come to you either.”

“we’ll stay on the phone the rest of the night then, okay? they’re less likely to strike if you have someone on the other line.”

“i’m so sorry you have to deal with all of this and that i’m the reason you’re involved,” you felt a tear race down your cheek, eyes closing as you took a deep breath to keep yourself from bursting into a full on sob, "i should have never sent that text."

“it’s not like you asked for this. besides, even if i wasn’t involved, i would make sure i was because there’s no way i’ll let you go through something like this alone,” the sincerity in his voice was enough to make you feel slightly better. the boy chuckled softly, “since we’re staying on the phone, is it okay if i come out of my closet? it’s not very gunwook friendly.”

you nodded, though you remembered he couldn’t see you, and finally you replied, “yeah, that’s totally fine.”

there was some rustling on his end once more, and once it stopped, you assumed he had finally made it out. however, upon getting no response from him when you asked a question, you pulled your phone away from your ear to take a quick glance at your screen, only to be met with your call log instead of gunwook’s name taking up most of the display. you swore you could feel your heart fall to your stomach, fingers hurriedly moving to try and call him back, but it rang until it went to voicemail.

“no! no no no,” you chanted, flinging open the bathroom door and beginning to head toward your entryway. 

your phone pinged, letting you know you were receiving text messages, which you assumed were from the person causing your most recent slew of events. 

[unknown] big mistake on your part.

[unknown] i told you not to say anything to anyone.

[unknown] you fucked up, y/n.

[unknown] your actions have consequences.

[unknown] my game, my rules.

[unknown] he’s not dead this time. 

you shook your head in disbelief, sprinting through your front door and down the hallway, only to be greeted with gunwook’s door slightly agape and the sounds of his muffled groans resonating from somewhere within his apartment. you rushed in, desperately searching for him, calling out, “gunwook?”

“in here,” he grumbled, and you followed the sound of his voice until you found him in the fetal position on his bedroom floor, hands clutching his stomach and eyes screwed shut in a futile attempt to cope with whatever pain he was feeling. 

you were on the carpet next to him in an instant, taking note of a thin stream of blood trickling from his nose and a deep, purple bruise already beginning to form just beneath his eye. you let your tears freely fall. gunwook was like this because of you. sparing him an apologetic look, you quietly whispered, “i’m going to check and make sure they aren’t here.”

“he and whoever was with him are gone,” gunwook replied, “they both left a few minutes before you came in. they also wanted me to tell you his name was ricky."

upon hearing gunwook’s words, you pulled a napkin out of your apron, leaning forward to wipe some of the blood from beneath his nose. he winced a little, but allowed you to continue, tears still blurring your vision at the sight of him like this. the both of you fell into silence; you wanted to give him a chance to recoup from everything that had occurred and not overwork himself too much. 

after a few more minutes, and helping him sit up straight, you eventually mumbled, “i’m so sorry, wookie.”

“don’t worry about it,” he chuckled, gingerly touching the area around his eye, “maybe now things will stop.”

you huffed in annoyance, averting your gaze from his gentle one, “i just don’t understand why he felt the need to do this to you because of me.”

by this point, your mind was reeling. why would someone get so upset over a silly little text? to the point of following you, tormenting you, and bringing harm to the people around you that you care about? it made absolutely no sense to you. 

it almost felt as if whoever was taunting you did things like this frequently. you were beginning to feel hopeless, as if there was no way out of this. it hadn’t even been a full day since you sent the first text and things had already escalated to violence and blatant stalking.

your phone dinged with another text message, jolting you out of your thoughts and causing gunwook’s eyes to widen in fear. you pulled it from your back pocket, reading the message aloud so gunwook could know what it said too.

[unknown] let this be a lesson. you’re not out of the woods yet, nor do i think i want you to be. here’s a hint as we continue to play our little game: make good decisions, face less consequences.

gunwook shook his head in disbelief, “why is he doing this? what is he even gaining?”

“i don’t know, but i’m already tired of it,’ you answered, a deep frown forming on your lips as you shoved your phone back into your pocket. 

“i guess we’re gonna have to find out.”

a few days had passed since your ricky had made his appearance into gunwook’s apartment, and the same amount of time since receiving any kind of text from him. you weren’t sure if that was because you and gunwook stayed attached at the hip for the entirety of that time, or if it was because he was truly done messing with your head, but you were glad to have been able to feel some sort of relief. you hardly slept, but you managed to make it through your shifts at the breakfast diner without any issues somehow. 

taerae had checked up on you a couple of times, taking note of how exhausted you were and the dark circles that had made their new home beneath your eyes. you decided to play it safe, just telling him you’d had issues with your neighbors keeping you up all hours of the night. the last thing you needed was for him to get involved in the situation, too.

soon, you were clocking out after your third shift since ricky’s attack, a tired sigh slipping past your lips. you waved goodbye to taerae, letting him know that you would see him once more tomorrow morning, which was going to be one of the busiest days of the week for the two of you. despite him asking you to hang out at his house, you’d managed to get out some excuse so you didn’t expand ricky’s knowledge of your whereabouts and bring another innocent person into the entire situation.

you walked through the back door to the parking lot, greeted by gunwook’s idling car as he’d waited for your shift to end. you clambered into the passenger seat, shoulders slumping and a wave of defeat overcoming you. he rested his hand on your knee, squeezing gently before he began to drive to your apartment complex, his music playing softly in the background.

he was the first one to break the silence, stating, “i did some research to see if i could find anything on ricky.”

“you what?” you shot up, eyes wide in disbelief, “gunwook, that is so dangerous.”

a slight pout made his way into his expression, “i’m just sick of seeing you like this, and i want to put an end to it.”

“you don’t have to put yourself in danger because of me.”

“i would do anything for you, you know that,” you could feel your gaze soften at his words, “besides, we’re in this together now. something has to give eventually.”

you pulled your bottom lip between your teeth, picking absentmindedly at the skin, curiosity eventually getting the best of you, “did you find anything?”

“i found an article saying he’s wanted for breaking and entering,” gunwook answered, “but that was it. i think it said he was twenty three or something like that? i honestly don’t know, but he’s notorious for this apparently.”

you were quick to pull your phone from your pocket, quickly looking for the article gunwook had mentioned. the headline was written in bold, black letters, a photo of him accompanying it just underneath. you felt terrified finally being able to put a face to the name. 

he was handsome, though you hated to admit that. dark, black hair was parted in the middle, his kind eyes deceiving to the person he actually was. he was almost cat-like, features slender and a slight smile twinging on his lips. you felt your stomach begin to churn uneasily.

angrily, you opened up your messages app, deciding to finally give ricky a taste of his own sick, twisted medicine.

[you] what you did on sunday was fucked up.

[unknown] gunwook is still alive, isn’t he?

[you] yeah, with a couple of broken ribs to make up for it.

[you] you’re sick, you know that?

[you] i’m tired of playing this game, ricky.

[unknown] oh, but darling, the fun has only just begun.

[you] what is that supposed to mean?

[unknown] i’ve already told you that your actions have consequences. for lack of better words, i get to control your life now.

[you] please, just leave me alone.

[you] gunwook too, he’s done absolutely nothing wrong. he wasn’t the one who texted you in the first place.

[unknown] it doesn’t matter, being able to use him as a pawn makes this all the more fun.

[unknown] i get to use him against you.

[you] that’s not fair, none of this is fucking fair.

[you] there’s an article i read about you.

[you] i’m going to find you and turn you in, mark my fucking words.

[unknown] okay.

[unknown] whatever it is you do, you will suffer, one way or another.

[unknown] i have ways to get under your skin, y/n, and i’m not afraid to exhaust all my options.

[unknown] threatening me will get you nowhere.

[you] we’ll see about that.

by now, gunwook had pulled into his parking spot and was reading over your shoulder, his mouth agape at the conversation that had just unfolded right in front of his eyes. you met your gaze with his, determination filling you up, “we’re not going to let him win.”

gunwook swallowed, adam’s apple bobbing in his throat before he nodded - albeit, wearily - and you could tell he was beginning to trust your entire thought process. that’s really all you needed; his support and willingness to bring ricky down with you, though you knew you didn’t have to try hard to convince him otherwise. the two of you headed into your building, trudging up the stairs and into your apartment, ensuring every single lock was enabled on the door.

the next two days went by rather smoothly, the two of you doing research on self-defense and many other things pertaining to your current situation. you were finally able to get a few hours of sleep, which was a lot more than you’d been able to get the entire week, so you couldn’t help but feel a little grateful. 

things had gone smoothly, once again not hearing anything from ricky and feeling a false sense of security beginning to blanket over you, though you knew better than to let your guard down until you knew for sure everything was truly over. 

you’d spent your nights sharing a bed with gunwook, entangled in one another’s arms in hopes of providing some sort of comfort. it also let you both know you were still there, still breathing, and still by each other’s side. despite your newfound confidence of being able to take ricky down, you couldn’t help but still feel the lingering fear in the back of your mind.

there was always a chance things could go horribly wrong.

you were now at work, your exhaustion for more evident now than it had been earlier in the week. taerae was quick to notice, finally telling you, “no offense, y/n, but you look awful.”

his sudden appearance behind you caused you to jump in surprise, the bag of coffee grounds in your hand tumbling down to the ground with a soft thud, its contents spilling out onto the floor. you groaned to yourself, burying your hands in your face in an attempt to hide any tears that ight have involuntarily dripped onto your cheeks.

“i’m sorry, i didn’t mean to scare you,” taerae apologized, crouching to the ground alongside you, “here, let me help.”

the two of you worked together to get them cleaned up off of the floor, discarding everything into one of the trash cans once you were finished. you gave him a solemn look, finally answering his first statement, “it just hasn’t been a good week, is all.”

“do you wanna talk about it? i’m all ears,” he offered, patting your shoulder in reassurance. 

your eyes flitted up to meet with his, concern dancing in his dark irises, and you felt a plethora of different emotions. on one hand, you wanted to be able to rant about it to someone other than gunwook to try and get an unbiased point of view, but on the other, you didn’t want to put his life in danger either. 

you sighed defeatedly, “do you promise not to tell anyone? it’s kind of a big deal.”

“of course not, anything you say is safe with me.”

with a hushed voice and eyes soaking up every inch of your surroundings, you began to recount the week’s past events to taerae, sparing no details whatsoever. you showed him the initial prank text and allowed him to read everything afterward, filling him on the attack on gunwook, the article, everything. 

you eventually pulled up ricky’s photo upon taerae’s request, and his eyes widened with fear, “this is some serious shit, y/n, you need to call the cops.”

“i can’t, and i won’t,” was your automatic response, “he’s threatened me multiple times to bring worse harm to gunwook and i’m sure he’ll somehow find out that i’ve told you all of this somehow and hold it against me,” you added.

taerae frowned at your reply, “i’ll help you out in any way i can, alright?”

he pulled you into a tight hug, and you couldn’t help but feel a little bit better knowing you had someone else on your side to help you get to the root of your problems. it almost felt as if a weight had been lifted off your shoulders.

taerae’s signature catchphrase was the next thing to come from his mouth, “let’s get this day started, yeah?” giving your frame one final squeeze before you dove into your work of waiting tables and sending orders to the back.

the day had gone by a lot better than you expected it to despite fearing anything could happen to you or gunwook, and now taerae, at any given moment. you didn’t mess up any of your orders and gunwook had periodically texted you to inform you of what he was doing and to check in overall with you.

for once, you didn’t feel on edge. that is, until the man who had been causing you severe mental turmoil had walked through the front door, the little bell signaling his arrival. 

you felt a lump rise uncomfortably in your throat, blood running cold at the sight of him. you hadn’t expected him to blatantly show his face to you like this, but you supposed this was karma for even saying a single word to taerae about the entire situation. 

you accidentally made eye contact with him, his piercing eyes and slender figure looking more intimidating in person than in the photo you’d seen of him. luckily, another one of your co-workers seated him somewhere that wasn’t in your realm of tables. you quickly ran to the back hands trembling as you reached out for taerae, who was surprised by your sudden panic.

“he’s here,” you barely managed to squeak out, “i’m kind of freaking out.”

“do you want me to call the police? if he’s wanted, anyone could, and if i do it the it can’t be traced back to you,” he inquired, appearing to be in the same state of shock as you. 

you nodded, shoving the diner’s phone in his direction, “please hurry, he saw me.”

the string of events following afterward felt like a blur; the wailing of the police sirens, the officers putting ricky in handcuffs, and gunwook having rushed directly to the diner to comfort you. his arms wrapped tightly around you, his chin resting on top of your head as you cried into his chest, mumbling into your hair softly, “it’s over, y/n. it’s finally over.”

the day of ricky’s arrest, you were finally able to sleep without the fear of anything happening to you, gunwook, or taerae. however, you still remained glued to gunwook’s side for the following couple of weeks. you weren’t sure if it was lingering paranoia, or if it was that something inside of you still believed that ricky would be able to contact you from jail. 

you tried to suppress those thoughts, though it didn’t work for long, because the moment you plopped down onto the couch next to your best friend to eat your dinner, the news flashed a headline that made you almost drop everything from your hands entirely.

man found not guilty at trial for breaking and entering into various homes.

and there, displayed right behind the thick words, was the same photo of ricky you’d had nightmares about. your jaw fell slack in shock, gunwook mumbling beside you, “what the fuck?”

“shh,” you waved your hand to prevent him from talking any further, “let’s listen and see what it says.”

“this is sung hanbin, reporting to you live with an update of a story we covered previously. a man under the name of shen ricky was suspected several weeks ago for breaking and entering into various different homes, and police believed it to be the man you see here on screen.

however, we have been informed that this is not the case.

the man you see here proved himself innocent at his trial on monday by presenting the court with evidence of his birth certificate and driver’s license. we have learned that this man’s name is kim jiwoong, not shen ricky.

he was arrested at the wake up cafe in the heart of seoul. police are still on the hunt for shen ricky, so if you have any leads, you can anonymously leave them at the number running along the bottom of the screen. there is no accurate picture of him at this time.

kim jiwoong has been released from the custody of authorities. we’ll keep you updated when we find out anymore information, but as of right now, this is all we have.

once again, this was sung hanbin with your local news. let’s head over to seok matthew for the weather forecast of the week.”

the moment the weather came on, you and gunwook shared a look of sheer panic, completely frozen with no inkling of what you should do. as if on a cue, your phone lit up with a string of text messages from your stalker. 

[unknown] did you really think you could get away with this, y/n?

[unknown] this is going to have some major consequences.

[unknown] i can only imagine how your pathetic little brain convinced you that you were out of the woods, but you could not have been more wrong.

[you] why won’t you just leave me alone? haven’t you done enough damage?

[you] you’ve ruined my life.

[unknown] that was the whole point of this, darling.

[unknown] i’m hoping to teach you the lesson to never, ever prank text phone numbers again.

[you] i think i’ve learned that lesson, please, just stop.

[unknown] not yet.

[unknown] you haven’t even come close to learning your lesson.

[unknown] but you will, soon. trust me.

[you] i’m sorry, okay? is that what you wanted to hear?

[unknown] sorry won’t fix this.

you locked your phone and threw it across the room, the object clattering onto the floor. you couldn’t help but silently hope that it was broken and ricky could no longer contact you. tears welled up in your eyes - you knew your peace was too good to be true, that something was bound to go horribly wrong, but you never once thought it would be this.

you found it hard to breathe, finally locking your eyes with gunwook, voice cracking as you told him, “this is what i imagine living in hell feels like.”

he pulled you into a hug, desperate to hold you as tight as possible, and make sure you were close to him, “we’re gonna get through this, okay? don’t you worry.”

“how can you be so sure?”

“i’m not, but we have to believe it in order to survive, okay? we don’t know what this man is fully capable of, so we need to brace ourselves,” was his answer, and all you could do was nod. 

gunwook fell silent for a moment, deep in thought as he rubbed your back gently, a sniffles able to be heard from him as he did so, “let’s get out of town.”

you pulled away from his embrace, flashing him a sad, defeated smile, “i don’t think that’s going to work.”

“why wouldn’t it? we could get a rental car or something so he can’t trace us. it’s worth a shot.”

you were hesitant for a moment, worried that there would even larger consequences for this, but finally said, “fine, let’s do it.”

after your discussion, you packed a suitcase full of things for your journey, hoping to god you were bringing everything essential. you knew there was no returning to this place once you did, so you needed to make sure anything sentimental was stored away in between your clothes and hygiene products. 

the tension in the air was thick, so much so you could almost cut it with a knife. you were risking your lives for this, for an escape into the freedom from this nightmare you’d been longing for the moment it started. 

you zipped the suitcase shut, hands visibly shaking as you did so, and once you were finished you looked at gunwook and said, “let’s get your things and book it.”

you ventured to gunwook’s apartment, deciding to stick together through it all. you couldn’t jeopardize a single thing; you knew that somehow, every move you made was being watched like a hawk. gunwook made a beeline for the bathroom, you following closely behind, and keeping an eye out as he rummaged through the cupboard beneath his sink. 

as he began to rise to his feet, rustling was able to be seen behind the shower curtain. you parted your lips, desperate to spit the words out sitting on the tip of your tongue, “gunwook, watch out!”

but you were too late, because in one swift motion, the curtain was thrown back and a baseball bat was swinging down with a sickening crack to the back of his head. the recoil echoed against the walls, the sounds of bone crushing being enough to make you feel as if you could vomit at any given moment. 

you watched in horror as gunwook’s body crumpled to the cold tile floor, a labored wheeze erupting from him. thick, crimson blood that reeked of copper pooled around the back of his head, tears slipping out of the corners of his eyes as he looked up at you through them, bottom lip quivering. 

you were next to him in an instant, attempting to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. it was hard to ignore the way his skull felt like rice krispie treats in your hand, or how his erratic breathing was becoming the more he realized what was happening. you weren’t sure how you managed to get any words out of your mouth as you said, “i need you to stay with me, wookie, please.”

it was almost as if the world around you was completely gone, and in this moment, it was just you and gunwook as you held him, watching as he took his very last breath. a mangled cry ripped from your lungs, your hands trying like crazy to get him to say something, anything, but it was no use. 

he was gone. 

“i’m so sorry,” you wailed, “i’m so fucking sorry, gunwook. you did nothing to deserve this.”

you sniffled, brushing his hair out of his eyes to get a better look at his face, which held an almost peaceful expression. warmth radiated against your back, hot breath fanning against your ear, goosebumps arising on your skin as he spoke, “it’s not what he did, it’s what you did. i told you that there would be major consequences, didn’t i?”

his fingers trailed up and down your arm, “you just don’t know how to keep that stupid little mouth of yours shut, do you?”

“get the fuck away from me,” you growled, voice coming out a lot stronger than you had anticipated, “now.”

“getting all tough, are you?” he backed away slowly, hands mockingly up in the air, and you took this as your opportunity to turn and look at the man behind you. 

blonde hair was sitting atop his head, slicked back in an almost elegant way, forehead glistening with sweat. he had plump, dark pink lips curled up into a sinister grin, and blood was splattered across the expanse of his face. gunwook’s blood. a shiver raced down your spine at the sight of him, entirely too terrified to act on any thought of harming him that came to your brain. 

the sounds of sirens blaring on the street below carried into the small bathroom you were currently inhabiting, which alerted ricky that it was his time to go. he stepped behind you once more, his chin resting on your shoulder as he murmured, “if you know what’s good for you, he slipped and hit his head.”

and with that, he pushed past you, slinking away before you could fully see which direction he went and how he managed to escape the apartment. within mere seconds, police officers, firefighters, and emts were questioning you, asking how this had happened and for how long he’d been unconcious. everything was a blur and you honestly didn’t remember most of your encounters with the emergency personnel, but you knew one thing for certain. you didn’t fight back this time.

you gave in the shen ricky. 

the next few weeks were arguably the worst of your life. you had to bury your best friend, work double after double, and barely got any sleep. the lie of gunwook suffering a freak accident kept slipping through your teeth, and you felt an unexplainable amount of self hatred for it. 

but you knew gunwook would have encouraged you to.

you were determined now more than ever to take down ricky, no matter what it took, which was why you were currently sat down with taerae in his living room spilling your guts, completely unafraid of what consequences might come to you because of it. the look of bewilderment and shock on his face was hard to miss as he stated, “you need to tell the police the truth.”

“you know i can’t, taerae,” was your immediate response, followed by a sigh, “i wish i could, but i want to try and take him down myself. it started with him and i, so it should end with him and i.”

taerae looked at you inquisitively, a deep frown settling in on his lips, “i’m not sure that’s a good idea. i mean, what if he kills you too?”

“that’s the price i’m willing to pay if it means i at least attempt to get justice for gunwook.”

taerae fell completely silent, as if entranced by his thoughts. his expression was difficult for you to read and if you were being honest with yourself, you didn’t really have the mental capacity to try and decipher his emotions. 

you were just about to retreat back to your own apartment before taerae’s words stopped you dead in your tracks, “i’ll help you.”

“really?” you questioned, brows furrowing, “are you sure? i don’t want you to feel obligated.”

“no, no, i want to,” he retorted, “gunwook was my friend too and i want to make sure he’s avenged as well. we can do this, yeah?”

with that, you and taerae had planned for weeks on how you were going to lure ricky in and try to get the upper hand on him. you knew the plan was becoming more and more well-developed, and soon, you were feeling confident that it would work, that you had a chance. taerae was quite clever, you had learned, and had come up with things you would have never even thought of on your own. 

you were beyond grateful for him, especially since he was distracting you from the giant, gaping hole in your heart that was missing gunwook. you still cried until your lungs gave out, visited his grave as frequently as possible, and texted his phone even though you knew you would never get an answer. it just kept feuling you to perfect this plan, to finally catch ricky off guard, to finally put an end to whatever it was he was trying to accomplish.

you hadn’t heard from him in a while, so you suspected that you would need to do some provoking in order to get him back into your life. you were currently working on thinking of something to text him, deciding to head over to taerae’s apartment to ask his opinion on what you currently had drafted.

you knocked on his front door, almost instantly greeted by his bright smile, and stepped into the entryway of his home. you began to speak, eyes flitting down to your phone screen so you could open up your notes app, focus entirely on getting to that. he was oddly quiet today, which you were going to ask him about, but you were too late.

the dark haired boy you’d been spending your time with was holding a cloth to your nose, apologizing as you lost consciousness. 

you slowly peeled your eyes open, greeted by complete darkness, absolutely no source of light able to be found despite your efforts. you were still groggy from whatever sleep you had just awoken from, but soon, you could feel yourself begin to panic. you were sitting straight up in a chair, thick, coarse ropes bound around your wrists and ankles and a blindfold around your eyes. you struggled against them, but to no avail.

everything was starting to flood your mind; telling taerae the truth about gunwook and him being the last person you saw before you slipped into your deep slumber. to say you were beyond angry with him was an understatement. you were honestly enraged, unable to think clearly as you began struggling once more, desperately trying to break free from your spot, but it was no use.

a voice sounded off next to you, “they’re awake, ricky.”

the creaking of a door opening followed by heavy footsteps was able to be heard, and the next thing you knew, ricky was behind you once more, all too familiar of the night he killed gunwook. his warm breath fanned across the side of your face, and you could almost hear the smirk on his face as he inquired, “how are you, sweetheart?”

“what do you think?” you sarcastically remarked.

ricky chuckled lowly, “i know it’s not comfortable, but we can’t risk you escaping, can we?”

slowly, ricky untied your blindfold, letting it plop down on your lap. a harsh, white light greeted you, causing you to squint in a futile attempt to gather your surroundings. the floor was made of concrete and the walls were decorated with many things that you didn’t even want to begin to imagine they were used for.

your heart rate began to quicken at the thought of ricky torturing you with them. you knew what he was capable of and he would likely have no opposition to making your life a living hell - he had definitely done that already, but still.

you finally found the courage to speak again, meeting your gaze with ricky, who was clearly satisfied with the sight of you entirely helpless, “why are you doing this to me?”

“oh darling, don’t get ahead of yourself in thinking your special enough to think you’re our only victim,” the mock sympathy in ricky’s voice made you queasy, “this is taerae and i’s little game, we’ve had countless people like you that we’ve toyed with.”

“you’re sick!” you exclaimed, disgust contorting your facials features into a look of disbelief.

ricky circled around you, slender fingers trailing across your shoulders as he did so. you flinched at the sensation, wanting nothing more than for him to get his hands off of you entirely.

“that’s the whole point, y/n,” taerae piped up from his spot, arms crossed over his chest as he watched his partner torment you with each and every move he made.

“you see,” ricky started, beginning to trace the pads of his fingers up the side of your neck and to your jaw, “we put that phone number on the diner wall to lure people like you in. we’ve been doing this for a little over a year now. it’s quite fun.”

you shuddered at his words, unable to believe that truly evil people like this somehow existed in the world. tears welled up into your eyes, involuntarily dripping down onto your cheeks the more ricky touched you. it was almost as if his touch was poison, and you felt a burning itch on every inch if your skin that he ghosted his fingers over.

the blonde finally stopped, cupping your cheek and catching one of your tears, “you’re the most beautiful one we’ve gotten so far, you know. you should be proud of that.”

your voice was shaky but firm, “yeah, because it’s some prestigious award. got it.”

“you’ve also been the most interesting one,” ricky mused, his head cocked to the side slightly, “you put up quite the fight.”

his words gave you the final push to do what had crossed your mind the moment he stepped in front of you. taking a deep breath, swiftly lifting up your legs and jutting them forward into ricky’s gut, forcing him to buckle over at the impact, a dissatisfied grunt falling from his mouth.

you somehow found the strength to stand up despite still being restrained to the chair beneath you, swinging it around to smack ricky with its legs as he attempted to lunge at you. his voice echoed throughout the room as he yelled, “get them, taerae, don’t just stand there like a dumbass!”

by now you had begun to hop away, desperate to find something, anything that to get the rope at least off of your wrists. There were multiple tools and weapons hung on the walls and scattered about the room, and you were able to set your focus on a knife that you saw sitting on the edge of a table within reach in your current state.

you hopped along as fast as your bound up legs would carry you, but you didn’t reach it in time. instead, taerae had yanked you backward, sending you toppling to the ground with a harsh thud. the wood of the chair had split as you did so, a sharp piece sinking into the flesh of your thigh. you let out a pained yelp, “fuck!”

“i bet that hurts,” taerae snorted, “glad it’s not me.”

you laughed dryly, “you know, i never expected you to be part of whatever this is. i thought you were better than that, taerae.”

the boy frowned, one of his dimples peeking out as he did so, “yeah, well, that’s what you get for letting your guard down so easily. i was able to tell ricky absolutely everything.”

“figures.”

the blonde was now standing next to taerae, anger dancing dangerously in his dark irises. it was hard to miss the knife in his hand, gleaming teasingly at you in the light, “can we just put an end to this?”

“wait!” you cried out, attempting to reason with ricky, “if i’m so interesting, why not let me try and put up a fight of my own?”

ricky cackled loudly, “you won’t win.”

“please, just let me try.”

ricky observed your current state and ultimately decided to nod at taerae, signaling for him to let you free from your restraints. he did as he was told, cutting away the ropes from your hands and feet quickly, soon standing back in the spot he behind ricky was previously occupying.

you got up, gingerly touching where the wood was currently impaled in your leg. you winced at the feeling, deciding to bite the bullet and pull as much out of your flesh as you could. if it was sharp enough to hurt you, then it was certainly sharp enough to hurt ricky.

you finally straightened your posture, gripping onto the wood as tightly as you could. you furrowed your brows in concentration, “let's do this.”

ricky immediately lunged forward, attempting to sink the knife into your shoulder, but you managed to dodge him. you were caught in a cat and mouse game, trying your best to get as much leverage over ricky as you possibly could, but to no avail. all of your attempts would up with a quick slice of the knife on your arms and legs, and you had only managed to get one hit on the blonde with your makeshift weapon.

the more blood you lost, mainly from the injury in your leg, the weaker and less adept you became. it hurt to put much pressure on it, let alone attempt to run from the situation entirely. you supposed that's probably what you should have done from the beginning, but with taerae there to aid ricky in any way, your chances of fully escaping were slim and you knew that.

you were panting, trying like hell to get something on ricky, but instead, he managed to get the upper hand, lurching toward you and finally sinking the blade into your abdomen, your back pressed against the cool tile of the wall behind you. freezing in your place, you found it hard to process what was going on, glancing down at the handle and his skin coated with your blood. this was it, this was the end.

he got impossibly close to you, his lips brushing your ear as he said, “play stupid games, win stupid prizes, love.”

you were beginning to fade in and out of consciousness, sliding down the wall and leaving a streak of thick, crimson blood in your wake. your trembling hands were beginning to steady and you were feeling yourself slip out of touch with reality.

the last thing you could remember was ricky’s evil chuckle and the loom of satisfaction in your eye before your vision blurred and everything went black.

except this time, you wouldn't be waking up.

[francis-writes]

Okay okay, i saw one of your post you like reader as unhinged as ramsay rather than scared and whimpy, and guess what? ME TOO! So what about ramsay being obsessed and absolutely whipped with his new wife who is unhinged and match his energy, she absolutely wrapped him around her finger and he is lovesick, when he sees her tormenting others (and sometimes even him) he is weak on his knees. And when he killed her father, he saw that she helped his stepmom escape the castle and he is in disbelief and hearthbroken until he ask her "why would you do that? We were going to be lady and lord of dreadfort!" she hands him his bow with a smirk and uncaged the hounds and say "we will my dear, but we should live up to the reputation" (basically implying they should hunt them down rather than basically killing them, like he did to kyra and theon in the books, make them think they can escape then hunting them down and killing them) and he is even more in love with her? WE NEED MORE OF READER LİKE THIS WITH RAMSAY

A/N: I wasn’t sure whether it was a request or just an idea so i wrote a short fragment. (i can eagerly write more if you want) But anyway, anon, you have a brilliant mind. I already thought i am alone in this. I don’t mind that everyone has their own preferences but at some point i was tired of constantly seeing the same “reader is terrified of Ramsay and sleeps with him to avoid punishment/reader hates Ramsay and they hate themselves for being down bad for him”.

I barely see other possibilities explored and there’s so many! Your “they are both sadistic killers”, but also even “I don’t really support his actions, but he’s my bbygirl and looks good covered in blood so i will just stand near, slightly shocked but with thumbs up”. Or you know what? Reader who is actually very submissive and masochistic and if anything, they are jealous about Ramsay’s victims. Maybe they just have autoassassinatophilia (like, when you are aroused by possibility of being killed, don’t mind my self-indulgence) and Ramsay is just perfect for them because other people were like “you want me to strangle you until you pass out? i don’t know, seems too extreme for me :/”. Okay, maybe I am going too far, but you get me. Sooo many possibilities. As Harley Poe once said, “monsters need love too”.

tw: violence, murder,child’s death,  but that goes without saying

You were riding through the woods without hurry. You could hear hounds growling and barking in the distance, clear sign that they already caught Walda. It was to be expected, even with a head start, she was too heavy to run fast, especially that she was fresh after giving birth. Honestly, the ease was rather disappointing. Killing her would be satisfying nonetheless, but you would prefer more challenging chase, prolonging the thrill of hunt. But howling of hounds informed you that she would clearly not run any longer. Ramsay smiled to you.

“Maybe we should go faster and see how my stepmother feels after that short trot”

You nodded and hurried up your horse. Soon you and Ramsay stopped and dismounted your horses. Fat Walda was sitting under the tree, curled up and pressing a small bundle to her chest. She was clearly terrified by the large hounds circling her and growling threateningly. They didn’t hurt her yet, they wouldn’t without Ramsay’s command.

Ramsay smirked and walked closer to Walda. She raised her tearful eyes at him and pleaded in breaking voice:

“Ramsay… I beg you.. I will leave, go back to Twins, you will never hear about me again… just let me go”

Ramsay hummed and shook his head in mocked regret.

“Oh, dear Walda, even if i let you go, you still have a son. One day he will grow up and try to take away my rights”

Walda shifted and get on her knees.

“He’s just a baby… I swear, I will make sure he won’t do it. I won’t tell him that he’s your brother”

Ramsay forcibly pulled out the bundle from her arms and she let out a short cry. I stepped closer and put my hand on his shoulder, looking down on the kid in his arms.

“Maybe we should kill the mother and keep him” I spoke thoughtfully.

Ramsay looked at me surprised as if i lost my mind.

“Why? Do you suddenly feel some remorse?”

I shook my head with a smile.

“No, but he still has your blood. You may raise him as your own son, teach him to respect you and you won’t have to worry about getting an heir. He’s in age to be your son”

Ramsay hesitated at my words but then chuckled.

“That would work, but I would prefer my own child. Especially the one you will carry me soon”

He reached one hand and playfully slapped my ass. Then he looked again at the bundle in his arm. I noticed that despite his ruthless nature, he seemed to have a sort of sympathy for his little brother. I wondered if he’s gonna eventually use my idea or some of his own, and keep him alive. But after a few moments Ramsay spoke in low, gravelly voice:

“You have a pretty son, Walda. And you’re right, he’s my blood. So i will show him mercy”

Walda seemed relieved for a short moment before Ramsay took a swing and crushed the kid's head against a stone, then threw his lifeless body on the ground. Walda screamed loudly, her voice was full of despair and grief. She cried, hiding her face in her hands, trying not to look at her son’s body.

“Why?!?” she whined. “You said you will show him mercy!”

“And I did” he spoke in deadly serious voice “I gave him a quick death. But don’t worry, you will soon meet him again”

He waved his hand and with a loud howl, all hounds jumped on Walda. She screamed in pain under their claws and teeth. Ramsay observed it with satisfaction. He pulled me closer to himself, embracing my waist with his hands. He left a few warm wet kisses on my neck. As he pressed against my back, I could feel his growing excitement, hardness in his pants pressing into my ass. His hand wandered onto my stomach and he whispered into my ear:

“Once my hounds finish feeding, I think we will start trying for my own heir, my Lady. Do you think you want to conceive my son in the luxurious bed, like a proper lady, or here, on the forest ground?”

I smirked lightly.

“Hmm, I think we should teach him love for woods and hunting from the beginning”

[the12thnightproject]

Chapter 39: A Future: Katsuko is very much off course, but at least she has found some people who can help her out.

Mitsuhide x OC; Hideyoshi x MC (Mai)

All Chapters Archived on Ao3 

Logline - With Mai, Hideyoshi, and Aki missing, Mitsuhide and Katsuko reluctantly team up. Disguised as a merchant and his concubine, can they outsmart the man known as the God of Deceit?

The stranger squinted at me through the blizzard and asked again. “Katsuko?”

In this weather, I couldn’t make out the man's features, nor could I tell how tall he was because he was on the horse. His voice was vaguely familiar though. But not familiar enough to be coming from someone who knew my true name. Aki groaned, reminding me that this was no time to play guessing games. I simply indicated my increasingly heavy Aki burden and said, "He's been shot."

My rescuer was enough of a man of action over words to leap off his horse take on part of Aki’s weight. Between the three of us, we managed to get Aki onto the horse. "Can he last long enough to get home?"

Home? Where is home?

Again, I tried to place the man. He was perhaps a few years older than I was, with medium brown hair… and… nope. No idea. Sorry, dude.

"He's a tough old bird." I pitched my voice loud enough for Aki to hear, and received a grumpy, "insubordinate” as a reward.

I let my rescuer lead the horse and simply trudged along beside him. Hopefully, he would not notice I had no idea where we were going,. "It sounds like you know this guy?" There was no small amount of jealousy in his tone of voice.

"Well. He's my father." No reason to keep that a secret.

"Your father?" The man looked at me with a frown. That frown… seemed familiar.

I do know who this is!

Sasuke's travelling merchant friend. Yuki. Yuki who has only seen me disguised as an old man. And while he might possibly have recognized me on the street, he definitely should not have known my real name.

"I didn’t know your father was alive." This was spoken in tones that suggested I would have told him. He sounded hurt that ‘Katsuko’ hadn’t mentioned this man to him.

What the hell is going on here?

"It's a recent development. I just found out myself." I gave Aki a glare. "He's a very shifty old man."

"I heard that." Aki’s response was between a cough and a grumble.

“You were meant to.”

Fortunately there was a posting station near the river a few kilometers from where Yuki had found us. Yuki was able to obtain another horse, in fact it might actually have been one of from his “home” as people who often needed to travel far and fast kept extra mounts at these stations, if they had the means to. I elected to ride with Aki, hoping to avoid revealing to Yuki that I still had no idea where he was going, and figuring I could use the “need to make sure my father stays on the horse” excuse to prevent conversation.

"Home" turned out to be a large low castle/manor hybrid spread out from behind two moats and a long wall. More or less protected, but not super defensible, although the fierce looking warriors at the sentry post were a sort of living wall. It had only been just about over an hour away from the posting station, and the weather had slightly warmed up in the meanwhile.

The snow hadn’t stopped, but the consistency had changed from icy pellets to softer flakes. (I like snow, I do, but not when it’s flung in my face on a constant basis.)

Muramasa had zipped ahead of us, baying happily, and he seemed to be a familiar sight to the guards. So was Yuki, who had been addressed as "Lord Yukimura." Ha! I knew he hadn’t been a traveling merchant. The sentries apparently knew me as well, deferentially calling me, "Lady Katsu."

Huh so this really was 'home'? Am I a year or two in the future? That would explain a lot.

But how was I connected to Yuki…mura?

Please don’t tell me this is my husband.

Not that Yukimura was unattractive. But to go from ‘I thought you were an old man’ to ‘wife,’ would be quite the leap. Not to mention, going from loving Mitsuhide to … marrying this guy. A lot would have needed to have happened.

Just sayin’.

I didn’t think we were married though. Yukimura wasn’t acting like a husband. More like someone who considered me one of his closest friends.

We relinquished our horses at a stable, and Lord Yukimura rushed to help Aki dismount. Aki roused himself enough to protest this, saying, "I will walk on my own." I stuck close to his side, though, just in case, as the three of us made our way into the dwelling.

The servant at the main entry let Lord Yukimura in without comment, then did a double take when he got a look at me. Presumably this was someone whose name I was supposed to know. To cover for the giant gaping hole in my knowledge, I simply gestured to Aki and said, “We need a healer – he’s been shot.”

The servant galloped off with any further questions. This galloping was echoed by smaller gallops and then two small children burst into the room and launched themselves at Yukimura, yelling "Yuki!"

The younger one, a girl of maybe two years, flung herself into Yuki's arms. He used the momentum to swing her into the air. "Miss Mayumi, you're twice as big as the last time I saw you."

Mayumi? This child was named after my mother?

The little boy however, halted at my feet, put his hands on his hips and glared up at me suspiciously. “Are you a Yokoi?"

At this point... anything's possible.

And then the servant returned followed by a tall man who paused, then calmly looked from me to Aki. "Akihira, there are a lot of people looking for you.” Then he smiled down at me. "Hello Katsu. It seems the timeline has run amok again."

Huh? This one knows me too?

"What?" That had been Yuki.

And then a woman, her fingers stained with ink, hurried in from a different direction, and the tall man pulled her to his side. "Devil, here’s another one."

The women finally turned and looked at us, her eyes widening when she saw Aki… and she was...

…me?!

What the hell is going on?

"What the hell is going on?" Yuki was nicely doing the work of broadcasting my inner thoughts.

"What the hell is going?" The little boy echoed Yuki’s statement with a look of utter hero-worship on his face.

Other-me winced. "Hana's going to kill us if we return them with an enhanced vocabulary." Then she bowed to Aki. "Four years. Four years and all we get is one letter?"

Yuki looked from me to other-me. Future me? She did seem slightly older than I. "Katsuko, is this your sister?"

"Not exactly," the tall man stated, but by then, my concern had shifted to Aki, who winced and swayed.

"Dad!" It slipped out. But somewhere along the way I had begun to think of him as my father.

Other-me finally looked surprised. "Dad?"

The tall man nodded. "I... had my suspicions." He pulled her closer, gave her a brief kiss on her forehead, and whispered something in her ear. She closed her eyes and leaned on him. For a moment they were the same kind of bubble I had seen surrounding Mai and Hideyoshi. Them against the world.

Then he turned to nod at some of the servants who had gathered in the hallways, and announced in a loud voice, "Katsuko's sister and father have come to visit. Please prepare rooms for them."

Once they had all scattered, he smiled down at me. "Angel, I'm certain you have many questions, but let’s get your father settled first, then discuss this in a less... public... setting." Then he kissed the other-me. "Apparently, the wormhole is not finished with us yet."

It was substantially more than an hour before we were able to gather in a room not far from where Aki was now uncomfortably resting. A local healer had been dragged in from the storm, only to keel over at the sight of Aki's bloody shoulder.

"I could take the bullet out myself," Aki had glared at the lump of healer on the floor, then passed out too.

The tall man, who I had finally learned was Takeda Shingen had looked over Aki in concern, and said that at the moment, all we could do is let him get some rest and warmth.

"Are you a healer too?" I had heard Yoshimoto praise his cousin as a man with a multitude of skills, but not that medicine was one of them.

"I've had a lot of experience at being ill," was the only explanation he gave.

I hadn’t wanted to leave Aki, but other-me stationed one of the maids in the room and instructed her to call for us if Aki's situation worsened. Now, we were in what looked like Lord Shingen's private office; the desk was stacked with reports and correspondence, and a wall of built in shelves contained an impressive collection of texts on history, philosophy, and political theory.

"If you aren't Katsuko's sister," Yukimura asked me, once we were all gathered around a before-it's time-Kotatsu, "Who are you?"

"Well, I'm Katsuko. Just not that Katsuko. Um. At least, I don’t think I am that one." I sighed. "I've been going by Kaya recently anyway, if it makes it easier."

"Never liked that name." Katsuko gave me a sympathetic look.

"Me either.” Which yeah, of course. She was me. I’ve had a lot of surreal experiences, but this easily topped the list. “I think Mitsuhide made me use it for that reason."

"Mitsuhide!" Even without Yukimura's sputter the name landed like a bomb in the room. Yuki edged away from me. "What were you doing with that snake?"

I didn’t want to discuss that in depth. "Um it’s a long story – he was helping me look for Aki and I was helping him look for Mai and Hideyoshi, but I'm not really sure if that part really relates to how I got here...? Uh what year is it?"

"Fifteen-eighty-six.” Katsuko was the one who answered me. "I take it you got here from 1582."

"Are you a future me?" But that wouldn’t make sense? Or would it? A lot could have happened since 1582. Except if she were future-me, she should have known that I had come here from 1578… and I was already confusing myself with the paradox.

"No. I’m a multiverse version of you. Sasuke uses the term alternate." She turned to Shingen. "We should send for-"

"Already ahead of you, Devil. Though it will take a better part of a week for him to arrive." Shingen retrieved a basket of what looked like chestnut buns from behind his desk, and offered it to me. I nearly took one, until I got a look at a warning head-shake from Katsuko.

"Ha! It's Sasuke. He'll ninja himself here in four days." Yuki pulled the kettle off a brazier which was set cozily in the back of the room, obviously very much at home in his friends' castle.

I was still stuck on the term 'alternate,' trying to piece my way through an explanation of the situation I’d found myself in. "Ok, so this 1586 is not my future, but a different timeline." Aside from Yukimura, everyone else was being awfully calm about this.

Katsuko nodded. "Yep. You're the third version of myself that I've met." She turned and poked Yukimura. "Don't you remember that Sasuke explained it all... with strings, back before we sent Shingen to the future?"

"I remember, but it made as much sense then as it does now." He shrugged. "I just never understood why you would focus on the future when you have to live in today."

"An admirable philosophy, Yuki." Shingen lightly patted his friend's shoulder. "In any case, Katsuko has had experience getting stuck in the wrong timeline, so I surmise that's what has happened to you."

"That would make sense." I gave them a brief explanation of what had happened to me when I realized Aki had disappeared, although I skimmed past the details of the whole Mitsuhide part of it. From the look Lord Shingen gave me, it was clear he knew there was more to it than that, but he let it go.

There was an even longer period of shock and awe when I showed them the odd device that had seemed to activate the time travel without a wormhole (but further discussion of that was tabled – we would wait for Sasuke to arrive). "After Iekane and I went over the castle wall, I landed on a battlefield in 1578, which is where I found Aki. I only knew it was 1578 because I saw Sasuke save Kenshin. That wormhole, Sasuke's wormhole, was still open, so Aki and I went through it, and ended up near the Kawaguchi shrine a few hours ago."

"All this that happened with Yoshiaki, it was already winter... Eleventh month?" At my nod, Shingen continued. "That confirms you are from an alternate timeline rather than the past. At that point in our timeline, Katsu and Yuki were fighting Iekane near Togakushi, and I was already in modern Japan getting treatment." He rubbed his throat, and yeah, now that I knew to look, I could see a surgery scar.

“I'm pretty sure that is where my timeline's version of you is too. Sasuke mentioned that he was going to the future with a sick friend." I supposed that meant that whatever Shingen had had, it was the same illness across all timelines.

Picking up on my train of thought, Katsuko said, "I'm glad, I have to admit, I sometimes worry about the alternate Shingens and whether they are getting treatment." She rested her head on his shoulder.

"Trust Sasuke to find a way to convince me... or Yuki to figure out how to send me there without warning." He smiled down at her, and curled his fingers in her hair.

Awwww. I supposed it was nice to know there was a version of me happily... married? That reminds me…. "The children - the little boy and Mayumi. Are they yours?"

I had never been interested in motherhood. Specifically not the whole giving birth part of it. With my family history, I just didn’t want to put myself on a path of postpartum depression leading to clinical depression. But had other-me gotten past that?

After a moment of silence that was almost awkward, Katsuko shook her head. "Oh gosh, you haven't found Toshiie then. They're his children."

"Toshiie's here? In this house?" I jumped up, ready to run from room to room until I saw him, until Shingen spoke up.

"No, he's in China right now. He and his wife, who is an herbalist, went to research medicine." Almost on cue, Mayumi toddled unto the room and crawled into Shingen's lap. She blinked her eyes at him twice, then dropped off to sleep. He brushed his hand over her hair, then added. "This one is apparently convinced I'm her bed."

Ok, Katsu. Catch up here. "Where did you find him?" I’d just have to retrieve him from wherever once I got back to the right timeline. If… I could figure out how to do that.

“Ikuno.” Yukimura was the one who answered my question.

"He's not there. Not in your original timeline, I mean." The explanation come from Aki, who had apparently had enough of ‘the whole lie down because there’s a bullet in your shoulder thing’ and was gripping the wall to keep himself upright. "Each timeline is different. In some, he made it back to modern Japan. In yours, Katsu," he nodded at me, "I'd had word that he could be in Sakai, but I got waylaid in another timeline before I could check it out."

"You should be lying down." I jumped up to steady him before anyone else could react. His face was grey and sweaty and I could feel heat radiating from his shoulder. The bullet might not kill him, but the infection could.

"Yes. You should. Dad." The inflection in Katsuko's tone was flat. Ok. I was pissed too, but the level of her anger suggested that other things had happened between them that I wasn’t privy to.

Yuki found a low chair with actual back and arm support and slid it into the conversation area, and Aki dropped heavily into it. Whatever strength he'd used to propel himself into the room was now gone.

"Akihira." Shingen addressed him as a peer, not an authority figure. "I understand the concept of multiple timelines. What I don’t understand is why there seem to be many versions of myself, of Katsuko, of Sasuke, and Mai… and only one of you."

"Because I was in a place where time has no meaning when the timeline splintered." He closed his eyes, as if completely spent. My need for answers clashed with a bigger need to keep him alive. I had chosen Aki over Mitsuhide, and if he died after all this it would all be for nothing. Selfish Katsu! It's not all about you! I couldn’t help my thoughts though, even as I felt guilty for thinking them.

"That hidden room in your manor." Shingen nodded. "Kayten told us time had no meaning there."

Hidden room?

Aki managed a brief thumbs up. The modern gesture seemed odd on him. He had blended so well in this era, I had never thought to question him. "I heard you had found it."

"We found it at the same time as Okatsu and Mitsunari came through from their timeline." Katsuko swirled her tea. "I don’t know which of the four of us was the most surprised."

The surreal feeling of displacement returned. Okatsu and Mitsunari?

“Ah. She didn’t see the other two. It’s too bad – it might have saved me a rather large amount of trouble if she had.” He turned to Yukimura. “Would have saved you a few headaches as well.”

I looked around the room to see if anyone else had any clue what he was talking about, but all that I got was universal confusion. As much as I wanted to know what he was talking about, Aki wasn’t looking well. For the last few moments he’d been shaking uncontrollably. "That’s enough. Aki should be lying down.”

"I don’t think that's going to help." Aki put his hand on my head. "As far as I know, there's no treatment here for a septic wound."

@mllorei @bestbryn @selenacosmic @lyds323 @akitsuneswife @tele86

[minecraftbookshelf]

Biglong ask incoming, I kept getting more ideas as I typed lol. Hope you’ve got a ramble already locked and loaded. This might be a bit much otherwise, sorry. 😅

So… How big are things in MoS? Like the empires are presumably much larger than the Minecraft counterparts, being actually functional empires. How long is travel between the empires? Is the Minecraft map basically proportional or would things scale up differently? Is there just a separate map for the AU or are the broad strokes close enough to use the original world as a reference?

And what does travel actually look like? Are elytra a common thing for people to have? If they’re rare and valuable, who gets to use them? How about boats, horses, camels, lamas, donkeys? What’s common? Are there empire specific preferences for mounts/vehicles? Do we got flying machines, and would you see them outside the grimlands? How does pix tend to travel when he goes wandering?

When the dragons get brought back (gem would not appreciate the passive voice there) do dragon riders pop up? Do they become more common mounts eventually?

What is travel between empires like? Who lets people through easily, who doesn’t, and how do they enforce it? (especially with the flying people) What’s the process to be allowed into more closed off empires? I imagine the rules are different with allies, so what are they in that case?

Do you have any big trade routes you already thought of? Is ocean trade and travel generally allowed by lizze? Are there any silly circuitous routes that trade or travel has to take to get around closed off borders; get around both as in literally geographically around and metaphorically, as in around the rules.

Do winged sophonts ride on mounts sometimes; for comfort or for pomp and circumstance? Or is flying just so much faster that they basically never bother? Are there underwater mounts for the seafolk? Do seafolk use boats for themselves? Can seafolk swim faster than boats? Travel long distances faster?

Nether travel exists too! Or does it? Xornoth didn’t get possessed, so is the nether still around? If it is, how common is nether travel? Is it like the baseline for long trips, or a restricted ultra-fast highway? Probably depends on how hard it is to make portals in AUland. Do they even make more at all? If not commonplace, do the portals have like, waiting lists? Who tends to use them? Is it mostly used for trade?

Oh jeez, my asks are only getting longer. I feel like I need a tldr. Actually..

TLDR: a bunch of questions about travel in the MoS AU, more specifically regarding, in order; scale, vehicles, borders, trade routes, flying and swimming manually, and the nether.

Ok, now I think I’m finally actually done, for real this time, and I hope you have a good day. <3

Usually I either do have a ramble locked and loaded or it doesn't take much to get one going so I wouldn't worry about it XD

going to go ahead and preemptively pop in a readmore because, all this. (Also this ask is very funny to me because the literal first few paragraphs of the upcoming chapter do actually talk a bit about travel. In the sense of "Jimmy has flown all the way to the Overgrown and is dried up and cranky about it.")

How Big Is It All?

I have messed a bit with the proportions. On the actual SMP for example, Helianthia is one of the smaller empires, while that just...isn't quite feasible for the purposes of the AU since the sort of large scale agriculture happening there needs Space. Even when its magically assisted agriculture. Basically I'm using the official map and just adjusting proportions a bit. I might make my own "official" version for the AU at some point, but I haven't really bothered at this point.

Helianthia, Mezalea, and Mythland in particular are all pretty big. Some of the other kingdoms, like Pixandria, are fairly small but just spread out over a large area. (In this case, small populations clustered in a few different oases) Rivendell technically has a fairly large territory, but a lot of the Southern reaches of it are abandoned. Things like that.

Travel?

Travel time depends on who is traveling to/from where and how. There are elytra but they are extremely rare and are reserved for the rulers themselves and, in a few cases, particularly trusted messengers who act as couriers for high-security documents/messages. Mythland, Mezalea, Pixandria, Helianthia, The Ocean, The Swamp, and The Grimlands all make use of elytra to differing levels, while Rivendell, The Overgrown, and The Lost Empire have enough citizens with wings of their own that they don't really bother. The Crystal Cliffs use spells to achieve the same effect (Shrub doesn't even arrive until after the story has already begun, so I leave them out of a lot of this discussion mostly because a lot of it will be in the actual fics explicitly as they learn to find their way around a strange new world full of stupidly tall people.)

Boats and ships are very common for the seafaring kingdoms; The Swamp, Mezalea, and Mythland. Pixandria also has a few but they mostly use them for near-shore fishing and shorter ferry trips. Ocean trade and travel routes are heavily effected by the existence of the Ocean Empire in general and Lizzie in particular. The Mythlands used to be much more seafaring then they currently are, and yes, they do have to take some rather circuitous routes these days.

There are very much empire specific preferences for mounted travel, though horses are fairly standard in most empires. A lot of those will show up fairly quickly in the series so I won't do a full breakdown here but yes, Pearl does have her golden goose because I love that that is a thing.

Pix has traveled just about every way imaginable and he is just as likely to show up at your door on foot as he is by elytra.

There are some flying machines, though they are not incredibly reliable. They are mostly used by the Grimlands yes though Mezalea also has a couple of more dirigible-style transports.

I'm actually going to put a pin in the topic of the dragons for now. :)

What is travel between empires like? Who lets people through easily, who doesn’t, and how do they enforce it? (especially with the flying people) What’s the process to be allowed into more closed off empires? I imagine the rules are different with allies, so what are they in that case? Do you have any big trade routes you already thought of? Is ocean trade and travel generally allowed by lizze? Are there any silly circuitous routes that trade or travel has to take to get around closed off borders; get around both as in literally geographically around and metaphorically, as in around the rules.

These will both be kind of covered in the post that I will make with the trade routes map i mentioned making earlier but the tldr is yes, alliances definitely affect trade and travel, though the emperors themselves tend to go wherever they want and show up on each others doorstep with zero warning, there are some instances in which this is heavily discouraged. (Mythical Sausage is Not Welcome in the Cod Swamp. He shows up anyway. This is a major topic of conversation that I have been writing about lately XD) Some empires also heavily discourage air travel by outsiders.

(So yes most of the winged rulers do have backup mounts for such cases.)

The Ocean Empire does not really use boats or ships but the Swamp does. Some Sea-folk are faster than ships straight up, but mostly they aren't as limited by ocean currents and wind patterns and so can often take more direct routes. (Though they also do use the currents)

Nether travel does exist. Xornoth's connection to the Nether is a little bit different in this AU, just because I've tweaked the mythology to suit my own purposes and story. So there are Nether roads, though how frequently they are used and how well they are maintained varies wildly. The Ocean Empire and the majority of The Swamp population avoid it when possible, because it's basically instant dehydration for them and is an incredibly dangerous way to travel. A significant portion of the Rivendell population is also very ill-suited for travel in the Nether as well. It's primarily used for extreme distances or for some of the WRA. It's mostly used for time sensitive things that won't be harmed by the heat. Some trade, but mostly travel.

Nether travel won't show up much for the first two arcs but will feature heavily in the third arc so I'll go into it in a lot more detail there.

[eyeslikewatercoolers]

Catnip Culprit- black sheep au drabble

Here we go again with another drabble with some cute farm animals. This time with some fun barn kitties. Thank you to @lemyankajuiced for giving me this idea and brainstorming with me who would be the cats in this au.

“Do you think this plant is getting smaller?” Sasha asked out loud as she tilted the metal watering can into the planter. 

“The catnip? Marcia never touches that stuff.” Kerri said from where she swept the patio rug. She bent slightly to pet the long-haired white cat that sunbathed on the swing bench.

“And the barn cats never come out to the house,” Sasha said as she glanced toward the large red barn. “Unless there’s a stray coming by around here.” 

“Maybe Netra brought over a friend.” The younger woman said while she swept the dust and spare leaves into the dustpan. 

Sasha poured the rest of the water into the metal water bowl, “As long as her friend is fixed,” she shrugged, her lips turning into a small smirk. 

“You spoil that dog so much.” Kerri pointed out as she watched Anetra trot around the goats away from the property line. “You let her get away with whatever she wants.” 

Sasha rolled her eyes, “Oh, hush. I do not let her get away with everything.” Anetra was one of the most well-behaved dogs Sasha had ever known. She never begged for table scraps, rarely barked at outsiders, and could sit and shake on command. 

“What about last week when she stole a piece of raw chicken off the counter, and you pretended not to notice?” Kerri said in a deadpan tone. 

Sasha’s eyes widened as she looked at her daughter, “That was only one time she did that, thank you very much.”

A few days later, Sasha was brushing one of the horse’s manes as the door to the stables opened and Kerri walked inside. 

“I think I found your catnip stealer,” Kerri said as she gave some apple slices to the horse Sasha brushed. 

“Oh really? Who is it then?” Sasha asked as she started braiding the mane to finish it off. 

Kerri pulled up a recent picture on her phone and showed it to Sasha, “It’s your dog.” The picture showed Anetra’s head in the plant, wagging her tail. 

Sasha looked at Kerri in slight confusion “Where is she now?” she asked as she tied off the braid. 

“Meet me at the barn once you put Robin back in her stall,” Kerri said before leaving the stables.

Several minutes later, Sasha found Kerri sitting on a straw bale with Anetra sitting on the ground nearby. They were both looking in the opposite direction, facing a corner of the barn. 

“What is it you wanted to show me?” Sasha asked to announce her presence. Kerri quietly waved her over as Antera stood to happily greet her human owner.

Sasha walked over and sat next to Kerri as Anetra lay at their feet. As soon as Sasha sat down, she felt small paws run across her lap in a fast moment.

The quartet of barn cats took turns rolling in the sprigs of catnip in the middle of the floor. The ginger and tuxedo twins, named Sugar and Spice, were play-wrestling all over the floor, occasionally knocking each other into the support beams. 

Meanwhile, the calico cat, Jax, was darting from each end of the barn, jumping and running on the extra hay bales. The black cat, Luxx, was lying on her back in the middle of the floor, pupils filling out her eyes. 

“The dog figured out how to get the cats high?” Sasha asked in her shock. “How?”

Kerri shook her head in laughter, “I have no idea, but this is hilarious.”  she said as Spice shook off the straw off her before chasing Sugar. 

“As funny as this is, I need to find a better spot for the catnip plant,” Sasha said as the cats started to wind down. 

“And maybe stop letting the dog get away with everything?”

“Next time she does something bad, I promise.”

[transmurderbug]

🍂Tag Game Wednesday! 🍂

Thank you for the tag Kaka @stocious 💙 and Nosho @creepkinginc! 💙🥰

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which character from any media would you like to have as a father? I have no idea 🤔 I'd accept some of the cool dads.

if money, laws, time, and effort were no object, what animal would you want to have? A dragon. Or a horse.

what is your Chinese takeout order? There's almost exclusively only one Chinese dish I can eat and that is the... fragrant tender chicken breast? I think that's what it's called (with noodles)

what's your favourite emoji? 🫂

would you rather have a library, greenhouse, or home theater in your house? In this order all three? Is that an option? It is now 😌

what childhood tv show do you think of the most fondly? I loved Teen Titans and Scooby Doo as a kid. But I was also more of an Animal Planet and National Geographic kid, so...

what was your tumblr like when you first joined? Pretty much the same as now.

what clothing style do you love but don't feel compelled to replicate yourself? I don't think I can think of one.

if you were plopped into a fictional world, which one would you know the layout of the best? Berk or Alagaësia. I think. I'm sure I could think of more...

what is your favourite piece of art? Hmm. I have a lot... I love Anguish by August Friedrich Schenk and Egri nők by Bertalan Székely

do you have a water bottle? what does it look like? I have a bunch. Some are plain, some have all kinds of patterns or decorations.

what fanfic trope is a quiet fave? Angst. Hurt/comfort.

do you carry a daily bag? what does it look like? what's the weirdest thing in it? I do. It's a relatively large camouflage bag. The weirdest thing in it... I usually have salt and sweeteners with me, maybe that counts as weird?

if you had to ship Mickey with another Gallagher, who would it be? Ouch. I've stumbled upon some Lip/Mickey fics and while they didn't make me gag, I'd still pass. So... no.

what is a fanfic trope you didn't expect to like and then very much did? ABO. When I first read an ABO fic, I really didn't like it and left pretty fast. Then one day, it grew on me 😆

Do you think s11 Mickey can still carry s11 Ian? I think so? Small, but mighty. He's short, but definitely strong. Plus, it really depends on the lifting technique. I think he would need a proper carrying technique, so definitely no "bridal style", but yes.

who got custody of the killing bat when they sold the house? Carl. -----------

I'm not late today, so I'm tagging some cool people to participate, if you want. If not, here, you can have a mushroom 🍄 @deathclassic @ian-galagher @bawlbrayker @transmickey @meagaboooo @dynamic-power @deedala @crossmydna @juliakayyy @heymrspatel @palepinkgoat @sweetperversiongirl @spacerockwriting @jrooc @francesrose3 @krystallouwho @steorie @depressedstressedlemonzest @gardenerian @suzy-queued @lupeloto @metalheadmickey @look-i-love-u @darlingian @scurvgirl and anyone else who wants to 😌

[dulcewrites]

Would you ever consider writing a chapter for FMO where we get to see the courtship between reader and Aemond?

Not a full chapter but I did poll you guys about if you wanted to see reader and Aemond pre daella or pre marriage. Pre marriage won. I wrote something small and just transferred it here

New Beginnings

There had been a heatwave in the King’s Landing. Surprising warm days rolled through and left everyone miserable in their wake. Workers in the castles had even gone as far to limit candle usage. There was a light reprieve when the sun began to set. The halls of the Red Keep dim, but at least cooler than usual.

Helaena’s chamber sat on the opposite side of yours. The only light that illuminated through the hall was the hand held candle basket in your hand.

“What did I tell Helaena and you about wandering the halls alone.”

The voice made you bite a smile. Aemond scolds like a mother. Stern and sure ; you are sure he got it from the Queen.

“And we told you that you need to respect your elders’ wishes,” you turn to find Aemond to find him in dark leather and silk. Riding gloves being taken off.

You always heard that romantic feelings are marked by butterflies in the stomach. Often it feels like ants are ravaging your insides around Aemond. It only started recently when Alicent insisted you break your fast with her every fifth day of the week. The queen, who you normally see as subtle and measured was anything but when you walked into her apartments to find her… and her son.

The writing is on the wall.

Your mother even went as far to send you new dresses when you casually mentioned it in a letter. Sweetling, you must look your best for the occasion.

Sometimes you find yourself out of your own body, watching yourself interact with him. Hyperaware of the way you look and hold yourself. Self consciously, your free hand goes to your hair. Jaehaerys found pleasure in tugging on anything he could her his hands on. Clothes, hair, limbs.

There had been walks around the castle, dinners with just the two of you, and a exchanging of literature.

“Did you know that Sealord of Braavos owns an animal that is said to be spotted horse but with a long neck,” the question made you laugh. He asked so earnestly. You narrow your eyes a bit.

“You made that up.”

He holds his hands up in innocence. “I read it. And just for that I am not going to give you the book on flowers ingenuous to Westeros.”

He begins to walk away, and you know it is in jest, but your eyes widen. You really want that book.

“Fine, I believe you,” you say quickly, grabbing his arm. “Can please get the book?”

You give him an exaggerated pout, and he rolls his eye.

“Since you asked kindly.”

He continues to walk with the expectations to follow him. You can’t help but think about what would court would think if they saw the two of you now. So close, and at this hour. Tongues would wag about what you up to.

The one eyed prince and his harlot.

Aemond’s study is how you expected it to be. Shelves filled to the brim with books and scrolls. Desk perfectly neat. It makes you wonder what the inside of his chambers looks like. He searches for the book while you take deep inspection of the room. You notice the sword in the corner. The silvery handle reflecting even in the dim lighting of the room

He turns with a large brown on in his hand. Before you can reach for it, he pulls it close to his chest.

“I will give it to you on one condition. The next time I go riding, you come with me.”

The proposition takes you by surprise. Dragons are always a sore spot for you. Despite knowing each other for moons, you just recently was introduced to Helaena’s dragon, Dreamfyre. The sentient beast had a temperament like her rider. Pensive and sweet on most occasions, but absolutely did not want to be bothered when upset. Luckily for you, it was a good day for the dragon. Even then, her size terrified you. The idea of being in front of the biggest one in the world make your stomach churn.

But you knew how important Vhagar is to Aemond. If he wanted you to meet her, that must mean something. So, you nod slowly.

“She will like you,” he give you a reassured look, and hands over the book.

Your fingers brushes when he hands it over, he leans down a bit and for a moment you think he is going to kiss you. But the moment is cut short by a startling crack of lighting, following by rumbling thunder. The two of you jump, backing up steps.

Water begins to splatter against the window in the study. You smile at the sight.

“Back home, it is said that rain after long heat is good luck. A sign of new beginnings.”

Aemond stares at you with a look on his face you can’t quite expain. He nods softly.

“To new beginnings.”

Aemond stares at you with a look you don’t know how to descibe.

“To new beginnings then.”

“Well, to new beginnings.”

[beevean]

What's your opinion on clip from bumblekast from Flynn the "lord and savior of sonic shit"

https://twitter.com/candyypirate/status/1699456415008539130?s=20

https://twitter.com/candyypirate/status/1699462944440889623?s=20

I don't think the tweets embedded well, so here's the script:

What is up with Shadow's bio on the Fast Friends Forever website? According to the bio, Shadow is fighting to protect the planet, but only for the sake of Maria's memory while having no personal investment on the planet itself. I don't know how important these are to the series or characterization, but wouldn't making this aspect of his character the main reason for his protection of the planet be a regression and a contradiction to his development during Shadow the Hedgehog's final story? I know he still thinks about Maria due to the Sonic Channel stories, but we also know he decided to stand up for humanity himself while Black Doom was manipulating and pelting him with only bad memories. Assuming these bios aren't just oversimplified for marketing reasons, how come he's going back to doing everything for Maria's wish, if he already did all that without those memories, learned to move on from his past and her promise, and was written in 06 to show himself as a hero on his own terms?

F: That is a very good question, it is very valid... and I cannot talk about it right now. That is not a hand wave: there is other stuff that plays into this that I cannot get into just yet. So... hold your horses.

K Is this a... Is this a "#KnowingLook moment", like, maybe not a smile...

F: This is a "#KnowingSmile" combo :)

The implication here is that Shadow will have a major role in a future game? I... I honestly don't even care about keeping up with the FFF bios because the whole thing looks like a very simple show for kids lol. It is a little tiring to chain Shadow to Maria, but him having no investment on the planet itself kinda reminds me of the Sonic Channel story that this person is referencing.

As someone who just likes the games, barely read the first IDW issues and isn't interested in going further, what kind of potential impact on the games can I expect from the inclusion of IDW/Prime as official canon? I dread having elements from the comics/Prime directly coming into the games, thus alienating game-only fans who don't/can't read the comics. Given that comics seem to have much more going on than the games in terms of events, dialogue, character moments due to their structure, including IDW comics as canon make it seem like the canon medium where most stuff happens since Forces, thus a bit alienating to game-only fans. Especially when games nowadays don't release as often as they used to and aren't as "narratively intense" as a comic series, while the IDW comics have been releasing for 5 years and counting.

F: A fair concern, and I think to a degree it's new territory for everybody that's largely untested, because since IDW started we've had one Mainline game - that's really hard to gauge by...

K: And we still don't know when the game takes place in relation to the comics! You might, Ian but we don't, largely as an audience...

F: But I think everyone involved is aware of just that concern. So if Tangle were to show up in Frontiers 2 or whatever (that is not a #KnowingSmile, that's not me dropping a hint, that's just me giving an example), she would still need to be introduced as a new character.

Using Sonic Frontiers as the example by itself, if this was your first game with Sonic, there is a lot of deep character interaction between Sonic, Amy, Knuckles and Tails that, if you haven't played the Sonic series or kept track with 30 years of miscellaneous lore bits, you could potentially be a bit lost. But, so long as you understand the core relationships between them, the greater details aren't necessarily necessary for understanding the game. Like, you understand that Sonic and Knuckles are kind of friendly rivals, you don't necessarily need to know that they first met on Angel Island resolving the Death Egg crisis, you don't have to know that Knuckles discovered his history through a flying pink talking orb, that's irrelevant! It's that they are kinda at odds and, you know, despite that they still look out for each other.

K: And you can cut the tension between them with a butter knife!

F: You know Sonic and Amy have a very, uh, deep relationship, you don't need to understand the roller coaster of Amy's characterization from Adventure onward: you just need to know that they mutually trust and respect each other a great deal.

So, same thing if there's any crossover with the IDW material, then it needs to be presented in a context that is accessible, and that would come from in the Sonic and Tangle example, you know, they would encounter each other, and they would greet each other, there'd be like a little bit of expository dialogue to make you understand that, okay, they're friends, and she's kind of, uh, bouncing off the walls fun, and go from there. We don't necessarily have to reference that, you know, she sacrificed herself to help Sonic in the Metal Virus Plague. Is that relevant to the story that's going on? Probably not. Is it something neat for you to read later on if you want to? Sure! But I honestly do not foresee us directly referencing IDW events in the games, because I don't see that being a continuation.

Like, case in point, as of this recording... the Japanese Market is just now getting the end of Metal Virus. They haven't even been introduced to Belle, or any of Starline's personal arc. If we released a game within the next couple of years that relied on those, they'd be in the dark, never mind the rest of the global community! So, the events of the games do matter to the comics, and the comics will introduce elements that I imagine can cross-pollinate, but they will hopefully be handled in a way that is accessible to the largest audience of Sonic fans.

K: And would you say the same pretty much applies to Prime as well? There's some concern about that. I know you can't talk...

F: Prime is kind of a special case and I can't get into it without spoiling the end of Season 1 so... *disgusted tone* and none of this Season 1, 2, 3 nonsense, it's Season 1, Netflix is just chopping up into pieces.

K: Thanks Netflix for nothing.

I agree with the asker's point but not their reasoning lol

God there is so much going on here. This is why I hate the Bumblekasts lol, Flynn jumps from topic to topic and I have even less attention span than apparently he does.

So Flynn knows where the comics take place in canon, but we don't? Uh. That's a little concerning. Kyle makes it sound like they're going to drop a lore bomb soon...

"deep character interaction" just call them callbacks. That's the only thing that would confuse a newcomer, the sheer amount of pointless callbacks. Without them, you can more or less get their personalities just fine... Tails is the only one whose arc hinges on you knowing that Forces made the fandom explode lol

When he said "she would still need to be introduced as a new character", I thought he meant that Tangle will be a different version of herself in the games. I'm sorry, no, it would be so weird if I played a new Sonic game and Tangle showed up and Sonic was like "hey my good bud Tangle! Long time no see! Still chilling with Whisper?", like ??? whomst the fuck are you?

Nice dig at Amy, by the way :) thank you :) that was totally relevant to the point :)

... I completely forgot that Tangle sacrificed herself for Sonic. lol. lmao. You know she's a great character when you forget about her most heroic moment because IDW reduced her to a cute quirky ADHD babygirl.

Good point about the global marketing. Kudos to Flynn for remembering that the world doesn't begin and end with the US.

Basically his point is that it's possible that the games will reference the comics, but not in a way that will require your average fan to pick up the whole IDW series. Obviously this is just hypothetical at this point, but... I mean, I said it above. Introducing new characters as if they already belong to Sonic's friend circle feels weird to me, I would feel as if I missed something important. And if I want to understand who Tangle is, I'd still have to read IDW to get the idea, and get lost in all that mess.

Sidenote, it irks me that he says stuff like "if we released games". You're not a dev.

[birdinhere]

HIIIIII i made a silly rdr2 au :D ok so.

Arthur never gets tuberculosis. He can’t, he’s too busy for trivial things like Strauss’s money troubles. Strauss tells him if he doesn’t collect on the debts, the gang won’t have money. But that’s no problem for Arthur, because he goes out everyday looking for ways to make money. He finds several, but the easiest one is stealing horses to sell. He finds most folks keep their horses papers in their saddle bags, but if not, it turns out Hosea is quite good at forging them. (Later on they get even better with Kieran’s help.) As long as he’s quick about it, he never gets caught either, and soon he gets an eye for which horses fetch more money. Pretty soon he’s a full on horse connoisseur, but no one really cares. It’s just a silly thing Arthur does in his free time.

As time passes things go as they do in game, including the trolley crash and Dutch getting his head injury, and most importantly, Hosea’s death. Now at this point, Arthur knows loss. He was devastated when Kieran died, as they had grown close over their mutual love for horses, but Hosea’s death is so much harder on him, and he doesn’t understand why until they return from Guarma. It’s so hard because Dutch doesn’t care. It’s as if it didn’t even happen to him. And this is where things start to fall apart, and they fall apart fast. Arthur grieves *hard* for Hosea. Hosea was his father, his mentor, and Dutch can’t even spare a passing glance? Can’t even visit his grave? And so things fall into place for Arthur very quickly. If Dutch doesn’t care about Hosea dying, would he care if Arthur died? He tested it once, stayed out of camp for so long he almost forgot what it looked like when eventually Charles found him. He was so excited, because Dutch had sent someone for him, Dutch did care, but no, as Charles would clarify, Dutch did not send him. He came on his own, because he missed Arthur. Dutch hadn’t even noticed he was gone. That was Arthur’s final straw. There, in camp at that final showdown between Arthur and Dutch, guns drawn, Arthur pulled the trigger. But he couldn’t kill Dutch. No matter how insane the old man had gotten, he was still his father. So he did the only thing he could, and shot the gun clean out of Dutch’s hand. It wounded him of course, a bullet is going to rip in a straight line no matter what you want it to do, so it tore through Dutches Middle and index finger, up through his arm and out his shoulder, permanently altering the usability of that arm forever, but it worked. Ditches gun was gone and away from him, his second pistol yards away in his tent. But Arthur was not the only one to fire. No, Dutch did too, and he was not nearly as generous. But he was also not nearly as good a shot. He aimed for Arthur’s head. But the bullet skewed to the left, and instead of splattering his brains out, it ripped through the side of his face, barely missing bone. It hurt, *bad*, but even still Arthur survived. As Dutch reeled over his hand, Arthur ran. He wasn’t held back by his sickness, no, this was a healthy man who needed to run for his life. And he did. He ran until his legs gave out, ran until he couldn’t tell where he was anymore, ran until he saw John’s horse trotting up to him, and collapsed in Johns arms. John was never the strongest, but he lifted Arthur onto his horse and ran like hell to get help.

The doctors called it a miracle. How is he alive? They asked. What happened? They questioned. John could only respond “I don’t know.” To both of those questions. Slowly, Arthur recovered. Eating and drinking was never easy for him and it never would be, but he was alive. And he was lucky. The first thing he did after he healed was thank John. He thanked him by paying his bounty, no small feat, the large sum taking up most of his savings. But John was a free man. He urged John to go to black water to collect their pile of missing cash, something no other gang member was able to do. He did, and urged Arthur to use the money to pay off his own bounty, but he refused. First they found Abigail and Jack. Jack had no bounty, he was just a boy, but Abigail did, a hefty $500 Arthur paid off dutifully. Then he found Mary-Beth, Karen, and Tilly, and paid off their bounties as well. They were appreciative, but he stressed that they were not indebted to him. He did this so they could live their lives free, not chained up with him. But this marked the end of the black water money. There was only a few dollars left, some twenty odd bucks that wouldn’t pay anyone’s bounty, let alone the now $7k on Arthur’s head. But he wasn’t stressed. He could always go back to stealing and selling horses. Until he made a simple, enriching discovery. His beloved white Arabian was pregnant. Her baby, even mixed with whatever sorry stallions genes made up the other half of the baby could net them a good few hundred. But when the baby arrived, a bouncing baby boy, their was no denying who the father was. The Duke. And the baby fetched them just over a thousand dollars.

This was invigorating, and painful at the same time, knowing this pairing could never be replicated. Dutch was still alive out there, with The Duke, and there was no chance he could just ask for another pairing. So the two of them, Arthur and John, made a gamble. They bought another Arabian with their fetchings from the previous colt, a beautiful rose gold stallion. The horses paired well, and the baby paid even better, and they knew their gamble was going to be a good one. After awhile, they bought another mare, John too impatient to wait through every pregnancy to see their payout. They set aside a large majority of their cash for Arthur’s bounty, but they took a little off the top for themselves, John buying Abigail a ranch and whatever else her and their son desired. Arthur, of course, put his money into his horses, as they all quickly became his pride and joy. Soon, he could pay off his bounty, and he became a free man once more. But Dutch is still out there, holed up with Micah in that desolate frozen wasteland. And surely Mary is out there too, waiting for the day Arthur cleaned himself up and stopped his life of crime. Well the day has finally come, but perhaps revenge is a dish best served cold.

OKAY TEEHEE HOPED YOU LIKED IT 😋👍 I know there are some plot holes but just. Swerve around them. Okay 👌 teehee anyway here’s some art I did of Good Ending Arthur I’ll do one of Dutch and his hand too ok bye bye!!!

[ansixilus]

@cinturon-cadena I think you're the first person to correctly read the "and ask about it" part. 😋

Thumb Bone Doorways:

An example of "wow, this is a really cool idea, how would the world have developed differently if this had been introduced in history?" The premise: humans discover how to create portals, early on in history. I think I settled on classical Greece-era Egypt as the discoverers of how it worked. From there, the knowledge spread far and fast, and it's a fascinating thought experiment to wonder how radically history would change.

If you take a person's skull, their thumb bones, and their big toe bones, and you build them into two doorways, those doors become portals. The skull and toes stand at one side, the thumb bones at the other, and the span must be about what the bones would have reached in life. So long as the doorways stand unbroken, so long as they do not move relative to each other, the Thumb Bone Doorway shall last.

There are countless things to explore here:

In a world where the free infinite work energy exploit of having a perpetual motion machine was discovered millennia before conservation of energy laws, how wildly different would science evolve?

Each door requires the bones from a dead human. Is this a punishment for criminals, to have their body used as raw material? Is it an honor to be enshrined and allowed to help countless people throughout the years? Different peoples and different cultures will have wildly different views about the rightness of creating or using Thumb Bone Doors. Is this an honor, an iniquity, or just a common thing like a statue in a park?

Travel to established places is nearly effortless. How did this shape technology? Horses are much less needed when long-distance travel isn't long-distance at all.

It's said that historically, nations could only really grow to be a maximum of two weeks across. When you get farther than two weeks' travel, the system becomes unable to support itself. But here, anywhere can be a two minute walk away, if there's a doorway between here and there. Go through your village door into the market, and through a door there to almost anywhere. The very concept of borders and nations starts to break down.

Portals can be blindingly common, but they are also terribly fragile considering how much depends on them. Yes, we can make doorways that can last for centuries, but all it takes is one dedicated vandal with a hammer to break it. Once broken, it's broken forever, and a person's bones only ever open one door. Doors are endlessly useful, they're essential for civic infrastructure and war logistics, but you can't keep them hidden away. By definition, people must be able to walk right up and through them. Protection must be difficult.

Religion. Are doorways holy objects, making the impossible ordinary? Are they profane things, desecrating and enslaving the dead? Is there a God of Doorways who opens the way? Do you lose something of yourself when you pass through them?

I've always wanted to develop this idea. It could be endlessly fascinating.

System Ghost

Thirty years ago, a terrorist group dispersed a large number of stolen biological weapons across much of the developed world. One of those weapons proved more bizarre than the rest, a fast-acting retrovirus that was highly mutagenic, but somehow not at all carcinogenic. It would come to be called Darwin's Curse. At first, it was just a body horror nightmare, but it was almost as if it were sentient, directed. Within a year, it wasn't twisting people into flesh beasts, but instead causing changes straight out of X-men books. People were getting powers, humans were dividing into subspecies, and society was breaking at the seams.

There was chaos, there was calamity, there were wars, there were "cures" and "vaccines" that were worse than the disease. There were cullings and pogroms, concentrations camps, civil wars, and extermination attempts.

Now, thirty years after it began, some places are better than others. Bits of civilization made it through or rebuilt themselves, and parts of the world seem to be on an upward trend. In one of these cities, one filled with ostensibly "normal" humans, a young technopath woman can blend in with the "don't ask don't tell" atmosphere easily enough. Until one day, when she decides to help a mutant whose disguise is much more precarious by hacking a computer so he can get his business done faster. Now she has to deal with anti-mutant zealots out for blood, unsubtle political backstabbing she's completely unequipped to deal with, corporate espionage that she tried to leave in her past, and a life as an outcast she tried to leave even further in her past.

... I think I've written about nine paragraphs of this one's opening scene. 😔

[unohanabbygirl]

Could you give us a blurb about what fmbh would look like of Luke never took pity on Aemond by giving him a massive allowance to buy things with? When exactly did Luke start supporting Aemond financial in your story (was it done out of societal/familial pressure to care for a spouse properly?) Did Aemond have to ask for money or did Luke give this allowance because it was an unspoken expectation? Would their marriage look the same way if he never did? We haven’t seen Aemond being insecure about what is basically him buying Luke presents with Luke’s own money. Will we see flashbacks of Aemond wanting to buy Luke things because they are slowly warming up to each other but having no money and feeling insecure/humiliated?

Luke technically began supporting Aemond right off the bat despite not actually liking having to do so. Considering Aemond that is in a fact a Targaryen prince in his own right, leaving him financially destitute is not only looked down upon but considered breaching tradition since he as future Lord is the sole provider. Not giving him an allowance of any kind would even be seen as financially abusive to a degree since Aemond is accustomed to certain lifestyle which requires a large lump-some to maintain. He’d even be regarded as cheap by the people since Driftmark is the richest house in Westeros.

Think back to when Rhaenyra and Laenor were having their spat and Rhaenyra talks about how Laenor had the finest horses and drank the best wines; all that frivolous spending was done on her dime since she was the heir and he future consort. To not give Aemond anything at all or very little would be means for Otto to approach Viserys with complaints of his grandson not being properly cared for even though Driftmark is its own entity and its fortune is no business of the crowns. And the last thing Luke wants in his life is more Hightowers creeping in his business than he already does.

The amount initially set aside for Aemond’a monthly spending was much lower back then than it is currently. Basically giving his uncle enough to halt any complaints but being petty by making it less than what it would be if they actually liked each other. Aemond saw this for what it was and didn’t like it at all since he’s never actually kept track of his own spending habits but soon enough realized his sum was much less than what he was used to back home. Of course he never said anything because pride is a bitch and in his eyes asking for more from the bastard who mutilated him would be a dramatic fall from grace, so he kept quiet and dealt with it. Complaining mostly to Hel since anyone else knowing of his feelings would end in drama or more humiliation.

Unsurprisingly enough this hit his ego, finally realizing he truly had nothing to his name but his name. He takes this out on Luke during arguments without actually saying it; insisting Luke is spoiled and has had everything handed to him without actually having to work (pot to kettle really) Luke can sort of sense what Aemond’s really mad about but doesn’t call it out since again, he doesn’t need more of a headache than he already has.

Fast forward about five years down the line and Aemond decideds to become involved in Diftmark’s affairs since laying around all day doing nothing makes him feel useless even though most see it as living the high life. Shipment and trade with allies and potential allies interests him and so he peruses it with Luke’s blessing. Because of this he gains access to funds therefore can spend as he pleases since what he takes is accounted towards official business and official business only since these funds and his personal funds are two different sums entirely. Ofc with Luke, Corlys, and advisors keeping track behind him.

Be that as it may, once these two began actually falling for each other and Aemond decided giving gifts was a good way to show his love, the fact that every dime he spent was technically Luke’s own money fucked with him a lot. Alicent doesn’t know about the gift giving but she has told him time and time again that being consort and taking an active role in politics makes Driftmark’s riches just as much his and Luke’s. Something he doesn’t believe at all yet tells himself is true when insecurity sets in. Followed by humiliation since Aemond does have a sort of toxic view of masculinity and what it means to be a man. Depending on his younger, much more feminine spouse doesn’t mix well with that at all. This way of thinking has settled with age though.

There will definitely be mentions of this expected allowance and lack of single finances in the wedding oneshot.