#and there's thomas being online at the same time

[izzywhisker]

meeting page 1

all - next

also on deviantart! - also on globalcomix!

I don't know this person well enough to do a shoutout yet, but. I got stuck reading over 100 pages of someone's Gorillaz fan comic yesterday and the artist is SUPERB at storytelling. Super inspired. Then I drew 17 pages in one day.

I feel like a bloody time traveler. I'm uploading several different parts of "gravity" sporadically and impulsively just because I want to show off whatever I work on right away.

I think you'll be able to read it from start to finish one day. But that day is not today.

Don't worry too much about the timeline right now. You just have to know that this is way, WAY in the past. Like...... that comic called Hello takes place in season 6, and this one, Meeting, is like .... season 1 episode 3.

Why didn't I start at season 1 episode 1?

Because I wanted to draw Traebit, and he doesn't appear until episode 3, DUH.

e n j o y

[stars-and-the-min]

☆ the wrong way to hard launch (8) | OP81

summary : oscar's girlfriend is a walking pr problem for literally everyone (including herself) social media au

pairing : oscar piastri x zhou!fem!singer!oc

a/n all aboard the speculation train

masterlist | last part | part 8 | next part

INSTAGRAM

selinabui

liked by oscarpiastri and 312,294 others

selinabui somehow @.rollingstone thought it would be an amazing idea to slap me on their cover?? anyways may 2024 🔜 it has an exclusive interview with urs truly p.s. whoever came up with that nickname for me deserves a raise ♥️♥️♥️ tagged: rollingstone, shotsbynadia, michealpollard, lilybeehair and jesszhang_

oscarpiastri Forgot how to breathe for a sec ↳ tina_kim @ oscarpiastri ur so real for this

linasgirl4 'the speakeasy siren'??? 😮‍💨

eb_jonno i'm confused by your dress ↳ selinabui @eb_jonno i was confused as well, don't worry about it, just admire how good i look

TWITTER

↳ kayla @luna_apocolypse · 49m fork found in kitchen, we had to wait over three years for a sophomore album, we'll live ↳ kayla @luna_apocolypse · 47m but then again... no 'new' music makes me think that lina is being sneaky again

oscalina real ?! @ emptyginbottles · 28m too many people talking about the 'no new music' bit of the interview and not enough talking about how oscar's going to drive lina to florence after imola ↳ oscalina real ?! @ emptyginbottles · 27m i didn't think it would be possible, but i think i just heard this woman giggle over a man through my phone via a printed interview

amie <3 @mieflrs · 2h it's actually so insane how smoothly the empty bottles pr team buried all the tommy talk. i didn't even notice bc they moved so naturally to 'chris and eb reunion??' and then the rolling stones cover + interview like they just dropped us better things to talk about ↳ amie <3 @mieflrs · 2h slay empty bottles pr team, i really appreciate y'all 🫶

REDDIT

r/EmptyBottles · Posted by u/luckyluna9364 5 hours ago Lina x Oscar Timeline

Has anyone worked out the relationship timeline for Lina and Oscar? I've been talking to some of my F1 friends, and there's so much confusion about how and when they met because these two people have barely been in the same country at the same time. This is, of course, if we go off the common perception that Zhou Guanyu was definitely the person who introduced them.

buisms84 · 4 hr. ago op i was literally just thinking about this!! lina's been pretty much stuck in california since the pandemic and oscar flies around for races all the time, it's pretty possible that they didn't meet first but rather started texting? but then when did they start going out because they clearly look familiar with each other. fantstic013 · 4 hr. ago streets are saying as early as silverstone 2023 👀 but we all know lina is super secretive about her current relationships (bar whatever mess thomas howard was)

summersweettea1389 · 3 hr. ago i think the confirmed timeline is what we've all been experiencing these past few months. like there seems to be no other indicator they were linked, even platonically, before that insane hard launch. luckyluna9364 OP · 3 hr. ago I know that Lina can be really sneaky but she also loves messing with us, so I'm convinced she was subtly soft-launching him and we all didn't notice. But you know what I found most strange? Right before the hard launch, a bunch of different new sites were publishing rumours, I'm not super online, but were there rumours earlier? whatthekermitdid · 3 hr. ago ur talking about the rumors of them over the holiday season when they both happened to be at the same party but that was debunked ages ago - they went with different ppl but they may have met there?

TWITTER

piaa⁸¹ @ papayaeightyone · 5h no, i don't think u understand, i'm actually SCREECHING over oscar's answer to the 'texting the wrong person' question from the never have i ever video

↳ piaa⁸¹ @ papayaeightyone · 5h I'M SO NORMAL ABOUT THEM I SWEAR 🥹

↳ kayla @luna_apocolypse · 2h 'most awkward conversation of my life'??? 'not the best way to confess'??? SELINA WHAT DID U SAY TO THIS MAN 😭 ↳ pookie piastri @op81ln4 · 3h NO I NEEEED TO KNOW HOW SHE REACTED

lina !!! @EB_selina · 48m everyone keeps tagging/sending me the clip of oscar talking about accidentally texting me about me. guys, i was there, i know it happened, and i will be taking my reaction to the grave ↳ Oscar Piastri @ OscarPiastri · 12m She's embarrassed because she ghosted me for like a week ↳ lina !!! @EB_selina · 11m sir why are u lying???

june @linafesting · 2h finding out that oscalina's talking stage was oscar giggling and texting his friends how much he liked her and lina ghosting him after an accidental confession is pure comedy ↳ june @linafesting · 2h oscalina, the couple that keeps on giving us anything but photos together

↳ clovie @ luvyouvie · 57m wait where did lina mention oscar? ↳ li(n)a @meliabelrose · 44m rolling stone interview, she mentions him like 8 times

REDDIT

r/EmptyBottles · Posted by u/luckyluna9364 3 days ago Lina x Oscar Timeline [read new comments]

whatthekermitdid · 5 hr. ago ok so my f1 friend just told me that the never have i ever video was filmed like in february (or earlier) which means that oscalina were going out since at least then BUT (and maybe i'm delulu) i couldn't help but notice that he's v calm about it like it happened a long time ago which is really no help to this timeline

niaphilia283 · 3 hr. ago not to sound clinically insane but have we considered that they've been together for a lot longer than we imagined? thinking logically, selina isn't the type of person to so publically acknowledge a new boyfriend - she didn't even mention tommy until like seven months - and judging by her recent behaviour (the hard launch, the dedicated performance, the birthday instagram post) she's either down so astronomically bad she'll never recover from it OR they've been together for at least two years luckyluna9364 OP · 3 hr. ago if they've been tgt for even longer than ONE year i'd actually lose it bc there's noooo way lina would be that quiet about it niaphilia283 · 3 hr. ago wait i just remembered that two years ago would be around when tommy got engaged and lina def would've made a big deal about any relationship my bad

TWITTER

clara @ zgy24 · 2h these photoshoots have the same vibe and it was the first thing i thought of 😭

lina for elle china zhou for champion

↳ lina !!! @EB_selina · 1h what a copycat @ZhouGuanyu24 😒 ↳ 周冠宇 | Zhou Guanyu 🇨🇳 @ZhouGuanyu24 · 1h I did it better

MESSAGES

from the phone of oscar piastri

TWITTER

lina !!! @EB_selina · 2h been feeling mean lately, how much trouble should i cause? ↳ EB BAR @theemptybottlesbar · 2h selina pls have mercy MERCY I BEG

kayla @luna_apocolypse · 1h it's been an hour since that cryptic ass tweet, i'm shaking lina what do you have up your sleeve

piaa⁸¹ @ papayaeightyone · 32m OH MY GOD WHAT DID SHE JUST SAY????

EB BAR @theemptybottlesbar · 43m We'd like to extend our condolences to @ McLarenF1, we're working on getting her media training, but it doesn't seem to be working ↳ McLaren @ McLarenF1 · 39m We're all in this together 🥹 ↳ oscalina real ?! @ emptyginbottles · 42m WHAT DID SHE DO???? IS IT THE LIVE?? WHAT DID SHE SAY IM AT WORK SELINA HOW COULD U DO THIS TO ME

amie <3 @mieflrs · 29m i just know that pr team has being worked TO DEATH this past week like RIP

INSTAGRAM selinabui started a live video

MESSAGES

from the phone of selina bui

REDDIT

r/EmptyBottles · Posted by u/luckyluna9364 6 days ago Lina x Oscar Timeline [read new comments]

luckyluna9364 OP · 1 hr. ago this thread is getting super active after lina's livestream so i'm doing my best to summarise what ppl are saying: - a much longer relationship than anticipated is highly possible; lina was still pretty vague with the timing all she really said was 'long enough' what long enough is to her is up to debate (most are keeping the benchmark at 7mo) - lina mentioned her aunt (zhou guanyu's mother) has invited them to have dinner in shanghai which means that not only has lina's family known and met oscar but also that lina is stopping over in shanghai for a bit before performing in shenzhen (exciting news for the oscalina stans) - her freezing up suggests that she and oscar were keeping a lot of the relationship private or even secret for a while and it was genuinely a mistaken slip that wasn't at all supposed to happen (one can only wonder how oscar reacted) - a couple people think that EB planned the tour schedule around the F1 calendar (there are quite a few overlaps in races and shows) which would mean that they were together BEFORE tour announcement which was back in november - one user is betting their life savings that they met before oscar's f1 debut, for that user's sake i hope it's true.

✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:

taglist @ririyulife @ashy-kit @fionaschicken @namgification @cherry-piee @urfavsgf

[newtkive]

pixels [newt x reader - modern text au]

ch. 1 - the gc birth

in which two online friends navigate a romance through a minecraft groupchat with their stupid friends

or, newt, the quiet, stoic boy, and y/n, the bubbly girl both curse the world for keeping them apart, but at least they can send each other cute emojis and hope the other doesn't notice their blossoming feelings.

warnings: strong language, mutual pining, none really.

➥ m.list

__

notes: hi :p im very new to writing on tumblr (but ive always been a reader) so pls bare w me! and im trying to revert back to being 14 (im 23 lols..) so im revisiting my old favs including the maze runner/thomas (bc i binged the artful dodger and now im obsessed again). there will be non-text chapters in the future as well, when everyone eventually meets. this will be newt focused so enjoy !! also everyone is like a realistic age from 23 to 28

__

THE GLADE

[ 7:45 PM ]

alby added minho, y/n, newt, tommy, and gally

alby: Hello, guys.

minho: wtf is this

newt: uhhhh

tommy: hi :3

y/n: so this is why you asked me for my # in private

gally: i didn’t consent to this when i gave you my number

newt: don’t give strange men your number y/n

tommy: oh that’s y/n?

alby: Wait, Newt you had Y/N’s number already??

newt: yea

tommy: o.O

y/n: i gave it to him like two weeks after we met lmao

tommy: SO HE HAD YOUR NUMBER FOR A YEAR AND I DIDNT????

y/n: well he asked and you guys didn’t :p

newt: lmao

minho: ik he smug as fuck rn

not u asking for a girls number lmao simp

newt: stop

y/n: we all talk in discord anyways so i didn’t really think about it

plus you guys are friends irl so idk

it felt kinda weird to insert myself heh

minho: we’ve known you for a year and a half y/n

we play games all the time

call all the time

we even send packages and shit

you’re very much considered our irl friend

y/n: REALLY?? 🥺🥺

tommy: internet friends are real friends 😍❤️

minho: the heart eyes are crazy

but yes dude

newt: of course you’re our close friend. just cuz we live near each other and you’re a bit far away doesn’t mean we don’t adore you

minho: ADORE IS CRAZY LMFAO

but real ig

y/n: AWWWWW YOU GUYS LOVEEE MEEEEEE

hahahahha

HAHAHHAHJFIEKMGOR

I LVOE YOU GIYYYYSSSS IM PUTTING ALL OUR MINECRAFT BEDS TOGETHER LATER

gally: i do not want my bed to be infested by you guys

minho: gally sleeps in the corner

gally: no i dont i sleep in my mansion

y/n: cherry blossom mansion*

gally: and you sleep in a shed

y/n: cherry blossom shed* its pink and that matters.

tommy: love you y/n 😊🥰

y/n: love you tommy <3333

minho: that’s actually nasty stop now

y/n: u mad ur unloved

i love how the gc name is our minecraft town name :((

newt: aw it is

minho: can we talk about why tf this was made when we have a perfectly good discord

alby: I’m done with Discord.

newt: you got your shit hacked didn’t you mate

minho: mate 💀💀

british people so crazy

alby: Yes maybe..

I don’t want to make another.

y/n: or your old ass doesn’t know how to

minho: LMAO REAL

alby: Gonna ignore that. But I am getting too old for it. I have a new promotion at work so that means I won’t have time to play with you guys as much anymore. So I decided to make this groupchat in hopes to talk to you guys more to make up for it :)

minho: every group always has the old head with the job 💀💀

newt: minho admitting he’s jobless

minho: you work at a library be so fr rn

newt: i have an income. you have a room in your grandmas basement. we are not the same.

gally: LMFAOOOOOOO

minho: stfu :////

y/n: AWWWWWWW ALBYYYYYYY

tommy: YAAAY!!!!

im going to text you guys all day

tell you every meal

every thought

every interaction will be meaningful and glorious

newt: you are 24 years old you don’t have to do all that

minho: no fr im turning off my phone if he starts this shit

why not just do it before in the discord ??

tommy: easy access now and i tried before but stopped since no one really replied..

y/n: i say we all do it :D i will too tommy

newt: ok second thought that’s fine

minho: .

gally: that’s wild.

y/n: YAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!! NEWT YOU GO FIRST

newt: first with what

y/n: say what u ate today

newt: didn’t say i’d do it.

tommy: i ate muffin, monster energy drink, and hamburger :3333

you guys next

minho: that’s all you had bro..

y/n: hot cheetos and french fries and coffee :D

minho: ??????? BRO

how are you guys alive

y/n: it's my day off and no class so i just wanna rot in bed and that means no cooking

newt: please eat and drink water.

like for real and document it

y/n: ok wait

there

tommy: yum!

minho: y/n..

newt: cereal does not count

y/n: I DONT HAVE ENERGY TO MAKE ANYTHING OKAY

im a 23 year old broke college student my fridge is bare

newt: alright what do you want?

y/n: wym?

newt: like if you could pick.

minho: that’s so cruel 😭😭 just making her imagine it

i like it go on.

tommy: i want chick fil a

minho: i knew you hate the gays

tommy: I AM THE GAYS?????

y/n: ugh that does sound good

mmmm chickem sandiwh waffle fry I Want that Os mYch

newt: that’s what you would order?

y/n: mmmcm yeahshhhhh

newt: ok

minho: that’s it?

i thought soemthing would happen

tommy: me too

like a spell! magic 🪄

y/n: sigh

my cereal tastes bad now

newt: well it is cocoa puffs.

minho: L cereal

y/n: DTOP SAYING L ITS SO ANNOYITIGJNGGGGG

minho: she so madddd 😂😂 L

newt: you're annoying minho

minho: youre just saying that bc shes saying that

newt: no ive always said it. and i will continue to. youre fucking annoying

minho: who bought you your coffee yesterday

newt: ???

myself

and i paid for yours too

im the one with an income

minho: .

well i didnt think youd remember that well.

newt: it was literally yesterday.

minho: yeah but ur old

newt: IM THE SAME AGE AS YOU

minho: yeah but im 🤗✨ 26 ✨🤗and youre... 26😬😔

tommy: guys stop fighting

newt: we aren't fighting

maybe this gc was a bad idea

tommy: NO!!!!!!!!!

y/n: NOOOO!

tommy: this is like y/n is here w us irl

y/n: awwwwwwwwwwwwwww

minho: no it's not. we would smell a foul stench if she was

y/n: i ahte you sooo bad.

wait there is a knock at my door im scared

newt: answer it

minho: aren't you supposed to say don't open the door for strangers ????

newt: well usually yes

y/n: no im not expecting company

newt: just do it pls

y/n: ok :D

minho: bruh..

i hope she gets robbed and u feel bad forever newt

newt: why would you want that

minho: bc she owes me money

newt: YOU owe ME money

minho: yes but i have a good reason she just wanted robux

tommy: Y/N DONT DO IT!!! I HAVE SEEN DATELINE

y/n: :o....

tommy: Y/N?????????

OH GOD THEY GOT HER

minho: why would she text a silly face if she got got

tommy: clearly its a surprised face

maybe its not her

its like those cut out magazine letters murderers use

y/n: who got me chick fil a!!!!!!!!!!

minho: me

newt: you literally did not

minho: shut up

y/n: newt it was u i see ur name on the receipt

newt: well

y/n: :(

newt: what why are you sad?

minho: im hungry too

y/n: u spent ur money :(

newt: you're hungry are you not?

minho: she's not but i am

y/n: yeah but..

i feel bad you shouldn't have

newt: just eat it or i'll be mad

minho: i think i want red lobster

newt: it's really no big deal y/n

y/n: thank you newt :(((((

newt: you're welcome

go eat and watch ur show or smth

minho: i owuld love to eat and watch a show rn <33 ohhhh im starving

newt: can you shut up

gally: im muting this gc if this means i have to deal with your guys' shit more than usual now.

minho: thank god

newt: good

tommy: good

y/n: good

the food is good too <3

newt: good.

_

lmk if you want to be tagged!

[orbmanson7]

Let's do a quick analysis of this new short video "The Sides Need a Nice Day" which is clearly meant to be mostly for fun, but there's definitely some hints and easter eggs to pay attention to that I'd like to explore a little further.

I'll address this in three parts in separate posts, the first for Patton and Logan, the next for Virgil and Roman, and the last for Janus and Remus.

Let's start with the first part, about Patton and Logan.

Patton's initial approach, as we can see, was flawed despite his good intentions. He wants to do something nice for Logan, he thinks out ideas based on what he knows Logan enjoys, and he likes to see Logan actually having fun. These are all very emotion-based notions and motivations, which we can expect from Patton. He's inspired by his own emotions in response to seeing the videos online, and takes matters into his own hands to give Logan in particular a special day.

Why Logan? Because Patton's very in tune with emotions and can recognize that Logan has been having a tough time lately. He empathizes with this a lot (considering it's kind of his thing) so he wants to do something that he'd like someone to do for him if he was having a bad day - do something to cheer him up!

This is very sweet and he clearly puts a lot of thought into this idea...but it's not an immediate success because he only really puts the emotional concept and vision into it, and didn't think practically or make his decisions with logic in mind.

Wonder who could have helped with something like that...

First, he approached Logan about making a quick decision, which is not something Logan is ever known to do. Logan resists this right away by questioning him for clarification and is already annoyed to start because Patton is being vague and trying to get Logan to play along without giving consideration to Logan's need to understand a situation and weigh his options before deciding anything. Logan takes no action lightly and always thinks his actions through first, as opposed to Patton, who prefers gut instincts and impulsive action. He doesn't bother to offer Logan the information and time to make a more informed decision, all because he wants to hurry up and get to the fun part!

Patton (like Roman) is someone who is able to envision what he wants, but Logan is someone who actually figures out the steps needed to make that a reality. Without the steps, that vision is but a dream, and without the vision, the steps are just work with no purpose.

These sides need to learn to work together to accomplish goals, not just do things on their own, and this part of the episode gives us a hint towards that notion.

The peculiar way that Patton then explains the situation to Logan is also interesting, as he states that whichever option Logan chooses will be something Patton wants to do, and because Patton wants to do it, Thomas will want to do it, meaning Logan gets to do it, too.

This, by itself, is such an alarming concept to drop into this video, especially with Patton saying it so cheerfully.

In case it's not clear, Patton is implying that he has so much power and sway over Thomas' decision-making process that he can have Thomas do something just because he, Patton, wants to do it. None of the sides should have that level of influence over Thomas, but Patton not only has that power but also knows that he does.

(And to clear up any confusion, this is not the same as Janus saying during his part of the video that he's convinced Thomas to lean into certain thoughts for the day. Patton is suggesting that if he wants something, Thomas will do it, as if it's automatic and doesn't require convincing. That may be Patton oversimplifying it a bit, but it's still indicating his status above others in that sense.)

In this case, he's using it to give Logan a nice day by doing (read: permitting Thomas to do) things he knows Logan would enjoy...but in other context, that's a very dangerous situation, especially since Patton has been shown to make bad or skewed judgement calls in the past due to his biases as well as making some very impulsive, emotionally-driven decisions.

But he recognizes this status that he holds and is attempting to use it for good, so at least there's that?

The next and more obvious part of this section shows that Patton is rushing Logan through the activities chosen, talking over him or cutting him off when Logan questions Patton about this, and Logan grows more annoyed by this as time goes on.

He is not quick to anger, even when he was initially forced into deciding something with very little information, and it takes a few times of being pushed and talked over before he even shows his frustration at all.

It's important to notice this because Logan's anger is not just born of nothing. It's valid because it's a natural reaction to the situation he's in not being properly catered to him.

This is something we see in episodes of the series a lot, and when it comes to the specific moments where Logan has truly gotten angry enough to show it, it's never out of nowhere, even if it may seem that way. If you are properly paying attention, you will see the gradual buildup, where Logan keeps holding himself back, staying calm and collected as long as he can, before the emotion bursts out and he acts rashly (and then regrets it).

Logan's anger has been shown to appear after moments where he is repeatedly cut off, spoken over, and ignored or disregarded completely. Being silenced and skipped over so often, it's a wonder Logan keeps trying at all, but he does. At some point, the last line is crossed, and he explodes with that anger.

While the resulting behavior may be inappropriate or rude, the feelings motivating that behavior are extremely valid, because he's being pushed to this breaking point by others. Anger serves the purpose of making it known when someone's boundaries have been crossed and when they have been wronged, so it makes sense for Logan to experience it at these times.

So, in this short video, Patton is trying to do something nice for him, and Logan can recognize and appreciate Patton's intention, but the execution is filled with the same mannerisms that build Logan's anger - being cut off, spoken over, ignored. It's not that he doesn't enjoy these activities, either, but he's not being given the chance to enjoy them with the way Patton is presenting them to him. It's a recipe for disaster because Logan's needs and boundaries aren't being respected despite the whole point being to do something nice for him.

This is also a tough situation for someone to oppose, by the way! When someone does something nice for you but you honestly hate it, how do you begin to tell them that? You don't want to hurt their feelings because you know they were trying to be nice and meant no harm, but if you don't speak up about the issues you had with it, your boundaries could wind up violated over and over again and the other party would be none the wiser.

Logan must voice his frustration. He has to explain why he's upset. And, thankfully, in this section of the video, he does!

He starts by stopping Patton directly, hand out and everything. He speaks calmly and clearly, using the same tone he used when speaking to the others during DwIT to get them to chill out and not be so impulsive. Logan is using what he knows to work to make his case here, and he tells Patton that he appreciates what he's trying to do. But then, he raises his voice and informs Patton what's annoying him about it, that he can't enjoy these activities because he's being rushed through them. This is a direct communication of the issue at hand and why it's bothering him.

Patton then pauses, reflects, realizes his mistake and where he had messed up, and then alters his behavior to fix the issue.

It's so simple and succinct that Logan, while still annoyed, seems confused that Patton actually listened to him and by how easy it was to find that resolution.

And I think that's our next piece of foreshadowing, as well.

Logan has been holding back about his genuine anger and frustration over how he's treated by the other sides and Thomas. He feels ignored and only utilized as a tool, as if he were a book rather than a person (or the metaphysical manifestation of one, at least).

These are not feelings that have only sprung up recently, either - this has been happening for a very long time without Logan ever addressing it.

Until he does, the others won't realize the impact their words and actions truly have on him. He needs to speak up and the others need to listen and adjust accordingly.

With the way Patton responded in this part, though, perhaps this shows that they may have an easier, calmer solution in store than one might initially anticipate, but we shall see.

Speaking of foreshadowing, during the times Logan is shown in the library throughout this part, he is reading a book titled A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Knowing past easter eggs and hints, it's likely this is not a coincidence.

Having read the book myself, I think it's very possible this is a potential nod to something that may occur soon within Logan's upcoming arc (whenever that may happen), as the book happens to deal a lot with the concept of imprisonment and finding ways to live through adversity.

In the book, the main character is put on house arrest in a bustling hotel in the city, but he's relegated to a cramped attic space and had left all of his books away from home so he cannot access them, because if he dares to leave the hotel, he'll be shot dead. So he stays inside, and he self-reflects because he now has a lot of time to think. He gets to know the people who work and live in the hotel, how their lives are so different than his own had been and continues to be. For quite some time, he feels the true punishment of his stay there, how the whole world outside is moving on so fast, but he is stuck inside, removed from it. He becomes effectively useless, unable to be or do anything for others (outside of giving amazing wine pairings for meals, of course), but he stays true to himself despite it all. He remains his charming and intelligent self, he makes new friends, he finds ways to be happy despite being trapped there.

The most popular quote from the book is one that says, "if a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them." And while the main character in that story manages to make the best of his life and circumstances, we know that Logan is still struggling with his fate right now, being trapped within Thomas' mind as someone who cannot fully explore his own interests, who has less and less purpose since Thomas left college, and feels less respected and listened to every day.

Logan has to find a way to obtain happiness despite his circumstances, because he can't change his situation, but he can change how he responds to it.

This book may be a clue as to how he finally figures out how to do that.

The outcome of this part of the video with Logan and Patton is a satisfying one. Logan expressed his frustration, Patton listened and was able to correct the issue, and Logan was able to have a nice day after all, which is what Patton had set out to accomplish. There were quite a few bumps along the way, but it was successful in the end!

Now, onto the next part...

[ghostfaceprincess]

How They Would React To You Showing Them Something You Bought Online:

-

Michael Myers:

• Pats your head and nods, thinking it’s nice.

• Is a little scared of you using a knife to open the box.

• Doesn’t mind how much it was, as long as you’re happy.

• … Okay, now he wants a matching one!

-

Freddy Krueger:

• Sighs in fake annoyance, but giving a smile, as you use his hand to cut open the box.

• “Ah, look at that- it’s for me? A… gift? For me?”

• He’s very touched.

• Showing off his new gift every chance he gets.

-

Jason Voorhees:

• Claps happily as you’re happy.

• Nodding as you explain and show your purchase to him.

• Waves off how much it costs, not caring, just wanting you happy.

• Being gentle with it any time he touches it.

-

Billy Loomis:

• “Online shopping? Ah, Stu does that shit too!”

• Helping you unbox it because he’s lowkey scared you’ll hurt yourself.

• “You used my card, didn’t you?”

• He doesn’t mind though.

-

Stu Macher:

• “Oh, I absolutely love online shopping! Show me, show me, lemme see what you got!”

• The most gentle with it.

• “You used my card? That’s okay, angel, I don’t mind!”

• Is very smiley because you’re happy.

-

Charles Lee Ray:

• Tries to be annoyed but just can’t; you’re too cute, all excited and showing him.

• “It took how long to get here!?”

• “You can order more, if you want.”

• To be nice, he cleans up all the unboxing trash.

-

Tiffany Valentine:

• “No way! I have that exact same one, look!”

• You’re twins now and she’s so excited.

• Helping you unbox because she doesn’t want her sweet face to get hurt.

• “We need more matching stuff!”

-

Bubba Sawyer:

• Clapping as you show him! Yes, yes! Very nice!

• Doesn’t wanna touch it because he’s afraid he’ll ruin it.

• Does help you clean up though.

• He loves it so much when you show him anything.

-

Thomas Hewitt:

• Is gonna make sure no one steals it or breaks it.

• Rips the box open for you but somehow doesn’t manage to ruin the item.

• Nods as you ask him to clean up.

• Smiles to himself as you walk away with your item.

-

Art the Clown:

• Fighting (destroying) the knife you used to open the box because you accidentally cut yourself with it.

• Smiles widely as you show him what you got (after he tends to your wound).

• Silent claps.

• Nods when you ask him if he wants one too!

-

The Creeper:

• Can’t help but sniff it at first.

• Smile of approval. (Y’know that cute smile he does where his eyes close in Jeeper’s Creepers 2? Yeah, that one! 🥰)

• Playing…? With the trash…?

• Is very happy that you’re happy.

-

Thanks for reading! Please leave requests, I love doing them! 🦇 This is my last imagine post for the day, I’m a bit tired and wanna spend time with my bf. I also tattooed my hand and need to let it rest! ❤️‍🩹

[mariacallous]

It’s very easy to laugh at those who earnestly demand to be taken seriously. This is especially true if they are deficient in the mitigating balms of humour and irony.

The Canadian professor Jordan Peterson evokes mirth for this very reason. The populist Right doesn’t like being laughed at and it likes even less to be sneered at by latte-swilling cultural ‘elites’. This was apparent in a piece I read this week about Peterson in The Critic which accused The Times of having a ‘strange fixation’ with the Canadian professor and of treating him with ‘condescension’. The article concluded that

‘Behind all of this lurks fear of the old media’s loss of status.’

I don’t think this observation is without merit. Traditional media gatekeepers (overwhelmingly privately educated) are gradually losing their ability to direct the public conversation as the cost of producing content goes down (as an example I don’t need to pitch this article to a legacy media gatekeeper in order for it to be published). It’s probably also true that some newspaper columnists do look down their noses with haughty contempt on the hoi polloi over at YouTube and here on Substack.

But the writer at The Critic confuses popularity with merit:

‘a freely available four-minute discussion online could barely muster a tenth of the views that Peterson’s three-hour paid lecture did.’

Moreover if Peterson is so popular, why worry what a failing legacy media is saying about him?

To state the obvious, just because something is popular it shouldn’t be beyond criticism. Much of Peterson’s output is silly, from his paranoid ramblings about ‘cultural Marxism’ to his ranting about the ‘tyranny’ of a paper towel dispenser to his claim that Britain is about to go communist under mild-mannered son of a tool maker Keir Starmer. Moreover, the man is utterly devoid of any sense of irony and regularly gets weepy during interviews (I dare somebody to watch this and conclude that he isn’t doing it at least some of the time for dramatic effect). Perhaps I’d find these tearful episodes more poignant if Peterson hadn’t sternly instructed readers of his bestselling book 12 Rules for Life to ‘Toughen Up, You Weasel’.

The thing to understand about Peterson and the wider populist Right is that they aren’t anti-elitists. They simply have their own pretensions to elite status and resent the fact that they aren’t treated with the prestige and reverence they believe they are entitled to. In the familiar populist tradition, they are the humiliated little men and women left behind by history. They are angry at not being invited to dinner at the big table and they just won’t take it anymore.

The French economist Thomas Piketty has written in the past about the ‘Brahmin Left’ and the ‘Merchant Right’ as a way of understanding political competition in contemporary society. Piketty makes four main arguments: 1. There has been a decline in class voting. 2. A wealthy ‘merchant class’ votes for Right-wing parties. 3. Educational voting has inverted, with educated voters increasingly voting for the Left. 4. All of this is feeding into a new division of globalists versus nativists*.

This argument has became more salient since Piketty first made it, at least as it pertains to social media. Something I find interesting about the so-called Merchant class is the way in which some of its members, despite being materially wealthy, strive for recognition from the same Brahmin cultural elites they publicly disdain. When that recognition isn’t forthcoming they seethe with resentment. People on the Left are frequently accused nowadays of adopting ‘luxury beliefs’ and ‘high status opinions’. I think this definitely happens; but it also smacks of projection because I don’t think any political faction is more obsessed with status than the insurgent online Right.

Elon Musk is a fitting example of this: a thin-skinned businessman who, despite being the richest man in the world, chafes bitterly at the fact that educated people scoff at his puerile frat-boy humour and culturally conservative politics. Again, here is somebody who possesses otherworldly riches yet his chief gripe is that this success isn’t reflected back at him by cultural elites, who regard him as a gauche figure of fun.

Notably one of the first things Musk did upon acquiring Twitter (apart from changing the name to X) was to get rid of legacy blue ticks, a status symbol of the online cultural elite. He was cheered to the rafters for doing this by the online Right, who immediately went out and purchased their own blue tick for $8 once Musk had made it possible to do so. Because it was never about being anti-elitist. It was a bunch of people whose pretensions to elite status were being thwarted by the old system.

Of course a blue tick is now cringe precisely because anybody can purchase it for pocket change and thus there is nothing ‘exclusive’ about it. Instead it demonstrates that you are probably trying a little too hard to look important, like the people who post photos on their Instagram grids of themselves standing next to Lamborghinis they’ve rented. Trying to look high status is low status.

Sartre once said that antisemites like to view themselves as part of an alternative intellectual elite. Conspiracy theorists - antisemitism is the ultimate conspiracy theory - are much the same, and alt-Right spaces nowadays are awash with a supercilious sense of unacknowledged intellectual superiority. They have ‘red pill awareness’ and wear t-shirts which say ‘they lied and you complied’ and have ‘pure blood’ because they didn’t get vaccinated.

Again, it’s usually the Left that is accused of being motivated by a ‘politics of envy’ - of wanting to cut down the tree because the apples are too high for them to reach. Yet today it is the Right that seeks to smash things up because late capitalism hasn’t turned out as they imagined it would. Everywhere you look today the ‘little guy’ is furiously railing against the system he has repeatedly voted for.

The row over companies pulling their ads from X/Twitter is an illuminating example of this latter point. People who have spent their adult lives arguing that capitalism is good and benevolent and that corporations can do as they please are aghast because big companies don’t want their ads appearing next to tweets by neo-Nazis. Musk and co know very well that it wasn’t ‘Left-wing censorship’ that resulted in people like Alex Jones (who was this week reinstated) being banned from Twitter. It was corporations not wanting their brands to be associated with extremists because it’s bad for business.

Something similar happened with YouTube during the so-called ‘Adpocalypse’ of 2017 when 250 brands pulled their advertising from the platform because it was appearing next to videos of hate preachers and fascists. The Adpocalypse resulted in a slew of policy changes at YouTube which made it easier for advertisers to select categories of videos they didn’t want their ads to appear alongside. A bunch of far-Right and manosphere channels subsequently found themselves demonetised. Predictably, the Right blamed political correctness and the Left for the adpocalypse, when again it was an example of corporations trying to protect their bottom line.

As I’ve pointed out previously, the contemporary Right has no coherent critique of consumer capitalism so instead it has to pretend that big corporations are secretly controlled by a cabal of ‘woke’ Marxists.

*Jan Rovny gives a good account of these changes over at the LSE page here.

[ilikekidsshows]

It just boggles the mind how petty someone can be over a fictional character that they created being popular. Thomas Astruc is ruining his own show and screwing over abuse victims all for a grudge against fans who prefer a character he doesn't. I don't condone hate-mobbing him like some people do on Twitter, but he really can't take any sort of criticism huh. How do you claim to have conferred with a child psychologist (I think) and still produce this literal abuse apologia. I genuinely don't understand.

I'm gonna say that Astruc taking any chance to use the narrative to dunk on Chloé and Adrien being evidence of him holding a grudge against their popularity is my personal interpretation of possible influences for their writing. I have inferred it from Astruc's very curt way of speaking to fans of these characters on twitter and the show's abysmal writing of them in ways that prop Marinette up on their backs. None of it has been proven true, but, when the coincidences keep piling up, at some point you're gonna stop believing it's a coincidence. At this point, he is most likely at least subconsciously bitter over Chloé and Adrien, if not consciously so.

Just like how the show's biases concerning abuse might be subconscious stuff going on in the crew's heads. I remember when @infinitysgrace and I used to have to reiterate again and again that Gabriel does love Adrien even if he abuses him, that's often the tragedy of parental abuse, when the fandom kept insisting that Gabriel abusing Adrien was evidence that he didn't really love him. The crew also seems to have a very limited view of what "counts" as child abuse. Apparently isolation, neglect, abandonment and consistently referring to your child by the wrong name don't count as abuse, because all the kids involved got to eat, didn't get beaten and are loved by the people harming them.

I agree that it's very obvious that Astruc can't handle criticism and that mobbing him or harassing him isn't the solution. Astruc has a right to act like an entitled jackass even publically online, just like any other creator or random person. I instantly side eye anyone trying to turn me against someone based on only the accusations that they're deleting negative comments and blocking people giving negative feedback. The fans might be entitled to their opinion, but they are not entitled to a creator's time and attention.

I'm also going to say that, just like I don't read highly personal vent fics, I'm not going to watch vent shows. I stopped paying any attention to Teen Titans Go after they started dedicating several episodes to mocking fans of the original TT cartoon (after their show piggybacked on the fame of said show by mimicking the character designs and using the same voice cast no less). I'm very much done with paying Thomas Astruc's increasingly inane ramblings any attention. It's pretty obvious that social media is influencing his creative process negatively but it's his right to engage with a space that affects him like that. None of us are his friends, family or doctor. It's none of our business what he does.

I haven't heard of the writers consulting any experts on anything dealing with the show, but I do know for a fact that Astruc tweeted a link to a fan's essay on Adrien that was written by someone claiming to be a child psychologist. Said fan praised Adrien's writing and then went on to praise the Sentipeople concept. Since I make it a habit to never actually be the one that starts shit, I never really engaged with their content and blocked them instead, so I can't remember the details of what they said about the psychological perspective on Sentipeople.

Still, I'm 80% sure this is the supposed expert. Regardless, even if this fan wrote essays with 100% accurate real life psychology, child psychology has no one size fits all approach. I, an ECEC professional, sure as hell didn't agree with anything they had to say about SentiAdrien before I blocked them, and that was before canon confirmed the theory in the worst possible way and screwed over abuse victims.

[beardedmrbean]

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a busy term that could set standards for free speech in the digital age, the Supreme Court on Monday is taking up a dispute between Republican-led states and the Biden administration over how far the federal government can go to combat controversial social media posts on topics including COVID-19 and election security.

The justices are hearing arguments in a lawsuit filed by Louisiana, Missouri and other parties accusing officials in the Democratic administration of leaning on the social media platforms to unconstitutionally squelch conservative points of view. Lower courts have sided with the states, but the Supreme Court blocked those rulings while it considers the issue.

The high court is in the midst of a term heavy with social media issues. On Friday, the court laid out standards for when public officials can block their social media followers. Less than a month ago, the court heard arguments over Republican-passed laws in Florida and Texas that prohibit large social media companies from taking down posts because of the views they express.

The cases over state laws and the one being argued Monday are variations on the same theme, complaints that the platforms are censoring conservative viewpoints.

The states argue that White House communications staffers, the surgeon general, the FBI and the U.S. cybersecurity agency are among those who coerced changes in online content on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and other media platforms.

“It’s a very, very threatening thing when the federal government uses the power and authority of the government to block people from exercising their freedom of speech,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a video her office posted online.

The administration responds that none of the actions the states complain about come close to problematic coercion. The states “still have not identified any instance in which any government official sought to coerce a platform’s editorial decisions with a threat of adverse government action,” wrote Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, the administration's top Supreme Court lawyer. Prelogar wrote that states also can't “point to any evidence that the government ever imposed any sanction when the platforms declined to moderate content the government had flagged — as routinely occurred.”

The companies themselves are not involved in the case.

Free speech advocates say the court should use the case to draw an appropriate line between the government's acceptable use of the bully pulpit and coercive threats to free speech.

"The government has no authority to threaten platforms into censoring protected speech, but it must have the ability to participate in public discourse so that it can effectively govern and inform the public of its views,” Alex Abdo, litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said in a statement.

A panel of three judges on the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled earlier that the Biden administration had probably brought unconstitutional pressure on the media platforms. The appellate panel said officials cannot attempt to “coerce or significantly encourage” changes in online content. The panel had previously narrowed a more sweeping order from a federal judge, who wanted to include even more government officials and prohibit mere encouragement of content changes.

A divided Supreme Court put the 5th Circuit ruling on hold in October, when it agreed to take up the case.

Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas would have rejected the emergency appeal from the Biden administration.

Alito wrote in dissent in October: “At this time in the history of our country, what the Court has done, I fear, will be seen by some as giving the Government a green light to use heavy-handed tactics to skew the presentation of views on the medium that increasingly dominates the dissemination of news. That is most unfortunate."

A decision in Murthy v. Missouri, 23-411, is expected by early summer.

[reidwitchsblog]

My Brian Thomas HC

Warning: 18+ content, dead dove do not eat, dark themes in general.

Author’s note: It was thanks to this man that my obsession for creepypastas came back after 10 years, so he has a special place in my heart. Hope you love him as much as I do.

Minors DNI

Personality

Despite his serious demeanor, Brian has a quirky sense of humor that only surfaces around people that he’s truly comfortable with. He sooooo tells dad jokes when he sees Toby upset.

He has a very analytical mind. He's meticulous in his approach to problem-solving, often dissecting situations methodically before taking action.

While he tends to keep his emotions in check, he is incredibly empathetic. He feels deeply for his friends and often takes on the role of the listener, offering support and understanding without expecting the same in return.

He holds himself to high standards, which sometimes leads to self-criticism. Brian strives for perfection in his work and personal endeavors, causing him to be hard on himself when things don't meet his expectations.

Despite his reserved nature, he has a vulnerability that he guards fiercely. He's careful about revealing his innermost thoughts and fears, choosing instead to navigate his emotions privately.

He has a strong sense of responsibility towards those he cares about. Brian takes it upon himself to ensure the safety and well-being of his friends, often putting their needs above his own.

Deep down, he grapples with internal conflict stemming from the events of the Marble Hornets project. He struggles to reconcile the horrors he's witnessed with his desire for a normal, peaceful life.

Physical

Brian has a defined jawline that adds to his serious and determined appearance. His eyebrows are naturally furrowed, giving him a perpetually focused expression, even when he's relaxed.

He typically maintains medium-length hair, often swept to the side or slightly tousled. It's dark brown, with natural highlights from spending time outdoors during filming or leisure activities.

His hands are notably steady, a testament to his composure even in stressful situations. They bear small calluses from his hobbies, like working on cars or handling camera equipment.

His voice carries a calm and measured tone, but there's an underlying intensity that emerges during moments of urgency or concern. It's a reassuring voice that his friends often turn to for guidance.

Brian's expressions are subtle but meaningful. A quirk of the lips when he's amused, a brief narrowing of the eyes when assessing a situation – these nuances add depth to his character, revealing more than his words sometimes do.

Apart from the scar on his left forearm, he has a few faint scars scattered on his hands and arms from various accidents during his younger years. There's also a small, barely noticeable scar above his right eyebrow from a childhood mishap.

Over time, his fashion might slightly evolve. Initially, his clothing might be more functional and nondescript, but as the story progresses, subtle changes might occur, such as opting for slightly more polished or mature attire.

RANDOM HC

Despite his focus on logical pursuits, Brian has a hidden talent for sketching. He occasionally doodles in a small sketchbook, creating intricate drawings as a way to unwind and express himself creatively.

He has a green thumb and a small collection of potted plants hidden away in his apartment. Taking care of these plants provides him with a sense of calm amidst the chaos in his life.

He has a habit of staying up late, not necessarily due to work but because he finds solace in the quiet of the night. It's during these late hours that he indulges in his hobbies or simply reflects on life.

Despite not being a master chef, he occasionally experiments in the kitchen. He follows intricate recipes he finds online, trying his hand at cuisines from around the world, often with mixed but sometimes surprising results.

Brian keeps a meticulous journal where he documents not only the events related to Marble Hornets but also his thoughts, observations, and sketches. This journal serves as a private outlet for his innermost thoughts and anxieties.

⋆｡°✩ — ©️ reidwitchsblog, 2023 - don’t repost, translate, copy, or claim

[oro-e-diamanti]

Puppet Masterlist

There's news that might change things forever. The only question is, will the change be in a good or a bad way?

Content | Angst, fluff, smut

Word count | 8.1k

Lesson Eighteen: Different ways to love.

You had never been part of a band meeting before and, as you were sitting in some conference room or other that management had rented in the hotel they were staying in, you realised you were fine if you never got invited to another one either. It was intimidating, to say the least. It turned to somewhat humiliating when they put the pictures up on the table between you. They were of you and Ethan this time.

You remembered the day they must have been shot. Ethan and you, on the way to the van from the hotel. Him playfully grabbing you from behind. Your bodies squished against each other with his head buried in your hair whispering dirty things in your ear. A clouded look on your face, a slight bite to the lip. Then knowing smirks on both of your faces as he let you go. It wasn't exactly anything extremely incriminating - but it was enough to stir some serious rumours, especially after the pictures of Thomas kissing you so shortly before them.

"Now," the voice of someone from management - you didn't take the time to remember their names or exact roles - broke the silence. "We don't care what you do in private. The problem is when it goes public. The whole sexy rockstar thing is great. But when rumours about infidelity creep up because people are suspecting you to hook up with the same girl, it's not gonna be good for the numbers."

You felt as uncomfortable as could be. It was weird being reduced to some girl seemingly hooking up randomly with members of the band. You wanted to shout from the rooftops it wasn't the way people assumed, not by far. But it wasn't your place. The rest of the band stayed just as quiet as they continued to listen.

"Plus, I'm sure that if they manage to reveal your identity," the woman now spoke directly to you, making you even more nervous in the process, "it won't be to your advantage either. So we have two options we want to propose to you. One: You keep her in private, fully. That means no public outings, no pictures online unless it's a group, no flying her out on tour. Two: We link her with one of you. As an official relationship. We don't care who it is. That way she can tag along if so desired and pictures can be more easily explained. However, we would trust you to present the relationship as believable. No pictures kissing other people."

Silence once again settled over the room. You felt yourself fidgeting and Thomas next to you was doing the same. The other seemed more put together, but you figured it was merely an act. If they had any feelings for you at all, this wouldn't leave them unaffected.

"Management would appreciate an answer tomorrow."

With that, the room emptied, one by one. Your head was spinning with an intensity you hadn't felt before.

"I... I need to lie down," you told the others as soon as it was just the five of you. "I need some time."

You didn't look at them as they nodded in understanding, all of them probably stuck in their own thoughts. Thomas took a step towards you, almost reaching out, but you took a step back. You couldn't quite tell why. You averted your eyes even further, scared to look at Thomas' face too closely, scared of what you might see. Hurt, resentment, anger? You didn't know but you couldn't bring yourself to find out.

You briefly let yourself fall against Ethan's chest, Ethan, who immediately wrapped an arm around your shoulders. You looked up at him for a moment, seeing him nod. He knew you needed him right now, he understood, the way only he could. You left with him, already feeling that tiny bit stronger just from having him by your side.

You had always felt an immense range of safety in Ethan's arms and today was no different. Only moments ago, the anxiety and stress had been so deeply ingrained in your bones that you felt like shaking. Now, you let yourself fall into the calm of Ethan's embrace.

The room was dark even though midday was looming on the horizon. But the curtains remained closed and you hadn't bothered to turn a light on. It was silly, but it made you feel safer. As if the world being shut out, both of you lying in the dark with no one to see you, formed an invisible wall around you that would keep you in a secure bubble, where nothing could happen to you. Just for this moment.

You buried yourself deeper into Ethan's chest as his arms tightened around you. In a swift movement, you had dragged your body on top of his, suddenly needing more, needing to feel him against you, needing the full contact, in an attempt not to lose yourself. He allowed it without any comments, simply resigning himself to stroke your back in a calming rhythm. But as much as it helped you settle physically, your mind was on high alert, thinking about two hundred things at once and not making sense of a single one of them. You were so deep in thought, you almost flinched when you hear Ethan's low voice.

"What do you want to do?"

It was such a broad question it almost made you laugh. There were tons of things you did and did not want to do. But right here and now? You wanted to disappear, completely, but only if it meant taking the four of them with you.

"Is that really my decision to make?" you asked instead. It was both an attempt at avoiding a straight answer and a genuine wonder about who, in the end, would be responsible for the decision given to management. "It's your band. It's your names that get printed, and it's your career."

Ethan pulled you upwards, not letting you hide your face in his shirt anymore. You didn't want to look at him, didn't want to know what you would see in his eyes, but you were well aware he wouldn't let you get away that easily either. When you realised he was studying you with nothing but pure love, your heart skipped a beat.

"Maybe so. But it's also your face, potentially your name. And it's your life and your feelings. That weighs more than any PR-related decision we could possibly make."

"I... I hadn't thought about it like that," you admitted, desperately trying to hide your face again, knowing how easily he would be able to read if you didn't, but he had a tight grasp on you that left you little choice. He pressed a kiss to your lips, short, safe.

"We're in a band. We're four people, we have each other's backs," he explained. You wanted his voice to lull you to sleep but you knew there were more important tasks at hand. "We can deal with whichever decision we make. But you have a life outside of this. And we need to do what's right for you. I don't need to ask the others to know they agree."

You wanted to tear up, just a little bit, but you pulled yourself together, just barely, finally allowing yourself to rest your head in the crook of his neck. Not avoiding his face to evade responsibility, but because you knew you would become overly emotional and this wasn't the time. You had less than 24 hours to present facts to management.

"I love you guys," you murmured into his skin, leaving a soft kiss there. His hands resumed stroking your back in a fashion that had you wanting to purr and mewl. You let your hands travel to his side, stroking, slightly scratching over the material of his shirt, and a deep sigh that seemed to move your entire body confirmed his enjoyment.

"We love you too," he whispered into the dark. "Now and forever."

"It's fucking stupid!" Vic ranted as she threw yet another pillow against the wall. The low thud didn't seem to do much to quell her anger.

After Ethan had more or less pushed you off him to convince you to talk to the others, you had been in the hotel's hallway, still trying to figure out where to go, when Vic's frustrated scream had sounded through her closed door. Ethan had simply given you a look, a quick slap to your backside, as he pushed you her way. She had thrown the door open with a vigour that almost scared you. Her face had softened as she saw you, but only long enough to let you in, before continuing with her rage. So now you were sitting on her bed, watching her pace and complain.

"Why do they think they can dictate our lives like that? It's no one's fucking business who we're fucking! I should fucking rail you in front of the paparazzi so they actually have something to talk about. So much for fucking autonomy in this band!"

Her shouting was getting more erratic by the second. You simply stared, letting her blow off steam and hoping the storm would calm soon. You understood where she was coming from, you really did. And it was massively unfair and ridiculous. You had never wished for them to be a little less famous as much as you did now. But it wasn't a possibility. And their lives were... well, as they were, there was no way around that. As much as Vic hated being controlled like this, it would have been a lie to say management didn't have a point.

Maybe you had been a little naive getting involved with the four of them. The time spent at their house, alone or with select friends at best, had possibly been the best of your life. But it couldn't have continued that way forever, even if you had tried to be blind to it. The attention, both from the media and from fans, wasn't something you had taken into account and it had caught you off guard. It made you think maybe the options you had been given weren't such a bad idea. Whichever way you would end up choosing, it would at least bring clarity, put up some rules as to how to behave, at least in public, and what to say if push came to shove and questions demanded to be answered.

Vic was still walking back and forth, messing up her hair even more than it already was. You knew it was time to pull her out of her frenzied state.

"This isn't helping," you sighed, quietly, but it was enough. The second she turned to look at you, really look at you, it seemed like all the anger melted away in favour of something completely different. She didn't waste any time crossing the space between the two of you, easily climbing into your lap, straddling your thighs, as her arms wrapped around you.

"Fuck I'm sorry."

You weren't sure if you had spilled tears or if she was simply trying to comfort you. The way her fingers moved over your cheeks, right under your eyes, could have meant either. Her eyes were solely on you. Finally. You had her complete attention.

"You're right," she sighed against you. "I'm just so fucking angry that someone wants to police what we do."

You pulled her closer, chest to chest. Her heartbeat was erratic and fast against your own, but you could feel her whole body starting to settle down in your arms. You peppered kisses along her neck, more soft than teasing and you could feel a deep breath escape her ribcage.

"I just wish it all wasn't such a big deal," Vic finally said. "I couldn't care less what they write or say."

"I do," you admitted. Vic looked up, studying your face closely.

It was the truth, plain and simple. The band had chosen this life. They had accepted the complications that came with it. They knew it was worth every obstacle to make their dream come true. But that wasn't you. You had been thrown into the deep end without any warning and you had found out the sharks' bite was too dangerous for you.

"I... I'm sorry I didn't think about that. You deserve the privacy you need. Of course you do. It's not our burden to bear and it's not our decision to make." She seemed to be talking to herself more than anything else but you answered anyway.

"So you also think it's on me to say which option I want to go with?"

"Of course, it is," a voice boomed through the room moments before the door falling shut even alerted the two of you of someone else entering.

"Damiano! Why the fuck do you even have my room card!" Vic complained and wiggled in your lap but you simply held her tighter, unwilling to let go of her just yet. Damiano didn't explain, simply winked at her and threw the piece of plastic onto the counter before sitting down next to the two of you. His head dropped onto your shoulder and even though Vic wanted to pretend to be mad, she ended up softly stroking his hair. You removed one of your arms from her waist to wrap it around him instead. It was an awkward tangle, but it was what all three of you needed.

"Have you talked to Thomas yet?"

The question hung heavily in the room. You shook your head. You knew he was an important puzzle part, in a different way than the other three were. There was love, more than platonic love, between all of you, that much wasn't even a question. Obviously, you felt somewhat differently about all four of them. It would have been a lie to simplify it down to the level where it all felt the same with each of them. That wasn't what your love was about, either. But Thomas...

"You know we support you, whatever decision you feel is right, you know that?" Damiano asked as he lifted his head. He pressed a firm kiss against your forehead. "Your happiness matters. Everything else, we can deal with. We can figure it out. All the little details and tidbits. We can discuss it all in the morning, after a good night's sleep. Or a bad night's sleep, doesn't really matter. But I think you need to see Thomas now."

You knew he was right. Vic slowly slid off your lap to let her body drop onto the bed next to you, her touch never quite leaving you, hand on your back. Damiano gave your thigh a squeeze, a gesture that normally would have gotten you excited, but now your nerves were caused by entirely different reasons.

"You can do it, cucciola," Vic said, scratching slightly at your skin through the fabric of your shirt. "He loves you. Be brave."

You took one more look at both of them, knowing you had nothing but their full support, as you stood up, legs shaky. It was time to talk to Thomas.

You didn't know what to expect when Thomas opened the door. Damiano had offered to provide you with a room card, but it felt intrusive to simply barge in. Especially after you had more or less left him stranded after the meeting earlier.

Thomas looked rough. You didn't know how he had gotten himself so stressed in so little time that his appearance suggested he hadn't slept in a week. There was an uncertainty in his eyes you had never known before. He still allowed you to fall into him, press yourself against his chest and wordlessly demand him to hold you.

Being with Thomas felt like coming home. You knew he had about a hundred questions, you could see it in his face when you pulled away, but what was more important was that you knew you'd be okay. Both of you.

"I love you," you said, carefully holding his face in your hands. His eyes were deep, a mostly unexplored territory that you wanted to dive into more and more still, and right now they seemed to hold all the possibilities. You knew you needed to get out what you wanted to say before he would make you drift away, pull you back into the safety of his embrace, where nothing else much mattered anymore.

"I love you and I love the other three. I can't imagine my life without any of you and I don't want to. I've never been in love the way I have right now and I didn't think I could have these feelings for multiple people at once, but I do. I so do. And I assume you know I've talked to Ethan and Vic and Damiano and... well, they all seem to think my opinion weighs the most in this decision. And I think I've made it."

Thomas nodded, unable to keep himself from stealing a little kiss from you as you took a moment to gather your breath. You weren't sure if it was more for your or his own reassurance but you let him, without questions. His lips against yours made everything fall into place.

“Staying away, keeping myself hidden, never accompanying you on your trips again… I don’t think that’s an option, for as long as you’ll have me.”

“Of course, we’ll have you!” Thomas almost cried out before quieting down again with a smile that almost made him seem shy. “That’s not even a question.”

“Good,” you giggled, embracing the way the atmosphere in the room was starting to lose its heaviness. “So that leaves us with option two. Making it an official relationship. Making it public. Giving me the freedom to be around, to be in pictures, to be more than a dirty little secret.”

It felt like he was holding his breath.

“It wasn’t even a question of who I was going to choose. I love all of you, you know that, and I would never want to miss any of you. But if there’s one person I couldn’t imagine keeping my distance from in public, not holding their hand, not allowing myself to give them a kiss… It’s you, Thomas. It’s you.”

Thomas kissed you so hard it almost had you tumbling, but you clung to him with an unparalleled urgency. You were wrapped up in each other, a neverending tangle without any beginning or end, fuelled by nothing but love and lust and relief.

As if on purpose, Thomas’ phone chose this exact moment to emit a loud chime that had both of you stop in your tracks. A little fumbling - mainly caused by his unwillingness to let go of you - produced the object from his back pocket. A low groan followed. He let his head drop slightly, pressing his forehead against yours and you could only imagine how uncomfortable this position was with your height difference, but you didn’t dare complain.

“We have a showcase tonight,” he explained. “It’s only a few songs at a radio station, but I gotta go. I would ask you to come along, but…”

His eyes suddenly showcased a dangerous glint. You didn’t quite know what to make of it, but you were certain you’d find out soon enough. You always did.

“Maybe take the time to rest. Take a little nap. We’ll be back before you know it. We might have something planned for you…”

You were still a little sleepy when Thomas dragged you out of his bed and down the corridor of the hotel into someone else’s room. Somehow, despite the excitement about what Thomas had hinted at, the exhaustion had taken over and let you fall asleep the second he had pressed a kiss to the top of your head and left the room. Now, you were desperately shaking the last traces of drowsiness from your bones. You were sure something that would wake you up properly was waiting behind the door to Vic’s hotel room, though.

The room was dark when you entered, but not the solemn, depressing dark you had felt when you had hidden away with Ethan earlier. Instead, they had done their best with their limited ressources away from home, shut the drapes just to light up some candles and turn on some strategic lighting. The three of them turned around as soon as they heard you and Thomas, and you gasped a little at the sight. All of them were clad in gorgeous lingerie, dark red, lace, more seethrough than not, impossibly flattering. When you realised that Thomas was moving behind you, you turned around just in time to see him drop his jeans, shirt already gone, and reveal a tiny red thong that didn’t do anything to hide his manhood.

“How dare you be dressed like that and have the light so low that I can’t even fully appreciate you?” you giggled, making your way over to Vic, her nipples peeking through the thin material and begging you to touch them. You didn’t get very far before Ethan swung his arms around you pulling your back into his chest and keeping you close. You weren’t entirely sure if it was him being unable to keep his hands off you or him keeping you away from going after what you wanted. You assumed a little bit of both.

“Well, believe me when I say it won’t matter soon,” Vic teased, sharing looks with the others you couldn’t quite make sense of. “We’re not planning on letting you see a lot tonight.”

You barely noticed that Ethan had started tugging at your clothes until he motioned for you to lift your arms so he could remove your top. Damiano walked up to you, not hesitating in giving you a reassuring kiss, before helping Ethan get you out of your trousers. You felt horribly underdressed, having thrown on a rather random bra and a comfy pair of underwear this morning, but the way their eyes collectively studied your body built your confidence back up in seconds.

“We love you so much,” Damiano whispered against your lips, barely audible, but enough. “We always want you to be part of this, part of us. And if you want to, you will always belong to us.”

You nodded, breathing an I do back that almost felt ceremonious. Vic brought over a leather band, soft but expensive looking, a choker you realised. She held it up to you, kicking Damiano aside playfully, to let you see the engraved letters on its inside.

D - E - T - V

Blinking the tears away, you swallowed your emotions just enough to reclaim feeling of yourself, unwilling to let yourself be overcome by the multitude of thoughts in your head. You wriggled out of Ethan’s grasp and held onto Vic’s face, bringing her close enough to kiss her heavily, hoping and praying it would make her feel everything you were feeling in that moment, all the connectedness, the trust, the love, the unyielding devotion.

When you let go of her, Thomas grabbed the choker from her, gracefully laying it around your neck to close it at the back. Your fingers moved along the leather, feeling safe and protected under it.

“Do you trust us?” Thomas asked, a chaste kiss on your neck, just above your new accessory.

“With everything.”

"Perfect," Vic grinned knowingly, taking you by the hand and leading you over to her king-sized bed. "Because we're about to show you just how much we love you."

Mere months ago, this situation would have seemed absolutely ridiculous, a fever dream full of kinks you hadn't been quite sure you were into just yet, an idea so absurd it would have made you laugh. But now, right then and there, it all simply made perfect sense.

After delicately undressing you, showering you in kisses and soft touches all the way, and positioning you on the bed, each of them had gently grabbed hold of one of your limbs to securely tie them to a bedpost. You briefly realised how vulnerable your position was - completely naked and spread-eagled and at their mercy - but then they took off the little clothing they still had on and, maybe for the first time, it felt like so much more than sex when they looked at you.

"We want to try something a little different with you because tonight it all about you and how much we love you, okay?"

Damiano could have said anything at all and you would have agreed. It was almost overwhelming to know they would put all of their focus on you, but there wasn't a single doubt that you would be completely safe in their hands.

"How do you feel about gags?" Vic asked, dangling the leather in front of you, a ball in the middle of it, breathing holes making it just slightly less intimidating. You studied the accessory closely. They wouldn't be mad or disappointed if you said no. But looking at it now… the temptation was rising.

"How will I safeword?"

"If you can snap with your fingers, that's usually the easiest," Ethan explained. "We can also give you something to hold that makes noise when you drop it so we'll immediately stop. I also like to touch the tied-up person's hand intermittently, so you can squeeze once for green, twice for yellow and three times for red."

Ethan's hand found yours, testing how easily your restraints let you move, and you squeezed it experimentally, receiving a supportive nod from the drummer. You tried snapping, easily producing a loud sound that seemed to echo through the room.

"Snapping and squeezing it is!" Vic happily exclaimed. She climbed on top of your body, providing you with a  dazzling view of her naked tits as she leaned down. The ball seemed to fit into your mouth perfectly, a sudden wave of panic vanished the second you realised you could breathe normally through the holes. You lifted your head to let her close the clasp and tighten it at the back of it. Her eyes were fiery but emotional as she took every inch of your face in.

You hadn't realised Thomas was moving until he held your hand and you didn't hesitate in giving it a singular squeeze.

"Green," he announced and you could see relief flooding Vic's face too. She moved off you just for Thomas to climb further towards you now. You recognised the silk mask he had used on you the night before in his hands. He held it up in question, you nodded immediately. It was only when he put it on your face that you realised how many of your senses were now impacted.

You couldn't move freely.

You couldn't speak properly.

You couldn't see at all.

That means you would have no idea who would be touching you, who would be where, or what you would be feeling. It excited and terrified you equal amounts but with the trust you had in them, you were prepared to let yourself fall and give up all control.

A hand traced along your body, starting at the side of your neck, along the curve of your breast, down your stomach, and your thigh, a teasing touch leaving goosebumps and an insatiable need for more. Another hand - a slightly different touch, more intent behind it, less softness - grabbed onto your other thigh, pulling at it to spread your legs open that little bit more with the room the restraints gave you. Then, a kiss on your collarbone, hot and wet, immediately making you arch into the contact, gone again too soon. A tongue licking up the valley between your breasts.

Your thoughts were spinning trying to figure out who was doing what to you. If their hands were strong enough to belong to Ethan. If their fingertips were calloused the way Thomas' would be. If their lips were as plush as Vic's. If their hot tongue against your flesh was devilish enough to be Damiano's.

And then they all collectively made you lose your mind. They were all over you, touches, kisses and licks, bites, scratches and spanks, manipulating you in any way they liked. It was impossible to tell where one body ended and the next one began and you realised it didn't matter. This wasn't a test, there was no need to figure out details. You were one with all of them, and they were one with you, losing themselves in love and pleasure the same way you were. Your moans mixed with theirs, some further away, some right in your ear to spur you on even more.

Someone was teasing your nipples in the most promising way, alternating between light touches and flicks, sometimes leaving you yearning for any contact at all just to put their mouth on one of them, sucking and slightly grazing their teeth against the sensitive flesh. You arched against it as much as you could, shamelessly demanding more. You felt hands between your legs, on the inside of your thighs, getting closer to your pussy, not quite there yet. A different hand found yours, holding onto it and you only just remembered the safeword system and squeezed it once. Then, out of nowhere, a tongue lapped against your wetness at the same time as a finger entered you and you instinctively squeezed again.

“Yellow!” Thomas called out and in an instant, every sort of touch left your body, as someone pushed the mask higher to allow you to regain vision and you felt the gag being loosened so you could speak.

“No! No! I’m sorry! False alarm!”

Four pairs of eyes looked at you quizzically and you were glad the room was dark enough so you only had to blink a few times to comfortably see again.

“I just got surprised and accidentally squeezed again, I promise I’m fine, please continue. Please continue.”

Damiano smirked at you, performatively holding up his hand to show you the wetness he had gathered on his finger, before putting it into his mouth and sucking it dry in an obscene gesture. You groaned, struggling against the restraints in an instinctive reaction, trying to reach out to him and get his mouth and hands back on you, but then Vic was pulling the mask over your eyes again as Thomas went to work on tightening the gag.

“Sounds like our cucciola wants more, why don’t we give it to her, hm? I think she deserves it.” Ethan’s voice was low and teasing and it spread tingles all over your body. “No mercy for this one.”

Ethan hadn’t even quite finished his sentence before you were once again under the influence of numerous touches all at once. With your mobility, your sight, and your speech gone, it felt like an attack on your other senses in the best way possible. There was a different mouth on your breasts this time, you could feel it in the way they licked and teased, less teeth, more subtlety. Then your brain went into overdrive when you felt the attention shift to between your legs. It was impossible to tell how many hands were on you, running up and down your thighs, giving them an unexpected spank every now and again, touches to your clit, gathering your wetness, pushing into you. Another finger entered you and from the movements alone you could tell it was two different hands pumping into you just from the misaligned rhythms until they managed to find a similar speed.

Someone moved up the bed and positioned themselves next to you and you quickly realised just who it was.

“You like it, don’t you? Having Ethan’s and Thomas’ fingers in you at the same time. Bet you already want more. I can tell how wet you are from here, I can hear it every time they thrust into you. How’s Damiano’s mouth feel on your clit?” You were confused for a second, but as if on command, his mouth indeed descended on you, teasingly sucking on your clit, leaving you trashing and moaning lowly. If you could, you’d be begging for more. “You love having all the attention on you, just being used by us. Our little puppet to do with whatever we like. Maybe I’ll get myself off on your thigh. Or I’ll remove your gag just so you can eat me out. Or I’ll just touch myself and let you hear how wet I am from watching you.”

“She’s getting even wetter from your words,” Ethan remarked with a chuckle. There was a sudden stretch, probably a third finger entering you, but it was getting hard to tell as you desperately tried to move against them. “Maybe she needs something else.”

You wanted to cry out when the fingers left you, but the gag meant you let out nothing more than a pathetic squeaky noise instead. But you weren’t left empty for long. The bed moved along with the people on it, someone - you assumed Ethan - was positioning themselves between your legs, and then you were finally filled with something much different. He felt perfect, moving slowly at first but already having you writhing underneath him. His grunts were close enough to make you lose your mind just that little bit more. You wanted to wrap your legs around him, draw him even closer but all you felt was the restraints on your ankles digging into your skin.

“He looks so good inside you”, Damiano mumbled into your ear. “You’re taking him so well, so deeply, I can’t wait to be the one fucking you.”

You could hear moans all around you, several touches on your body you knew didn’t belong to Ethan but you couldn’t quite place in the chaos in your head. You wondered if any of them were touching themselves, getting off, enjoying the fact that all you could do was wonder but never know. And then Ethan increased his speed, and your thoughts blurred into nothing at all.

Someone’s hand travelled down your body, leaving little scratches on your skin, before finding your clit. You clenched around Ethan, who replied with a low moan, his hair tickling your skin as he continued to pound into you. You could feel yourself getting closer but before you had any chance to get lost in the feeling, Ethan came inside of you, emptying himself with a few more strokes that hit you so perfectly you wanted to cry, before pulling out. Your body was twitching, desperate for more, willing to do whatever it took to achieve your own orgasm. Anything but snap.

“Good thing you have a few more chances to come tonight,” Vic teased, peppering your neck and chest in kisses. “How about a different type of stimulation?”

You could hear the tell-tale noise before you felt it. Then Vic slid down your body and pressed the vibrator, something long and large, against you, and you erupted in whatever noises were possible behind the gag. There was some shuffling and it felt like she was almost climbing onto your body and when she suddenly moaned, loudly and unhinged, you knew she had positioned herself against the toy as well. The boys busied themselves ravishing your body any other way they could, making sure not a single inch of your skin was untouched for too long. A hand briefly touched yours, just for you to give a clear, singular squeeze back.

“Feels good doesn’t it?” Vic’s voice was low and breathy and you could tell how much the vibrations were affecting her as she moved on top of you. You could basically see her in your mind, humping the toy, moving it further onto you, tits bouncing beautifully, hair wild, and you would kill for the real view, but you were determined not to safeword out of it just to get a visual. She fumbled with the device and only a split second later, the vibrations increased and any thoughts that didn’t revolve around coming right then and there evaporated from your brain.

“Come for me, gorgeous,” she mumbled and when someone dragged their teeth over your nipple while you felt teasing hands on your thighs and hips and breasts, you did just that. With a high-pitched noise that was much more muffled than expected, you buckled wildly against Vic and the toy, riding out your orgasm until it had reached every corner and crevice of your body. Vic followed almost immediately after, her noises much more contained, low breaths and moans that sounded like music to your ears. She climbed off you, a low thud suggesting she had thrown the vibrator somewhere on the floor, and a hand that was unmistakably hers reached up your arm to your hand. One squeeze. A kiss to your cheek.

“Don’t think you’re done yet,” Damiano said and you could hear the smirk in his voice. “Think you can take a little more?”

Your nodding was frantic. You could hear Thomas giggle in delight next to you. But it was Damiano who decided to take his turn for now. Positioning himself over your body, he gave you a little breather as he started kissing down your neck, playing with the choker, giving it enough of a tug for you to catch your breath without actually restricting your air intake. He licked down your chest, leaving love bites that would surely evolve into hickeys, missing your breasts completely before wandering further down. Your hips moved on their own account when his tongue moved between your folds, almost making you twitch in overstimulation from the vibration Vic had subjected you to. You wanted to mumble more and please and tell him how much you needed him but you couldn’t.

“She’s struggling against the gag,” Thomas remarked. “Do you want it off?”

You weren’t sure if the question was directed at you but quickly shook your head. You wanted this, all of it, in whichever way they had planned for you and if anything, the desperation stemming from the distance between what you wanted and what you were able to do only made everything that more exciting.

“Good girl,” Thomas whispered into your ear, causing shivers once again.

You had barely noticed that Damiano had moved away again, too focused on Thomas’ voice so close to you, but then you felt his cock against you, gathering your wetness and bumping against your clit, and your attention was back on him immediately. He couldn’t hold himself back for long, it seemed, pushing inside you easily as he moaned loudly. You were sensitive still, but having him inside you felt like a much-needed desire fulfilled after Vic’s vibrator had tortured your clit so perfectly. You moved against him as much as possible, still craving more, craving him, craving another release. He was frantic as he thrust into you, much more desperate to come than you were, and you allowed him to use your body to his pleasure, to take whatever he needed from you, as the others kept caressing your skin delicately.

He didn’t take long at all. With an uninhibited moan that almost sounded pornographic, Damiano came, thrusting into you a few more times in a desperate attempt to chase every last second of it before almost collapsing on you. His face buried into the side of your neck as his laboured breathing fanned against your skin. You once again felt on the edge of overwhelmed at the need to wrap your arms and thighs around him properly, tugging at the bonds. A few more kisses as soon as he had caught his breath before he removed himself from your body.

You knew what was about to follow. Everyone had gotten off. Everyone but Thomas. There was a lot of shuffling on the bed, bodies moving around you, touching you, on purpose and fleetingly at the same time. When a hand found yours you immediately knew it was Thomas, suddenly increasingly aware of the way his fingers intertwined with yours, how his palm molded against yours, and all of a sudden, it shifted and-

You squeezed three times at the same time as your other hand started snapping.

The need for a different type of intimacy had overwhelmed you out of nowhere and before you had even managed to fully understand what was happening, you knew you needed out.

Everyone set into motion all at once, no questions asked, as your restraints were unbound, the blindfold moved away, the gag opened and tossed to the side. Hands working as quickly as possible while still being the gentlest you could have wished for. No one spoke for a moment, everyone busy making sure you seemed unharmed, soft touches to your wrists and ankles, but you didn’t care about any of it.

The second you laid eyes on Thomas, kneeling on the bed next to you, face full of worry, you grabbed onto him, embracing him with all you had.

“Sorry,” you whispered into his hair as you held him close, but even with your voice quiet you knew it was silent enough in the room for the others to hear. “I loved it, I really did but… I need to see you all now. And I need to touch you. All of it.”

Thomas was holding you tightly, his hand stroking your back in a calming pattern. Someone's hand was in your hair, petting it softly, all of them assuring you with words of comfort and love. Thomas moved you just enough for him to be able to look into your eyes, the movement shifting you slightly off his body and letting you feel the prominent erection between his legs. But all his attention was solely on you.

“What do you need?”

“You,” you breathed. “Maybe… maybe we can do it like the first time.”

Thomas didn't hesitate, immediately moving toward the top of the bed so he could sit back against the headboard. His hands reached out for you in an unmistakable invitation and you easily slid into his lap. Both of you simply looked at each other for a moment, lazy smiles on your faces as you reminisced about how far you'd come from that very first time you shared with him. Then you kissed him, wild and passionate, and let him slide into you.

Thomas wrecked his mouth away from yours in a loud moan but your lips were immediately claimed again. Ethan held your head in his hands as he kissed you, unbothered by the way you started slightly moving on top of Thomas, whose fingers were digging into your hips in heavenly pain. Vic was behind you now, straddling Thomas’ legs and pushing her body flush against yours, her bare tits rubbing against your back. Her hands reached around, massaging your bouncing breasts as you increased your speed, Ethan’s mouth unable to keep up and attaching itself to your neck instead.

Thomas was a moaning and mumbling mess underneath you as your hands found his chest. His head was thrown back but you kept eye contact as much as you possibly could, needing that connection with him, and it seemed he did the same.

Then Damiano’s fingers were on your clit and you could feel yourself barrelling toward your orgasm. It was perfect, all of it. Four people around you, loving you wholly and truly for who you were, bending to your every wish to put your pleasure above theirs. This was what goddesses must feel like, you decided, sitting on a perfect throne, every possible need met without even having to ask for it.

Thomas was buckling underneath you, moving against you as much as he possibly could as you pulled him in for another searing kiss, on his mouth, his cheeks, his chin, wherever you could land your lips as you bounced on his cock.

“I love you,” he whispered in a delightfully breathy tone and when Vic tweaked your left nipple, Ethan bit a little hickey into your throat and Damiano flicked against your clit, you came undone in a perfect symphony of sounds. It kept coming in waves, again and again, the attacks on your body not ceasing as you soared through your high, feeling it travel through your body until it reached the outermost corners of your limbs and right back to your burning core. The intensity was unparalleled.

The only thing that kept you from collapsing on top of Thomas was the knowledge that he hadn’t come yet. Everyone else finally moved away from you, sensing you were on the verge of overstimulation, so you pressed your chest against Thomas again, getting him as close as possible. His eyes were closed in pure ecstasy. You leaned down to him, whispering dirty words of love in his ears, spurring him on, and as you clenched around him once more, he let go. The most beautiful sight of your lover coming undone filled your vision, jaw slacked, hands firmly grasping onto the flesh of your hips, face heated up and blushing in the prettiest way. You’d be happy to see it for the rest of your life.

When you woke up in the middle of the night, you found perfection. You barely remembered falling asleep, assuming you had done so in the middle and the safety of everyone’s aftercare, but you were overjoyed to realise that you were surrounded by four bodies, still. The space in Vic’s king-sized bed was limited, but everyone seemed to have instinctively taken up only as much space as absolutely needed, intertwined with each other in a tangle that kept you close together.

Thomas was next to you, face to face like you always used to sleep, back in the days, when it was innocent sleepovers with feelings neither of you had tapped into just yet. His arm was lazily slung around your middle, one of his legs between yours, foreheads touching. You could feel his breath on your cheek and if it had been anyone else, it surely would have annoyed you to no end. Not with Thomas, though.

Behind you, Victoria’s body was pressed into yours, not for lack of space, but simply because you both needed to be closer. She was still naked, as usual when she slept, and you revelled in the heat she was omitting. Her hand on your hip felt like a silent reassurance.

Lifting your head ever so slightly, you could see Damiano on her other side. He was on his back, a supremely relaxed look on his face. The sheet was covering his lower half, right where his Mammamia tattoo was peeking out. His left arm was reaching under Vic’s neck, below her pillow, and Vic’s other hand held onto it tightly.

Ethan was lying behind Thomas, facing his back, his long, dark hair all over the pillows like a chaotic halo. He looked peaceful in a way only he could. His arm was on Thomas’ waist, his hand on his lower stomach, holding him tightly, even in his sleep. It looked incredibly safe. You reached out, softly passing over Thomas’ soft skin, until you touched Ethan’s fingers. They reacted immediately, the slightest flinch, a movement, as if they were looking for you.

You leaned back down and cuddled further into Thomas.

This was where you were supposed to be. With Thomas, with Vic, with Ethan, with Damiano. You traced the soft leather still around your neck. You had found your place and it was not only among but right in the middle of these four people that had stolen your heart so completely. It didn’t matter what anyone else thought. What anyone else wanted, demanded of you. You’d conquer it all. Everything for now and forever, intertwined and connected with the loves of your life.

***

Taglist: @till-you-scream-and-cry @ethaneskin @blackberryblossom @lifeofa-fangirll @bethanysnow @noeprd27 @polygraph-paperplane @iambandloverr @xx-x-frxnny @thewitchinthemountain @crazyonthelines @vicbellaangelis @mortyandem @icarodamiano @tellmesomething01 @elvirabelle @moonlight-simp @little-moonbeam-666 @theimpossiblehologramtree @ha-la-ansia @l0standn0tf0und @iamtashaquinn @myleftsock @maneskintifoso @katmoonz @cuzimitaliano @wow-ihateithere @searchingford @gr8rainbowpunk @randombush3 @wonderlandishell @befenak @mandy-bo-bandy @lizzylynch1 @andyyxeve @twioss @romanoffswoman

[asena-queenslayer]

genshin guys as figure skaters (& more) at the rink part 2:

characters: kaeya, kaveh, kazuha, tartaglia, thoma, tighnari, venti, wanderer, xiao, xingqiu, zhongli

disclaimer: all based on my own experiences & hc's as a former figure skater!

part 1:

-------------------------------------------------------

kaeya:

another of dain's students. practically lives at the rink. that one guy everyone has a crush on. one of the best singles skaters. menace on the ice in both senses of the term (v fast) (& teases everyone). stunning programs. teaches Learn to Skate classes on the side & is v good with the kids (klee's in his class). iconic move is his no-hands hydroblade & sassy high kick after landing his triple axel (no this is definitely not inspired by yuzuru hanyu haha what are you talking abt).

kaveh:

complains about the fading artistry from figure skating. v beautiful programs & extremely good at expressing emotion. the one who breaks down after his ending position in competition. unfortunately broke, so skates for a few weeks & then disappears for months on end. religiously takes nilou's ballet classes (does not help with the broke aspect but at least nilou loves him). iconic move is his stunning spiral.

kazuha:

from the same rink as heizou, but shows up even less frequently. still, his grace & flow is the envy of all. beidou's student (she commutes back & forth between the two rinks).

tart:

menace. clown. also practically lives at the rink. doesn't actually skate much during practice, but is somehow still v good. teases everyone. the reckless guy sprinting around the ice instead of skating. iconic moves are his high af Russian split jump & gravity-defying cantilever. occasionally helps out with Learn to Skate. god help the class who gets him & kaeya paired as teachers bc they are chaos incarnate.

thoma:

front desk guy. brings his dog to work. friendly af. everyone lowkey has a crush on him. will let regulars in for free when they run out of passes & forget money to pay for more. drives the zamboni.

tighnari:

the substitute medic when baizhu is on sick leave. kind but has little tolerance for stupid people. yells at the public skaters walking around on the unpadded areas & kids who kick their rental skates against the bleachers (damages the blades).

venti:

local musician. popular choice for program music; but everyone either hates or loves him since his songs are rather overplayed. shows up to all the competitions in horrible incognito (literally just a pair of sunglasses & the occasional fake mustache).

wanderer:

the kid who hates being there. grumpy af abt being forced to skate. is actually not bad tho, just really hard on himself. the person who keeps restarting his program music bc he messed up, even if it was small. secretly likes showing off. iconic move is his dramatic af spider lunge.

xiao:

zhongli's student. v v good & v fast. jumping machine, probably has quads. doesn't talk or smile much. rarely helps with the Learn to Skate program bc the kids are scared of him. iconic move is his biellmann spin since he's actually flexible enough for it.

xingqiu:

the supportive friend who comes to watch chongyun skate. always carries a book with him. chongyun is a little embarrassed but always glad to have xingqiu & the rest of the liyue squad cheering for him when he steps onto the ice for competition.

zhongli:

cool af older coach. probably won multiple Olympics & Worlds in his time but no one has any idea until they look him up online. everyone & their parent want him as a coach. fully booked tho so rather difficult to get lessons with him as a new student. rarely gets on the ice, mostly stands behind the boards & coaches from there. however, every time he does step onto the ice, everyone can immediately see the old Olympian in him.

[hiramaris]

Dusk til Dawn

Part 10

Summary: Following Episode 9. And spoilers for Episode 10. 

Author’s note: As Episode 10 is just released I just want to say heads up for those who are not yet finished. Completing the game without spoilers really made a difference, and as much as possible I want everyone to experience that. And for those finished, I’ll gladly welcome you to my domain where MC took a different route.

Disclaimer:  I do not own Duskwood or any of the related characters. Duskwood is created by and owned by Everbyte Studio. This fanfiction is intended for entertainment only. I am not making any profit from this story. All rights of the original Duskwood story belong to Everbyte Studio.

Warning: Mentions of blood, suicide, violence, pedophiles, drugs, gun, murder, sex offenders, kidnapping

Gif not mine (please kindly inform me if anyone of you knew)

Y/n's really leaving.

It's the mantra that kept playing over Jessy's head like a broken record player.

As Jake dropped the call, you hadn't had the chance to spare them any more glances as you prepared your things. You had inspect the gun you have with you along with its ammunition multiple times already. You even took out a hunting knife and place it in a holster wrapped around the side of your leg.

She shivered at the thought you even had to use them.

When you confessed about your true self, what she said was true. Nothing had changed about what she thought of you. You're still Y/n, the one she had grown to care and love.

Yes, love. She knew love is such a deep word to use when she had only met you not too long ago. She believed before that finding love online is futile, and it was difficult to establish trust with some strangers she met online. Her boyfriend was able to cheat on her after years of being physically together, what more can someone from miles away where they'll be away from her sight and touch?

But when you came, all these doubts seemed to wash away. The fact you made her feel safer more than anyone else just by merely being on a phone with her, making her feel special just by asking her on a virtual date, making sure she's okay and the occasional sleep calls with you, none of the people she had dated made her feel the same way you do and you weren't even here physically.

There's no room for doubt anyway. Not when you had risked your life for this group many times already.

Now as she watch your back, ready to risk your life for the last time, she realized that you really are determined to go.

And she didn't have the heart to stop you.

She wanted Hannah and Richy back. She really does. But at the expense of you? That's something she finds hard to accept. She knew you were fully capable, but that doesn't do anything to ease her worries.

What if you get hurt?

What if you don't come back?

The mere thought clenches her heart so painfully that breathing felt like a chore now.

"Guys, please don't give me that look."

The cabin was so silent that the request that left your lips seemed louder than ever.

****

The next few minutes of preparation were a lot of crying on the girls and Thomas' end. Dan, well, his tipsy ass kept passing you drinks (that Lilly always takes away from you). You assumed that's his way to say 'Be careful.'

You appreciate what he's doing though. You didn't want to leave them feeling like this. Like they just sent you to your death and they can't do anything about it.

After leaving everyone's safety to Dan, you decided it's time to go.

You were surprised when Jessy volunteered to walk you to the porch. You assumed she wanted to say goodbye properly.

The porch was bathed in moonlight when you stepped outside, casting long shadows on the wooden planks. You turned to her, her red hair illuminated by the soft glow.

"Jess," you began. "I'm sor—"

"Don't," she sniffed, stopping you from your statement. "I'm sorry I'm making it hard for you to leave. F-for... for being selfish." Her voice cracked. "I just... it's dangerous and I— God. I just didn't want you to get hurt. I'm sorry..."

You couldn't help but wrap her in your arms. You held her close, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. "You've got nothing to apologize for, baby."

"There's a lot. And a lot to thank for, too," she breathed, leaning into your embrace for dear life. "And I'd like to tell all of them to you once you come back."

"You mean..." Your eyes widened at her implications.

"Yeah... I'm letting you go." The way she lets out those words seemed like it's physically hurting her. She lets out a watery laugh, "and It's not like my opinion matters this time."

You couldn't believe what you are hearing. You leaned back to her embrace, hands carefully gripping her by the shoulder. Puffy, tear-filled eyes met your own.

But they are not begging you to not go this time, but begging you to come back.

"It matters." You reached out and gently cupped her cheek, your thumb brushing against her skin, eager to make your point across. "It sounds so screwed up and yet," you paused, your eyes boring into her own with great intensity. "you can tell me to stay, and I will."

Whatever may happen tonight is a huge gamble to play.

Lose and you will lose everything.

Win.

That's all there is to it.

Fight and win.

You can't afford to lose. Not now.

"No... No, Y/n." She shook her head gently, her touch on your hands warm and comforting. "We both know that's not who you are."

"Jessy..." Your eyes softened drastically.

"Save Hannah and Richy, okay?" She took hold of your hands on her cheeks, her voice quivering but determined. Despite the tears running down her cheeks, there was a fierce resolve in her expression. "If there's anyone who could do it, it would be you, Y/n/n."

Her words hit you deep, like a surge of energy coursing through your veins. She had an unwavering belief in you, and it only made you more determined to succeed. The lump in your throat grew, and you didn’t trust your own voice enough to speak without breaking. And so, you did the only thing you thought would convey your emotions best at that moment.

Leaning in, you brushed your lips against hers in a tender kiss. It was a mixture of longing and reassurance, a promise that you'd come back to her. There was a softness in the way your lips met, a silent exchange of emotions that words could never fully capture. When you finally pulled away, her eyes were teary but determined.

She tasted like salt from her tears, the faint sweetness of strawberries, and the familiar comfort of home.

"I love you," she whispered as you both separated, her breath warm against your lips. Your eyes widened at her confession, a mix of surprise and joy filling your chest. "Don't," she breathed, eyes still closed. "I'll wait for you to say it back once you come back. I just want to say it."

"You're no fair, Miss Hawkins." A watery laugh escapes you, and you couldn’t resist the pull any longer. You leaned in, capturing her lips in another tender kiss.

"Just want to make sure, Agent," she replied, her voice holding a hint of teasing. "Now go, save our friends, and come back to me."

It looks like you have to speed up the process because waiting for days to say it back is going to kill you, you’re sure.

Despite everything, despite the danger that lay ahead, you found yourself smiling.

You were still under the same sky, and somehow, that thought gave you comfort.

Everything’s going to be okay.

****

"Any updates on Michael's whereabouts?"

These were Jake's first words to you as he entered the car. You didn't have to look to know it was him. The same monotonous voice can be recognized from miles away. The heavy door of the car clicked shut, sealing the two of you in the confined space.

Oh, and of course. How could you forget? The guy loves his comfy hoodie so much, his mask, and his favorite beanie that his mom personally crocheted for his birthday. Even in these circumstances, he still clung to his attire like a security blanket.

"None so far," you settled on as a reply.

You started the engine once again and sped past the mini stop you and Jake agreed upon on. It was a little far from the cabin but it was relatively closer to Jake's hotel.

Tonight was cold and you wouldn't really blame Jake for his chosen clothing. However, this type of cold is something a warm coffee couldn't handle. It was the type where it send chills down your spine, you felt a sense of impending doom, not for you but for Hannah and Richy. Time is against you two and you know from experience that time is an opponent you cannot win against.

"You know you really don't have to do this."

"I have to. It is the best option we have. You have put yourself in danger for long enough. Listening to Michael's demand would be suicide. That is why I cannot allow you to go alone, but at the same time, I cannot allow Hannah and Richy to be in danger. They are both in the Ironsplinter Mine. I can almost pinpoint their exact location. I cannot say how long this will be the case." Jake's voice remained steady, his tone unemotional, though his words conveyed a sense of urgency and conviction.

"I didn't know you'd be this talkative personally," you chuckled. "But in all seriousness, I am glad to be doing this 'kamikaze' mission as Dan would like to say, with you."

"Indeed, we've come a long way, haven't we?"

"Yes, we have, Jake. Yes, we have."

The car ride continued in a comfortable silence. There was an understanding between you and Jake that didn't require many words. It felt weird but right in some way, like two puzzle pieces that somehow fit together despite being from entirely different sets.

Both of you are polar opposites. An investigator and a criminal. Who would have thought both would remain seated in a confined space and talk about the most random things.

If someone would tell you you'd be partnering up with a hacker and probably one of the most wanted criminals in this part of Europe, you'd probably give that person a glare of a lifetime, yet here you are with Jake.

Indeed, you'd come a long way.

****

"Y/n," Jake began after minutes of comfortable silence.

"Yeah?" You turn to look at him briefly, careful to not let your eyes stray for too long away from the road. You wouldn't want to have a repeat of Hannah and Amy's mistakes. The forest was dense, and the road was illuminated only sporadically by dim streetlights. With its numerous twists and turns, you couldn't afford any distractions.

"I wish to ask one last favor of you." He continued as he typed away on his laptop. The hum of the car's engine and the occasional tapping of his keyboard filled the space between his words.

"Sure, what do you want me to do?"

"I would like to ask you to tell Michael that you are on your way to the Grimrock." He looked up at you, his gaze steady and serious.

"Makes sense," you mused. Slowing down a touch, you pulled out your phone and started composing a message to Michael, ensuring to keep your driving steady at the same time.

You grinned at your own antics. You showed your phone to Jake, knowing he shares the same humor as you.

"Seriously?" He lets out a soft laugh, the subtle crinkles around his eyes giving away his amusement. "This should not be a laughing matter, however, I find it really funny."

You snorted, unable to suppress your chuckle. "I just can't miss the opportunity."

****

"I don't get it, you know?" You mumbled aloud, the words escaping your thoughts unintentionally. It felt like you needed to voice your confusion, even if just to the air in the car.

"Hmm?" Jake turned to you with a quizzical look, his attention fully on you now.

"Thomas is right." You muttered after a beat or two, your gaze fixed on the road ahead as the car continued its journey. The cave on the outskirts of Moonvale was getting closer with each passing mile. "I am literally the highest-ranking criminal investigator in the region. I don't get why you're all so protective of me. I am fully capable of subduing someone like Michael. I've been trained for it for years." You voiced your thoughts with a hint of frustration in your tone. "I'm just not used to it," you exhaled sharply, your breath carrying a mixture of resignation and confusion.

"Jessica cares for you," Jake responded slowly, each word carrying weight as if he was carefully considering the impact. "You can be Superman, and be all invincible and she'll still be worrying about you. You cannot take that away from her. The same goes for everyone. They have grown to care for you."

"But what about Hannah and Richy?" you countered.

He didn't respond immediately, his fingers still dancing across the keyboard.

"Just because they don't want you to go doesn't mean they don't care about them. It just means they don't want you to go, however, it wasn't really their choice to make as the situation still demands you to go. It's not really a matter of choice of who is more important than who, and who is more capable than who." Jake's gaze met yours, his expression serious. "Remember your question back then, when Jessy was attacked and you were ready to fly here?"

"How far is too far when it comes to saving a life?"

"Precisely. Life is life, Y/n. No one will be greater than the other. We do not want you to put yourself in danger just because you have the capacity to do so."

"And you're allowed to do the same thing?" You scoffed. You know Jake's response was logical, but it didn't quite quell your frustration. "Why can't the same rules apply to both of us? I have seen that they are mostly relieved to be knowing it will be you who will go rather than me. And I saw their distress when I decided to come along, too, Jake."

You wanted to say it's unfair because it is.

"Y/n, you cannot blame them."

"I am not. It's just not fair." There you said it.

"You have formed a bond with them. A genuine one, it will only be natural for them to be more worried about you." He tried to explain. "I have threatened them and invaded their privacy on multiple occasions. That's why I do not expect them to warm up to me the way they have to you."

You wanted to laugh at the hypocrisy. If they have known you have access to their private data as well, would they have thought of you the same?

You don't even want to know.

You sighed. You're also being unfair to them, thinking about them like this. They have accepted you for who you are, and you having access to their private account seemed to be shallow compared to what you have done, and yet they turned a blind eye to them.

This is some fucked up shit, really.

"But what about me?" You spoke softly, almost to yourself. "You have formed a genuine bond with me. So, my opinion for you not to go doesn't matter?"

"It meant the world to me, Y/n. That you cared for me. But I have already made the decision to protect you at any cost." He said softly. "I have been on the run for four years. One event changed my whole life completely. I lost everything in a single night. My home, my identity. Every single person in my life, Y/n. There was nobody I could trust even though I did not want to."

"I am sorry to hear that." You let out a sigh. "I just didn't want you to think that no one cares about you."

"There is no need to be sorry," he replied, ruffling your hair, which earned a playful groan from you. "I knew what I was getting into. I made that decision."

"But that doesn't mean it's not hard."

"You do not have to sacrifice your life and career for me. I am already used to running away. I also knew you wanted a life here, with Jessica, and the others. I will not take that away from you."

You smiled sadly. Yes, you do want that.

But will the situation permit you? You're not entirely sure.

"Don't you ever have the desire to stay here with Lilly and Hannah?" You questioned back. "And live a normal life?"

"Of course, I do." He answered, eyes growing a bit distant. "However, I know it will be impossible."

"Can you maybe stop predicting things, Jake?"

"You and I both know how this will all end."

"Do we?" You challenged, a small smirk creeping into your features. "Maybe we should start trying for a few alternatives."

"What do you mean?"

****

"Well, here we are," you announced as you parked the car. The headlights illuminated the end of the road, revealing the entrance to the cave. It wasn't exactly a picturesque spot, with a glaring red "No Trespassing!" sign catching your attention. "Looks like it's pretty isolated."

Jake stepped out of the car, closing the door behind him, and took in the surroundings. The air was heavy with anticipation, and the looming darkness of the cave entrance only added to the eerie atmosphere. "Seems like no one's really allowed around here," he observed.

"Hmm, so I guess we don't have any choice. We're going to have to do this the old-fashioned way," you said, stretching your fingers and rolling your shoulders to relieve some of the tension from the long drive.

"By old-fashioned, you mean breaking and entering?" Jake quirked an eyebrow, a faint smirk tugging at his lips.

"Yeah," you grinned. "Cleo would be so proud of us."

A soft chuckle escaped Jake. "She does have a reputation for breaking in."

"Shall we contact the others?"

"Yes, that would be ideal," Jake agreed, his expression serious as he retrieved his phone.

****

"Hello?" you greeted everyone, your voice carrying through the phone's speaker.

From the other end of the call, a collective sigh of relief seemed to escape.

"Oh my goodness, there you are!" Lilly exclaimed.

"You've been gone for ages," Jessy added, her voice tinged with concern.

"They were only gone for a little over an hour, Jessy," Dan interjected. "Hey there, Sherlock and Hackerman. How's it going?"

"Oh shush it, Dan. One hour is long enough." Jessy shot back with a playful roll of her eyes. "How are things going, you two?"

"We have reached the Ironsplinter mine," Jake told them.

"Yeah, see this big opening with these do not cross tapes all over it?" You explained, turning your phone's camera to capture the scene. The cave's opening was imposing, shrouded in darkness and warning signs. "That's the entrance. We're going to have to cut through the tapes and climb our way through to enter."

"Yeah," Cleo's voice came through the phone. "So, technically no one should be allowed inside?"

"Exactly," you replied, a playful grin in your voice. "I can now see why you like breaking in."

A burst of laughter echoed on the other end of the call, most notably from Dan. "Good one."

"Seriously, Y/n?" Cleo can only facepalm in exasperation. "I was afraid Dan has already corrupted you, and it was only a few hours since you arrived here."

"Hey! I'm not that bad."

"Anyway, there will be instances where we will be suddenly offline, but don't worry. The reception here is just really unreliable as you can imagine." You informed them.

"I thought as much," Thomas chimed in.

"Thanks for the heads up," Lilly added.

"We're lucky to even have any reception at all," Cleo remarked.

"Be careful, both of you," Jessy's voice held genuine concern.

"We'll keep you updated as soon as we can, okay?" You assured them before ending the call. Turning to Jake, you said, "Now, shall we head inside?"

****

In the dim light of your flashlights, you and Jake ventured into the cave's mouth. The air grew cold and heavy, laden with dampness that clung to their skin like a shroud. The walls seemed to close in, the jagged rock formations looming like the teeth of some ancient, evil creature.

"Comfy," you whistled as the interior of the cave unfolded before you. If the outside was already pitch black, then the inside is pretty much the epitome of darkness. Outside, at least there was the moonlight to help you make out your surroundings, but inside? If you hadn't brought flashlights, you'd likely be navigating blind. "Creepier than I imagined."

"Well, considering its history, it has all the right to be called creepy," Jake mentioned while examining his map. "During my research, I found out quite a bit about this mine."

"Sounds like you," you playfully nudged him.

"I wanted to be prepared, just like you," he scoffed. "I'll handle the tech stuff, while you do your agent thing."

"Jake, I'm everything but prepared." You sighed as you navigated the uneven terrain, moving with cautious grace. Your steps echoing softly. The cave's floor was uneven, a mosaic of rocks and pebbles. Occasionally, you would need to clamber over a protruding rock or duck beneath a low-hanging stalactite. "I just want to get them both back," You added after a while.

"Since when did Dolos come unprepared?" he remarked, his flashlight tracing patterns on the cave's wall.

"Guess there's a first time for everything," you conceded with a shrug. The cave's darkness seemed to breathe, and an unnerving ambiance hung in the air.

"Dolos... the spirit of trickery, a master at cunning deception, craftiness, and treachery," he mused. The glow of the flashlights danced along the tunnel's walls as you both continued deeper into the cave. "I can see why you chose that alias. It has quite fit you apparently."

"I'm not sure if I'll take that as a compliment." You raised an eyebrow. Did he just call you a liar? Just in a metaphoric way?

"It is a compliment," he affirmed as he led you to a tunnel on the right. The narrow passage led you deeper into the heart of the cave, each step echoing softly against the rocky walls. "I was fascinated by you from the start. It's no secret that I have access to all private and public information of this group. But I do not have access to yours." He paused, his tone contemplative. "And I know you only let me access your phone because it's a dummy phone that only has your private messages with them, nothing else." He continued, his footsteps echoing faintly. "You know the basic tricks in hacking, and there are also instances where you've demonstrated advanced techniques. Things that a normal citizen wouldn't have knowledge of."

"I am a covert agent for a reason," you replied, your voice steady in the echoing tunnel. "As a master in psychology, it is easy for me to deceive my targets, which is a vital tool in becoming an undercover agent."

"What I am saying, Y/n is that you're the only one capable to subdue Michael." He paused for emphasis before continuing. "Play with his brain the way Dolos would."

"Roger that." You smirked. "Though it surprises me you'd known about Dolos a lot already."

"Maybe Dan is not the only biggest fan of yours."

****

"I must say, it's quite smart of him to use this mine to hide Hannah and Richy," Jake commented as you both treaded cautiously through the depths of the cave.

"Because it's so extensive," you nodded, the beam of your flashlight cutting through the darkness.

"Correct," Jake affirmed. "The Ironsplinter Mine has a total length of more than 60 miles. The main entrance in Terrendale has turned into a museum, with a part of the tunnels accessible to visitors." He gestured at different parts of the map. "However, most of the tunnels beyond that point are blocked off and in danger of collapsing. I'd estimate that Michael has about 30 miles of tunnels at his disposal."

"A perfect place to hide," you agreed, a thoughtful expression on your face. Then, a realization struck you. "Jake, what if he's been hiding here from the beginning?"

"Then we must assume that he knows his way around quite well," Jake said through gritted teeth. The tension in the air grew as you both continued your journey, maintaining a brisk pace while staying alert.

Your eyes scanned the surroundings, your hand never straying far from your weapon. Being ambushed by Michael Hanson was not a situation you wanted to find yourself in.

Suddenly, Jake came to a halt, his flashlight revealing a hole in the ground with a ladder leading down. "Looks like a shaft," you commented.

"Indeed," Jake replied.

"Let me just update the group."

With your phone safely secured in your pocket, you turned your full attention to Jake. "Anything else I should know before we head down? It felt like you deliberately left something out when talking to the others."

"It's kind of unsettling how you can pick up on that," Jake sighed. "According to my research, the ladders in this shaft go down for about 200 feet. In case any of the ladders are damaged or missing—"

"Hmm we're fucked, right?"

"I was going to say our plan will fail but I guess it's the same thing."

****

Upon midway in descending the ladder, your phone began to vibrate incessantly in your back pocket. The unexpected vibration caused you to falter for a moment, your grip on the ladder tightening instinctively to prevent any accidents.

Once your feet were firmly on the ground, you retrieved your phone and checked the screen. It was flooded with notifications, indicating that you and Jake had been exploring the mine for a longer period than you had realized.

"We have to be thankful that the ladder was relatively stable," Jake mentioned, his gaze fixed on the map in his hands once again. "However, they have been exposed to constant moisture for years and are quite rusty."

"I think we should seriously reconsider using them on the way back," you remarked, a shiver running down your spine at the thought of relying on rusty ladders above a 200-foot drop. "The last thing I want is plummeting straight into the abyss."

"Right, especially if there are four of us."

"Is there any other way out?" you inquired, your eyes scanning the intricate network of tunnels that surrounded you. Without a map on hand, getting lost in these winding passages seemed like a very real possibility.

"Yes, there is. However, they come with some extensive detours."

You sighed, a sense of fatigue settling in. "Oh, boy... this is going to be one hell of a night."

~~~~~

Previous

Next

A/N: Hello! First of all, I want to apologize for making this fanfiction under WIP for months. I have read your comments and everything and I want to thank you for spurring the author in me once again. School has been a pain in my ass and it has been a hassle juggling life and boosting my GPA along with some personal issues. To make it short, it had emotionally and mentally burned me out to the point I can't even write anything. Not to mention I was bombarded with paper works so I really have to force myself to vomit words just to survive the semester so yeah, I think that sums it up. My apologies again because I have to cut this part out upon reaching 4.5k because I feel like the whole part will be far too long and I wouldn't be able to put a breather between scenes. The next part will be uploaded soon after this, don't worry.

Question tho: what are your thoughts on my writing style? Because I feel like I'm stretching out the storyline more than it probably needs, adding details that might not be entirely essential. I want to hear what's on your mind.

[madsworld15]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

tagged by @lostcol

How many works do you have on ao3? 70

What's your total ao3 word count? 704,657

What fandoms do you write for? Mostly Queer as Folk, Schitt's Creek, and Teen Wolf. In the past, I have written for Shameless, Good Omens, Our Flag Means Death, Dead Poets Society, and Maze Runner.

Top five fics by kudos: I Can Be Your Hero (Teen Wolf, Sterek), To Me, You Are Perfect (Teen Wolf, Sterek), Mend My Heart (Teen Wolf, Sterek), Trying To Make Sense Out Of This Confusion (Schitt's Creek, David/Patrick), and Mother Knows Best (Schitt's Creek, David/Patrick)

Do you respond to comments? I try my best to reply to every comment I receive, but sometimes, it can be overwhelming, so it takes me a few months to get back.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? If we are going back to my fanfiction dot net days, there is a fic I wrote there that was post-major character death within the As The World Turns fandom. That fic, Never Alone, was about Noah dealing with the death of Luke.

However, on AO3, the fic with the angstiest ending has to be my David/Patrick, Schitt's Creek fic, where Patrick is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. It doesn't have a happy ending due to the nature of the disease. (Weep Not For the Memories)

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? For the most part, my fics are angst with a happy ending, but I think the one with the biggest payoff is actually a tie between two different fandoms. The first that comes to mind is Everything That I Am, which is David/Patrick from Schitt's Creek and covers both of them recovering from a major car accident. The other is On The Page of History, which is Sterek from Teen Wolf and covers Stiles being a teacher at a school experiencing a school shooting, and Derek is a deputy on call to respond.

Do you get hate on fics? Yes. When I wrote Patrick Brewer as asexual for a few fics, fans in a certain social media group were extremely nasty toward me and then stalked me to other platforms to continue their vitriol. It broke my inspiration to write any kind of fan fiction for a while.

Do you write smut? No. I don't even try. I usually do fade to black/illusions.

Craziest crossover: Going back to my fanfiction dot net days, I did a crossover where a gay character from As The World Turns (Luke Snyder) and a gay character from Days of Our Lives (Will Horton) ended up at the same bar one night and got drunk together. It was called A Night They Won't Remember.

For AO3, my craziest one was one where I had Thomas from Maze Runner and Stiles Stilinski from Teen Wolf run into each other on the beach. Seeing Double was just me poking fun at two roles by the same actor.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of.

Have you ever had a fic translated? No, but I would love for that to happen someday.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? YES! My best friend, Karyn, and I met through a Teen Wolf convention almost a decade ago. We then decided to write a fic together where the POV changed from chapter to chapter. It was called Objects in the rear view mirror (May appear closer than they are) and centered on Sterek as parents of twin boys. It was unfortunately never finished because of medical issues on her part, but maybe someday we will go back to it.

All time favorite ship? If you look at AO3 it would seem the answer is David/Patrick from Schitt's Creek. And while I do love them, my favorite of all time is actually a tie between Sterek (Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale, Teen Wolf) and Britin (Brian Kinney/Justin Taylor, Queer as Folk).

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Right before I received a lot of hate within the Schitt's Creek fandom, I started a fic called Every Thunder That Came Was One More I Might Not Get Through. It centered on Patrick being an adopted child with past abuse trauma and David being a young man who witnessed a death in his early 20s. Both meet online and strike up a bond, only to find out that they are actually in the same therapy group IRL. Unfortunately, I only got through the introductory/story-building chapters before I lost all inspiration for Schitt's Creek fics.

What are your writing strengths? Introspection and dialogue are pretty evenly matched. Most of my fics are heavy on one or the other or a combo of both.

What are your writing weaknesses? Smut/Sex. I don't write it because every time I've tried, it comes out sounding extremely cheesy.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language? I have used a line or two in different languages (I once wrote a Days of Our Lives, WilSon fic set in Italy), but I always make sure to have the translations in the notes at the end of each installment/fic.

First fandom you wrote in? The first fandom I wrote in was As The World Turns (Luke/Noah or Nuke)

Favorite fic you've written? I can't decide just one, so I will tell you my favorite one I've written from my biggest fandoms.

Queer As Folk: There's Beauty When It's Bleak

Schitt's Creek: Trying To Make Sense Out Of This Confusion, which is linked above, so instead, I'll pick my next favorite, Waves Crash With Anxiety.

Teen Wolf: Return to Beacon Hills

Shameless: Inquiring Minds

Tagging: @winderlylandchime @thotpuppy @vulcanscully and any other writers who see this and want to do it!

[nordleuchten]

Hello! What was Lafayette's social status at the end of his life? Didn't the French Revolution do away with the entire aristocratic system or something so was he still technically a marquis? Did he still have a huge annual income? I think Adrienne was able to reclaim their confiscated land so I assume they could collect rent that way, but how would that and their general standing in society compare to their days in the ancien regime? Sorry for so many questions, I’m just so curious haha. Thank you for being such a great resource!

Dear Anon,

no need to apologize, I like getting asks. :-) So let us get right to it!

Yes, La Fayette was, at the end of his life, still a Marquis – or rather again. The French Revolution saw the abolishment of the monarchy and of noble titles alike. This was an idea that La Fayette very much promoted and supported so he did not mind the abolishment in and on itself. Later under Napoléon and then during the Bourbon Restoration, noble titles were given back, and new ones were created. La Fayette’s son Georges inherited his father’s title and his son then in turn inherited the titles from Georges. The line ended there because the family ran out of male heirs at this point. But although La Fayette was a Marquis again, he had a marked preference for the address General La Fayette – a nod to his republican tendencies and his military career. It was moreover a title that he had earned himself and that had the same meaning for his friends all around the world.

It is true that Adrienne managed to reclaim most of the family’s property through different methods and strategies. But there was also a lot that she could not get back, especially in terms of items of value that the family had once owned. The years that Adrienne and La Fayette were in prison had cost the family a great deal of money while simultaneously no money could be generated. By the time La Fayette and his family settled in Danish-Holstein, they were deeply in debt. Although never returning to the highs of their pre-Revolution wealth, the La Fayette’s were eventually once more well off – although there were some bumps in the rode and the help of America was greatly appreciated and needed. I have spoken about La Fayette’s financial concerns during different times of his life in the past but never in a single comprehensive post that I could link for you. It certainly is somewhere one my list, but I do not know if anybody would be interested in a breakdown of La Fayette’s finances. So instead of a detailed breakdown of his finances, there is this quote about the nature of his debts:

“Enclosure: Lafayette’s Description of his Finances, [ca. 18 November 1809],” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-02-02-0006-0002. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, vol. 2, 16 November 1809 to 11 August 1810, ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005, pp. 10–26.] (06/04/2023)

The same report also details La Fayette’s incomes:

3d A working farm that will bring him next year, all expenses taken into account, twelve to thirteen thousand francs in net income and will increase in value in ensuing years.

4th To this landed income we must add the balance of the pension owed to his rank as general, which amounts to six thousand francs minus a slight deduction.

It follows that supposing that all the debts are paid off by the land Congress had the munificence to give him in Louisiana, each of Mr. de Lafayette’s children receiving from him 3000.₶ in annuities, all his family receiving room and board at his house, he would have an income of eighteen thousand livres in annuities, which will be successively raised to 20,000.₶

“Enclosure: Lafayette’s Description of his Finances, [ca. 18 November 1809],” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-02-02-0006-0002. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, vol. 2, 16 November 1809 to 11 August 1810, ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005, pp. 10–26.] (06/04/2023)

Some smaller incomes were left out and some of the numbers mentioned were at this point only estimated values. I would say, from all that I have read, that the farm at La Grange yielded eventually more than the proposed 12.000-13.000 ₶ but I have never seen any reports concerning La Grange’s actual performance. I would however say that the estimated range of his general incomes is correct.

Now to the last part of your question, La Fayette’s social standing after the French Revolution. This one is a bit tricky, because the French Revolution turned the whole of France’s social order inside out. The position that La Fayette had formerly occupied wasn’t any longer existing.

After the French Revolution, La Fayette was first imprisoned, then in exile and finally in “retirement” in France. He was during this time less a public than a private figure, but he could never again completely take off the mantle of a public persona. His engagement in the American Revolution was well known – but his actions during the French Revolution have brought his political, religious, and philosophical ideas to the home front. The French Revolution had made him enemies and had sharpened his profile. La Fayette, who never really like courtly life, used the shifted atmosphere after the French Revolution to engage more directly in politics and turn away from the court. France now had different elected political chambers and La Fayette served many years in those chambers. He took these elected positions very seriously but was also often more a silent member of said political bodies than an outspoken one. That is not to say that he could not be outspoken. He proofed during the 100 Days and during the three glorious days in 1832 that he still was one of the “big players”. As I said before, towards the end of his life La Fayette put more emphasis on his military titles than on his noble titles. He even became once more the commander of the National Guard for a short time in 1832. He was very interested in the cultural, artistical, philosophical and scientific life of the day and was a frequent guest in many of Paris foremost salons. He was not only interested in French political and social life but also in the affairs of other European and American countries. His opinions were well known, and he was respected for his adherence to his principles even by people who did not necessarily shared this principles. After the French Revolution La Fayette had moved away from the picture of the dashing young Marquis who had fought the British in America. Towards the end of his life, La Fayette was seen as more complex, more nuanced, more experienced. His life and social standing was still by far above the average but he also more and more valued a quite afternoon in the midst of his ever growing family.

I hope that answered your questions and if I missed something, do not hesitate to send a follow-up. I hope you have/had a lovely day!

[lil-tachyon]

Recommend dinosaur media besides Jurassic Park?

Dinotopia: All the books are super fun, but the first and last are the best. Just some rambling, cozy journeys through an imagined land of prehistoric beasts and eclectic architecture. The middle two books are still great in terms of visuals, but they lean too much into narrative stuff and I don't think that's Gurney's strong point. The writing feels a lot more like a child's first chapter book. Maybe that's what he was going for, I'm not sure.

Xenozoic Tales: Long time fans of the blog will at this point be tired of me recommending it, but I'm not going to stop because most people I talk to (even other terminally-online SFF artists) still haven't read it. It's obviously super pulpy but it really grows into itself toward the end and is able to handle some more mature ideas without ever taking itself too seriously. Highly recommend.

An Alphabet of Dinosaurs: Just a great collection of Wayne Barlowe's paleoart. It's a 10-minute read and it's aimed at kids but you're buying it for the art and its one of the only Barlowe books you can reliably pick up for less than $10 so I'd say it's worth it. Good chance your library may have it, too.

Dinosaurs by Thomas R Holtz Jr: Very accessible non-fiction work on dinosaur biology and cladistics. It's probably a bit dated now (came out in 2007) and the art is very hit-or-miss (about half the illustrations are obvious products of the era of early digital art when everyone was photobashing and throwing these awful digital textures onto everything, ugh...) but it remains a fun and informative read. If anyone has a more contemporary but similarly thorough dinosaur book, please let me know! I know there have been a lot of huge discoveries, especially from China, since this book came out.

C. M. Kosemen's (keep track of how many times that name appears on this list) and @simon-roy 's Dinosauroids: This was a HUGE influence on what I wanted to draw and what kind of stories I wanted to tell when I first found it and middle school and it still totally holds up. Check it out here!

Walking With Dinosaurs: Huge, multi-part BBC documentary from 1999 that presented stories about Mesozoic fauna as if it was a contemporary nature documentary. The CGI for which it was initially so famous is very dated now but the practical effects are great and it's honestly the narration and presentation that sells it anyway. Also recommend Walking With Monsters which is the same thing but for the Paleozoic. People routinely upload both series on youtube, they're not hard to find.

All Yesterdays by Jon Conway, C. M. Kosemen, and Darren Naish: Unique and outrageous reconstructions of dinosaurs and other paleofauna that challenge our preconceptions and highlight the limits of our understanding of their appearance and behavior. Also really cool for me personally because in my lifetime I've seen this book go from a neat project by people I followed on deviantart to being (rightly) considered a landmark in paleoillustration.

Dino Run: This game bangs and I pity the kids who weren't around in 2008 when this took over the internet for a brief but wonderful period

The Rite of Spring segment from Fantasia: From the big bang to the climactic end of the Mesozoic, all set to Stravinsky. Apparently the only Disney media I enjoy is stuff that The Mouse just does not give a shit about because this one's also on youtube.

That's some stuff off the top of my head, should be enough for now. I may add more if I think of it. Some parting thoughts:

C. M. Kosemen's youtube channel is great for learning about what I'll call "esoteric paleontology" for lack of a better term. Also he just does lots of weird, eclectic videos that I find interesting.

I don't hesitate to recommend Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal because he's literally never disappointed me and everyone I know says it's great, but I personally have not yet gotten around to watching it.

I don't promote pseudoscience, but I do think David Peters is a funny guy with weird, neat ideas. TLDR this one guy has a bunch of fringe theories about pterosaur biology and believes that because literally no one else agrees with him that he must be being censored by "mainstream science." Don't believe any of it, just enjoy the weirdness.

Any time you can pick up a dinosaur or other paleofauna book secondhand, I recommend you do it. Tons of outdated and cheap books that nonetheless contain great illustrations. That kinda stuff is a constant source of inspiration for me.

The Land Before Time is probably still great. It's been over a decade since I last watched it, but I have fond memories. Maybe time for a rewatch...

[mysisypheannightmare]

Stress Dreams

Word Count: 4480

Warnings: Stress/stressful situations, anxiety, financial discussions (it's a trigger for me, so just in case), deadlines/time-sensitive events, negative thinking, not exactly unsympathetic sides but no one is being nice to each other here (save for c!Thomas, he's fine), emotional/mental breakdown, unhealthy coping mechanisms

–

Another stressful day, another daunting responsibility to attend to.

Logan was summoned early in the morning, finding Thomas already on the verge of panic, insisting that he'd completely forgotten to get his internet bill paid a few weeks ago, even though Logan had him set multiple reminders because Thomas had managed to forget about it last month, too.

They were going to be filming later today, so if he still wanted to have working wifi for all his necessary equipment, that meant he needed to check over his funds, get everything he needed allocated into one account, contact the internet provider over the phone because he knew the late payment wouldn't process through the website per the company's inane policy, and then transfer the funds with the attached late fee over, all before the provider turned off his service.

And, of course, Thomas was too stressed to think straight and would need Logan to do all that for him, but what else was new?

Logan kept his frustration over the ordeal to himself. There was no need to upset or guilt Thomas any further and it wouldn't help matters anyway. He did tell Thomas to set another reminder in his phone as he sank out, just so that this didn't happen yet again and continue to stress him out.

Logan could only hope he'd take his suggestion into consideration.

Back in his room, Logan got right to work, aware of the looming deadline.

First, he checked to see if he could ascertain the payment amount needed, including the late fee. But when Logan checked, it was clear Thomas did not have this knowledge in his short-term memory.

Great.

He added another task to the list, with the alternative option at the ready of simply making a phone call to the internet provider to verify the amount first, then calling back again once the proper amount had been moved to an accessible account for processing the payment.

Easy enough, even if it was more time-consuming than necessary.

Moving on, Logan verified which bank accounts were accessible. Thomas only had so many, but there was a big difference between a bank and a payment service, plus Thomas had yet to get around to connecting all his online accounts to direct deposit to his checking or savings account, despite Logan's consistent reminders.

Logan verified Thomas had plenty of funds available on his PayPal account, but he'd need to transfer to one of his bank accounts to process the payment over the phone. At least, that's how it was supposed to work, so he followed the same procedure he used last time this happened.

And, of course, when Logan checked if Thomas remembered his password to get into his debit account, he found no such information in the short-term memory. Again.

Sighing, Logan added it to the list.

While he was glad Thomas wasn't using old passwords or writing them on sticky notes to get around remembering them as they were changed, he had to wonder if his financial security was truly safe with how often Thomas had to reset his passwords due to his forgetfulness.

And, really, his forgetting was likely Logan's fault. Maybe Logan should start storing some of the long-term memory files in his room for easier access? Short-term memory didn't take up too much space, even if he really wished he could get rid of the enormous stack of files currently dedicated only to names of various Pokemon. Because that is clearly such important information, as opposed to the password for Thomas' goddamn bank account.

Logan took a breath. No need to get worked up over it. There was no point in emotions, anyway.

He glanced around his room for a moment, wondering why he hadn't thought to adjust those files earlier. This had happened before, so why hadn't he addressed this particular issue then? It couldn't have been all that long ago…

He checked the clock. In a little while, he'd just need to have Thomas contact the internet provider, ask for the exact amount, then transfer that amount to his bank account, then call back to pay that amount, and then verify the service was still working properly before they started filming.

Easy, simple, shouldn't be too stressful.

He got up, ducking into long-term memory storage - or what he often referred to as The Library - and looking around to see if he could locate the bank account password before the calling hours started.

Storage was never the most organized, as Thomas would store information very randomly at times, and Logan only had so much time and energy each day to attempt to make sense of it all, categorizing what he could.

Thankfully, he had established a file cabinet for miscellaneous passwords and headed there.

He flipped through the different folders, seemingly for much longer than he thought would be necessary, but eventually finding one filled with various bank accounts. Old ones, new ones... Ah, there it is!

He opted to just take the file with him and headed back to his room. Easier access that way, right?

He returned to his desk and tried the password on the bank account...but it didn't work. He verified the spelling and number order and tried again, but it still didn't work.

The error message was vague, not explaining what was wrong about the entered password at all, and Logan tried not to feel frustrated.

Okay, clearly Thomas had updated the password more recently than when the file was made. Understandable. He could just reset it again and add the new information to the file since it was already there, right? Right.

The call-in hours for the internet provider had arrived, but he was sure Thomas could wait a few minutes to reset his account password first. He went through the steps, authenticating through Thomas' phone and email, then set the new password - something secure but simple enough to remember this time. Hopefully, anyway.

He marked it down on the bottom of the open file on his desk, and added the date next to it for good measure.

Finally, he was able to access the account. Everything was in order and he wouldn't have any delay in the PayPal transfer once he knew the exact amount needed for payment.

He pushed down the feeling of relief. He was just doing what he was supposed to; there was no need for emotions here.

He sank out to join Thomas in his living room, knowing he'd need to guide him through the first and second call, just like last time.

Thomas was nervous but handled the hold music and robotic operator voices just fine. Virgil didn't show up to add to the chaos, so Logan figured that meant he was doing a well-enough job keeping Thomas calm and collected. Once the representative picked up, Thomas gave his information and was able to retrieve the balance. However, the representative informed Thomas that if the payment wasn't made shortly, they would be shutting the service off and it may take hours to have a technician come out to his house to turn it back on. Logan was aware this was mainly a tactic used to rush customers into a decision and pay unnecessary fees to prevent the service being stopped, but he assured Thomas they had everything ready to go and to tell the agent they would be calling back very soon to complete the payment.

They were right on track with very few issues.

Logan was satisfied, despite the process taking so long.

Thomas hung up the phone and Logan asked him to wait while he returned to his room to finish the fund transfer that would be needed next.

It wouldn't take long, though it wasn't always as instant of a transfer as the service liked to boast. But, given it was considered a marvel of technology to be able to confirm through multiple servers the existence of imaginary numbers in only seconds, he couldn't exactly complain. At least people didn't have to actually go to the bank anymore or, god forbid, write out a check. He was honestly rather grateful that Thomas never had to do that, as it'd probably be a nightmare to teach him while also balancing the other sides' input on the matter. It was Logan's least favorite part of any mundane task, really.

Logan shook his head, clearing his thoughts. This wasn't the time for that.

Once the transfer was complete and Logan verified the funds were available in the account, he sank back out to return to where he'd left Thomas.

He was surprised to find multiple sides occupying the living room area once he rose up.

"If you don't decide on this right now, the whole date could be in jeopardy!" He heard Roman shout.

Oh, wonderful. Logan pinched the bridge of his nose. They were fussing over Thomas' date with Nico later tonight, as if there was any reason to worry about that at 9 o' clock in the morning...

"We wouldn't want a repeat of last time," Patton agreed. "If you pick something now, you won't have to worry about it later."

Logan stepped forward and attempted to use the spare moment of silence to his advantage.

"Unfortunately, Patton, Thomas has some other, more pressing matters to attend to at the moment, so it will indeed have to wait until later."

He turned to Thomas, ready to instruct him on the second phone call to complete the transaction and fix the problem at hand, but he felt Roman's hand on his shoulder and suddenly, he was being pushed back.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Roman jeered, his face leaning in far too close for comfort. "We got here first, Mister Know-It-All. You don't get to just waltz in here and decide what's more important, alright?"

Logan frowned, unimpressed.

"Actually," he replied, "I was already in the process of completing--"

Roman shoved a hand over his mouth.

"Don't care, didn't ask."

Logan grimaced and stepped back, getting away from Roman. He glanced down at his watch. They were still technically making good time. He could probably salvage this if he could just convince Thomas to finish his task first.

"Thomas," he called out, stepping around Roman this time, "if we could continue where we left off--"

This time, Patton cut him off, literally stepping into his path with a smile.

"Logan, you understand how important this is. Once we've taken care of this, you can go on with your little project, okay?"

Logan's eye twitched and it took nearly all his willpower to keep himself from balling his hands into fists. Patton's condescending tone, especially when he had no idea what Logan was talking about and therefore no precedence to downplay his commitments and duties to Thomas like that, was one of the most infuriating things he ever had to hear.

Patton only ever seemed to use it to mock Logan, as if he knew better. If only someone had bothered to tell Patton that embodying someone's morality does not make you just and above others.

Logan swallowed dryly, his eyes feeling hot. It was fine. This was fine. He couldn't lose his cool here. It wouldn't be appropriate nor productive to the task at hand.

He took a deep breath and resolutely ignored Patton, stepping around him, as well.

What he honestly hadn't expected was for Virgil to get in his way next.

He wanted to roll his eyes. How much more ridiculous and time-consuming did this have to be? He just wanted to get this last call done and the transaction over with so he could move onto his next daunting task of handling all the checks for the filming equipment before they started today's shoot.

Was that really so much to ask?

He wanted to peer back down at his watch, as it felt like this was taking far too long. For some reason, he didn't, though,he just stared at Virgil, waiting for whatever nonsensical excuse for why their mission was so much more important than his. But as time continued to pass, Virgil said nothing.

Annoyed but still trying to hide it, he asked Virgil rather bluntly,

"Surely you know what I'm trying to get done here, Virgil. Are you not concerned about the service getting cut before the shoot?"

Virgil grimaced, wringing his hands in front of him.

"Thomas can live without wi-fi for a couple hours. What he can't live with is Nico dumping him all because he dresses like a fourth-grader!"

Logan blinked a few times before finally just burying his face in his hands. That's what this nonsense was about?! Thomas' dress code for his date later that night?

This was the absolute wrong time to be having such an inane discussion! Why did they always have to choose the worst times for these things?!

"I would...very much appreciate it," Logan spoke from behind his hands, trying not to sound angry, even as the feeling seemed to boil and bubble up in his chest, "if you all could let me finish this task…so we can remain on schedule...for the day."

He heard Roman laugh and it took everything he had not to immediately pull his hands down to glare at the other side.

"We're not gonna stop just so you can do some stupid nerd business first thing in the morning, Four Eyes."

Logan gritted his teeth, pulling his hands down anyway.

"This is not--!" he stopped and tried to collect himself again. Stay calm. Don't get upset.

He took a breath and tried again.

"We have a shoot later today. Don't you prefer our equipment to be functional and working properly enough to get the job done?"

Surely Roman would understand the importance of completing the episodes on time, since they were such a high priority.

"Functional?" Roman mocked. "Since when does that matter? You're not functional and yet you still get the job done, right?"

It was far from a funny joke, but Roman seemed to find it amusing anyway, laughing away.

Logan hated that he could feel it. Each chuckle seemed to match searing shots of heat and pain under his skin.

He couldn't lose it here. He needed to remain in control. Maybe if he backed down a little bit, they would stop long enough for him to get Thomas back on track?

It was worth a shot.

"While your statement seems rather contradictory, I won't refute it," Logan conceded, ignoring the pangs in his chest at his own words. He continued, speaking as concisely as possible,

"But in order to keep things running smoothly for the rest of the day, I need to complete this task with Thomas first. So, if you'll allow me…"

He stepped forward again, to try to get past the others and back to Thomas.

Predictably, he was stopped again.

A hand shot out to pull him back by his shoulder and he turned to see Janus standing there. A surprise, considering Logan hadn't noticed him there just moments ago.

"I'm afraid we won't be…" Janus told him with a smirk. He dropped his hand and hastily added, "Allowing you, that is."

Logan huffed in response. What was the purpose of constantly keeping him from such a time-sensitive task? And especially when all the rest of them cared about was something that could easily wait until later?

It wasn't like he didn't recognize why they were trying to prevent an issue for Thomas later, but could it really not wait another five minutes? At least until he could get Thomas' pressing issue handled and under control? He had specifically asked Logan for help, and there were already so few opportunities for Logan to prove his reliability to Thomas as it were. He couldn't fail here just because the others were so preoccupied with something frankly unnecessary and not worth their fretting at all!

Janus stared at him, or perhaps through him, and smirked again as he stood in his way.

"Just because it's what needs to be done doesn't mean it's what Thomas wants to get done," Janus offered. "You know that better than anyone, don't you?"

Logan glared at him. Was their concern for Thomas at this moment only targeted to piss Logan off somehow? It seemed preposterous to consider such a notion, but with phrasing like that, it sure seemed as though this had all been planned.

He quickly looked away, trying not to let his anger overwhelm him.

It was fine. Most likely, he was overthinking their actions. It wasn't as though this hadn't happened in the past, far more times than he cared to count. They were only doing what they all believed best for Thomas, which meant it had nothing to do with Logan personally, because it never did.

Really, that was the issue he was having here - their collective inconsideration for what he was trying to do for Thomas.

"I want to help, just the same as all of you," he said through gritted teeth.

He clenched his fists at his sides, trying in vain to stay calm.

Through mocking laughter and sarcastic remarks that broke out from many of the sides surrounding him now, he could hear yet another voice chime in, saying,

"Help with what? Putting Thomas in an early grave?"

Remus.

So the gang's all here, then, huh?

Logan opened his mouth to reply, but nothing but silence fell out.

This had been such a waste of time! He could have completed the task by now with ease, if only the others would just listen to him, for once!

Why did it always come to this? Why did they always insist they knew better?

It felt like fire was leaping up his throat, attempting to escape from within. He clamped his jaw shut, trying to not react, to not feel anything.

The others continued to laugh and he turned around to locate Thomas, but couldn't see him behind the others anymore. Where was Thomas? They still had to make that second call!

Oh, no. Had he taken too long that Thomas forgot and went off to do something else? But this could still affect the shoot later! Didn't he remember how distraught he'd gotten last time this happened? Didn't he want to prevent that from happening again?

If he had just listened to Logan in the first place, this wouldn't have happened again, either, but he couldn't exactly hold that against Thomas when it was far easier to point the blame at all the other sides continuing to laugh and speak to each other loudly and obnoxiously as he turned to try to get away yet again.

He turned towards Virgil, thinking he could squeeze by, but he stepped in front of him again.

They never liked his ideas, despite the piles of proof to his merit and efficacy in his methods.

He turned back towards Roman, thinking to dodge around him, but Roman stepped towards him, backing him right into Patton.

They hated when he showed up to any discussion, as though his mere presence soured any mood.

Patton grabbed his shoulders and Logan jerked away, only to be stopped by Janus, giving him that smug expression from earlier.

They despised his function, his necessity to Thomas, something he had absolutely no control over, and for what?

His eyes felt hot. His skin felt tinged with heat, burning from the inside and rolling over and over through him, painful, uncontrollable.

The more he pushed, the metaphorical finish line practically within sight, the more pushback he received in turn, their mockery and vitriol coming out for such a pointless venture. What did they gain in preventing the completion of his task? Did emotions really render them so incapable of reason?

He couldn't take it anymore!

"Uh-oh! Looks like someone's about to lose his trademark cool!" Remus chided, still laughing.

Yes, in fact, he was, but this wasn't even about that! Apparently, it had nothing to do with Logan at all! All he wanted, all he ever hoped to do was to help Thomas. For once, he just wanted to be useful!

But he couldn't do that! And it was all their damn fault!

He wanted to scream, but he knew - he just Knew - that the moment he opened his mouth, his words would be laced in that fire. He wouldn't be able to take it back.

He suddenly found he didn't care. To hell with it, right? Maybe they'd finally fucking listen to him if it hurt them to hear it?

His head felt hazy for a moment, but he opened his mouth, ready.

It was silent.

The fire still burned in his throat, his eyes and skin seemed to pulse with this unending heat, yet he couldn't speak. He couldn't get this rage out, it was still locked inside.

Why? Why now? He has this moment and he can't even use it?

The tears running down his face sting as they fall.

Was this how it would always be? Was this how it always has been?

–

Logan jolted awake, eyes immediately wide as he panted loudly into the silence of his dark room. His hands clenched tightly around his blanket, he slowly became aware of himself.

His eyes barely adjusted, everything he could see was a blur.

He was covered in sweat, his body felt overheated, and it was far too warm in his room.

He threw the blanket off him and reached out blindly for his glasses, only to quickly put them on as soon as he found them.

His room was empty. Dark. It was clearly the middle of the night.

He tried to slow his breathing and recall what had just happened. He had the urge to rush over to his computer and verify Thomas' payments, but he already knew…

He…had been asleep. That wasn't real. None of it was.

It took a moment, but once reality caught back up with him, his mind quickly assured him - that incident had never happened. The original one about Thomas' power going out hadn't even happened, either.

He'd had that damn dream repeatedly over the past few months, in a few different variations, any time he managed to get more than four hours of sleep in one night.

He peered over at his alarm clock. 5:16 AM.

There it was. He'd gone to bed just before midnight, so that explained it all.

His breathing started to slow and even back out. It took longer than necessary to calm down and he hated that.

That was always the worst part of those stupid stress dreams. They got him all emotionally worked-up, until he felt like he was going to explode.

It always felt awful.

Whatever had happened at the end of this last dream, though, had stoppered the explosion, but it felt worse than the dreams where he did let it out, where he ranted and screamed and kicked in any attempt to get his way.

Stopping it from happening felt…unfulfilling.

But, shouldn't that have been a good thing? To stop it?

He sighed and stood up.

There was no point dwelling on events that would never happen. If he was awake, he might as well make himself useful and get ready for the day.