#asked and answered 231

[away-ward]

Interesting! Some posts by PD on their FB group, from the pastinfound these days from X / Twitter

link: https://x. com/dearreadrr/status/1755958608171597855?s=61 (delete space between x. And /)

conversation from the link was about readers asking PD about what other pairing could happen, and some excerpt from PD i copy pasted from those links:

Pen Douglas

Michael and Banks. All day. It would be so hilarious. And Damon and Kai. He would soooo mess up Kai's clothes

And

Damon and Michael. I never got a vibe from Damon and Emory, but their connection is for life. Definitely.

2. Admin

Pen Douglas • 4 Oct 2022 •

Just a silly convo I wrote

***

Damon: I mean, I know we don't get along, but I do care about you.

Misha: You don't care about anything you can't screw.

Damon: And...?

Misha: 😳

Kai: 🤦🏻😆

Misha: I hate you. I've always hated you.

Damon: That hurts. Because I really love you. I mean, if we were stranded in the wilderness--and you were cold--I would warm you.

Will: 🤣

Damon: With my body.

Misha: Shut. Up.

Damon: And if I were dead and you were starving out there, Ikd want you to eat me

And i saw another extra that i forgot where i got:

Banks: Fine. I'll ask Kai if he wants to go, too.

Michael: No. Just you.

Banks: *laughs* | trust him around her. Now anyway. You don't trust her?

Michael: Of course I do. I just don't trust where my mind is going to go imagining you three alone in the dark together. Just make it a girls night.

Banks: I've been alone in the dark with her, too, you know?

Michael: Fuck.

(My note: wtf, so michael was always insecure when they're together? Wtf! So this wasn't new huh)

another one with Damon, Will and Emory, damon likes to spoil her. Again like PD said, their connection was for life, this too wasn't new. Wow, i think PD really already thought this out huh:

Pen Douglas • PenDragons-Penelope

Douglas Reader Group

Will: No. We do not need more chandeliers.

Emmy: 😥 But...

Damon: Ohhhhh, 70% off. *walks in store*

Emmy: 😊 *follows*

Will: 🙄

last one about readers complaining about why people hate emory and pd and someone else replied!

link: https://x. com/jurdandrew/status/1449132149894959107?s=61

(Delete space between x. And /)

conversation goes like this:

PenDragons-Penelope Douglas

Reader Group

Kétsia Mendes • 4h •

•••

Post: Emory Scott is definitely my fav character from Devil's Night. I don't understand why some people don't like her.

And I think she's almost a female version of Damon Torrance.

PD's reply:

Pen Douglas

Administrador

Many people had general problems with all of the heroines. We'll see the same thing in Hellbent. The double standard.

Or worse...the "Aro is so much better than Dylan" or "Tommy is the best girl" as if there's some competition between these women. It was one of the hardest things too see happen with Devil's Night.

But luckily, most understand Emory was at the survival level in high school and Will wasn't owed anything. Thankfully, her heart came around and she finally fought for him. 💕 I loved that SHE proposed. 😆 One of my favorite scenes. Will was so dang cute. Lol

another reader reply:

Donna Lynn Glushien

I didn't like her at first because Will is such a sweetheart to her and she treated him like dirt. But how she was, really added to her character.. and now I appreciate Emory a lot more. Love how strong and independent she is 💪🏼

original poster replied and quoted:

Kétsia Mendes Autor

Donna Lynn Glushien She explained why she treated him like "dirt" in chapter 29:

"Part of me resisted you because I didn't want to bring you into my horrible life," she told me. "I was embarrassed and full of anger and without hope. I couldn't give you anything."

I tipped my chin up, remaining silent.

"But a part of me also resisted you because I feared I'd just be trading one abuse for another," she explained. "How you coerced me, pushed me, wouldn't leave me alone when I told you to... Tried to scare me."

And PD liked OP's comment:

Pen Douglas reagiu ao seu comentário: "Donna Lynn Glushien

She explained why..."

There's ANOTHER surge of emory-hating video on tiktok too, and i think they probably didin't read thoroughly because they missed a lot of things that were going on in the text but luckily, that side of DN readers always are ride or die for emory!

link : 483 likes, 97 comments, ninguém é obrigado a gostar de ninguém e cada um tem opiniões diferentes 🤙🏻 https://vt. tiktok.com/ZSFFowdLU/ (delete space between t. And tiktok)

sometimes, i think some dn readers really don't have any critical thinking skills because they only read what they see, and even then, they don't read fully, as if they were just skimming. How are they gonna believe everything that damon and will said when damon likes to alter reality and mindfuck people, while will lies to everybody but emmy? Even damon and alex never knew his full story, AND their his best friends. And only for will to admit a couple times that emmy was right and he was just lying to convince himself he was right because he was prideful, arrogant, selfish, self-centered and spoiled? Like, if he admitted his flaws to be better, why can't these readers? And the thing that they're mad at her was not even because she was prideful, scared or a bit cowardly (like she admitted in her pov about her approach to her love life and will) but because she was caring for her grandma? 🤡 wtaf? Crazy!

some discourse happened too about will and her years of gone too:

https://x. com/raybanks/status/1755907408629485937?s=61 remove space between x. And /)

idk why but if pd can write all these headcanons about rika, banks, michael, kai, winter, will and damon, why is there nothing for emory? And it was half-assed too? I get that idea doesn't come easy, but still?

just wanted to share.

Heyy thanks for sharing! This was all very interesting to go through.

Thanks for putting the links together.

First, PD passing Damon around, and Damon literally wanting to sleep with everyone (except Emory apparently… which is so weird because he did say “it certainly wouldn’t be a chore” like…?) is kinda funny in that PD is exactly like the fandom in thinking Damon is like next level.

I still maintain that will would be the best lay. Damon said he's selfish and doesn't always keep his promises where that is concerned. why are they all lined up for him? We all know he only follows through for winter.

But at the same time my heart is like “Oh… so Emory is safe, right? No weird mash-ups?” And based on PD saying Michael and Banks and then following it was Damon and Kai, I can’t help but think it’s because those pairs have issues. Like they don’t really get along right off the bat, so there’s all this tension… which Emory doesn’t really have with anyone. So maybe that’s one reason why we never get HC with Emory. Because she’s just out there, being cute and not really causing any problems with anyone? Maybe??? I don’t know…

But it’s also weird that PD’s just like “Damon with Kai, Damon with Will, Damon with Misha, Damon with Michael… but I haven’t thought about Damon and Emory before.” Keeping in mind that Rika and Banks are the only other girls in the group besides his wife and they’re his sisters. If it weren’t for that fact alone, I really do think they’d be thrown into the mix.

And again… PD has thought about it before because they wrote Damon suggesting it. Like how have neither of them ever revisited that when the whole family is built on who Damon wants to have sex with, apparently? I’m laughing so hard on the inside because this all seems very…convenient.

Damon hassling Misha is fun. I can see it. Will and Misha are more like brothers, and we saw Will hassling Trevor in Corrupt. I think it’s probably a natural thing for them to annoy their best friend’s younger sibling. Now, if only Michael would stop trying to have sex with his best friend's little sisters...

As for the Michael and Banks convo, I didn’t read that as insecure. I read that as he didn’t want to be thinking about what the three of them would get up to alone when he could be there because he’d get turned on… and not be there. Such torture.

But gah.  They’re annoying.

Why would Will try to limit how many chandeliers Emmy has? I assume she would have a warehouse when she and Damon keep supplies for jobs. It’s not like she’s filling every inch of her ceiling with them. That’s just dumb design. So if she wants to have her collection of chandeliers, let her?

And of course, Damon has to spoil her. This is extra irritating because I went back and checked the tampon scene that PD wrote, and they ended it with “Damon probably went in and got them”

Like. I don’t try to defend PD’s portrayal of willemmy anymore. Obviously, I just don’t get it. But it would be impossible to do so when Will is constantly telling Emory she can’t have something or he won’t get her something, and then Damon goes and saves the day.

I feel like we get it, already. Damon is everyone’s everything, and Rika is the star of the show.

I also loved that Emory proposed to Will, and that he didn’t make a big deal about wanting to be the one to do it. But the thing about the favorites is… people are going to have favorites. That’s alright. People aren’t going to love every character on the page.

The reason there is a competition between the Devil’s Night girls is because they were in a competition for page time. It’s the most common complaint I see is that when we were supposed to be learning about Banks, Rika came in and made the scene about her. When we were supposed to be reading about Emory, Alex came in and made the scene about her. PD wrote the girls competing for time on the page and the reader's attention. Logically, the readers have a preference, and they will be jealous for their character. And since the series is what it is and there’s no changing it, of course that means readers are going to bash the character they didn’t want to read about who “stole” time from their favorite.

None of the girls had to be in competition. And I don’t think they are in canon. But PD definitely made it difficult to root equally for all of them when they weren’t all treated the same.

At least some readers are starting to see Emory more clearly, but I feel there will always be a bit of Emory hate. She’s really not given the same level of consideration from PD. Some readers do have a double standard when it comes to the girls, but it’s not always the case. Some readers just want the girls to be given equal amounts of attention across the series.

It’s not lost on me that Rika and Alex are the ones pitted against Banks and Emory the most. The fact is that Rika and Alex were developed during the first book when it was originally a stand-alone and not a series, so Banks and Emory often feel like an afterthought when the other two come around. That’s an issue with the writing, not the reader. And I’m not going to hold PD to the fire over it; writers will always have limits in their abilities. PD did the best they could at the time. But can we stop placing all the blame on how the readers are interrupting it and accept that somewhere along the line the author didn’t execute this in the best way possible? It's nothing to threaten PD over, but at least stop blaming the readers for being frustrated and championing one girl over the others.

And the tiktok… wow. But I can’t say I haven’t heard it before. It’s so strange how some readers are willing to hold Emory accountable for Will’s actions and not Will.

But as they said… we all have our own opinions.

And only for will to admit a couple times that emmy was right and he was just lying to convince himself he was right because he was prideful, arrogant, selfish, self-centered and spoiled? Like, if he admitted his flaws to be better, why can't these readers?

It really is weird, isn’t?

And the final bit of the discourse, not entirely sure what the post meant, but I feel like it relates to a post I made a few weeks back. Will wasn’t mad at Emory for leaving. He was going to let her go and live with the regret of what he did, even though it hurt. He wasn’t ever going to chase her down or seek revenge until he learned that she lied to him and about him.

His anger was never about Emory leaving. It was the lies and (what he saw as) betrayal.

Head canons really don’t come all that easy unless you’re obsessed and constantly thinking about even the most mundane things about a character. There has to be a little insanity around them for it to get that deep.

Again, I don’t really understand PD all that much, but if I had to guess… the boys started it all, and Damon is their favorite. So HC for them is easy. Rika was developed in Corrupt and came soon after the boys, so again, there was a lot of time to be a little obsessed. Banks and Winter aren’t mentioned nearly as much as those first, but still Banks more than Winter, but never without one of the boys or Rika.

I haven’t seen a winter hc or scene other than the alternative scene to KS.

I think the lack of Emory is just that PD was done with the series and the negative side of the fandom by the time they got to NF. If it’s true that they pushed NF out right after KS, then they might not have even had time to be obsessed with Emory.

This is a good or bad thing, depending on how you look at it. Sure, Emory has much less content and readers who favor other characters will find her an easy target. But the bonus of liking an unpopular character is that you’re free to do what you want, because nobody’s watching that character.

Nobody’s watching Emory’s fans. Let’s have fun.

-KO

[dapurinthos]

doing some file sifting, found this:

ah. happy birthday galaxies you are now 231 050 words old, not including all the google docs, the miscellaneous text files, and the research section.

[badolmen]

Hello...I'm Mona from Gaza, I'mhousewife, my family consist of 5 people contains 3 children under 14years old .Now we live in a tent because we lost our house in the war.

Can you donate for me to rebuild my house and preserve my children lives and support me financially to evacuatefromGaza.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-help-monas-famil-to-evacuate-from-gaza?utm_campaign=man_ss_icons&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&attribution_id=sl%3A90393b18-b06f-40d9-a9da-289f907deb26

Followers, this campaign is currently unvetted.

Donate at the GFM link here at your discretion.

[forcebookish]

Hello...I'm Mona from Gaza, I'mhousewife, my family consist of 5 people contains 3 children under 14years old .Now we live in a tent because we lost our house in the war.

Can you donate for me to rebuild my house and preserve my children lives and support me financially to evacuatefromGaza.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-help-monas-famil-to-evacuate-from-gaza?utm_campaign=man_ss_icons&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&attribution_id=sl%3A90393b18-b06f-40d9-a9da-289f907deb26

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #253 )✅️

hello, mona! i'm so sorry for what you and your children have had to face. i personally can't donate, but i hope i can help by sharing.

LOW ON FUNDS! HELP MONA AND HER CHILDREN SURVIVE THE WAR IN GAZA

you can see where this campaign has been vetted here.

be safe!

[syoddeye]

cw: noncon/dubcon, mean price, theft, smidgen of a daddy kink, spanking, vaginal fingering.

neighbor price who beats someone to the communal laundry one afternoon.

he waits ten minutes for the irresponsible do-nothing before giving up. he intends to dump their dry clothes on the floor and grouses as he reaches into the machine. instead, he grabs a handful of lacy unmentionables, freezes a moment, and then decides there's a better way to impart a lesson.

he doesn't typically loiter while his wash goes, there's always something that needs doing on his precious few days off. but it's worthwhile when he hears feet on the stairs a quarter of an hour later, followed by a sharp gasp.

he looks up from his phone, smirking as a pretty thing gawks at the stacks of neatly folded laundry, her panties on top.

her gaze flicks from him to her clothes to him again. sputtering, eyes wide and glassy with panic and embarrassment.

"i recommend an alarm," he drawls when she hurriedly begins to gather her belongings. he doesn't move a muscle, making her step into his space. watches her shiver from his breathing hitting her neck.

"lovely as your things are, i'm not your maid. i'm not your father."

she scuttles to the stairs, hissing some inconsequential jab, but he's the type of man who needs the last word.

"i'll keep these as payment for sorting your clothes. you want them back, come to unit 231."

he holds the pair aloft, pinching it by the gusset.

of course, she makes the mistake of thinking she'll get her panties back unscathed. she swallows her pride and, to her credit, asks nicely. he can't let it go, though; he needs to ensure his warning sinks in. he spanks her arse raw, gagging her on his fingers until she promises never to be so careless again. she sniffles as he lectures her on the dangerous men who live in their building.

after wiping her tears, he hoists her onto his lap and stuffs the stolen underwear into her mouth. he hooks his chin over her shoulder and snakes an arm around her waist before cramming a hand down her shorts to play. he patronizingly orders her to show him she knows how to set an alarm on her phone and clicks his tongue when it's obvious she does.

he sinks a finger to the first knuckle and hums a breathy, "what am i gonna do with you?" as if he doesn't already know the answer. as if this'll go any other way now that he knows she's delinquent and impetuous. there is one thing he has a nose for—a deficit in discipline. he cannot abide it.

[mossy-bonez]

In an effort to get more minds on the number silly straw I am going to make this it’s own post.

So here we go.

I solved the other three yesterday at around 1:46

Green

Caesar Cipher, +3

Hbh grfwru ri d ghliihuhqw nlqg/ zkr zdqwv wr pdnh klv sdwlhqw eolqg

Translation

Eye doctor of a different kind

Who wants to make his patients blind

Yellow

Caesar Cipher, +3

Lxvvb hdwhu/ edeb eloob/ zrxogq’w gulqn/ zqohvv lwv vloob

Translation

Fussy Eater

Baby Billy

Wouldn’t Drink

Unless Its Silly

Purple

Caesar Cipher, -3

Qeb alzqlo pxvp/ qeobb pfmp x axv/ tfii jxhb qeb sfpflkp/ dl xtxv

Translates

The Doctor Says

Three Sips A Day

Will Make The Visions

Go Away

Red

So we know what those ones say, I however don’t have a fucking clue what the fuck is going on with red. Now I will admit that I have less knowledge on number based codes, so maybe I’m just stupid, but. I have been trying to crake this on and off all day yesterday.

So here are the numbers.

215 858 117 450 110 628 19 211 120 2265 216 951 25 256 27 532 212 506 18 1317 110 1137 221. 658 23 1330 210 231 118 929 112 2043

Now my first thought was A1Z26… but that can’t work because there is a 50 in here twice actually. So A1Z26 didn’t work.

Now I am bad at number codes so I went to my friend and they suggested Hex, and I tried that and nope mostly undefined, then I asked the same friend again and they said maybe Polybus Square, but I pointed out that these sets of numbers are set up in groups more than 2, so that was a bust. So I showed it to my fiancé, who just taught a summer class based on escape room, and thus taught kids about a shit ton of different ciphers and codes, some I told them about but others they new about already and some they had found researching for the class, so I thought that they may have an idea as to what it might be. And they took a cursory glance at it looked up some of the numbers, not all of them mind you, and said that they were area codes, and those of larger cities, both in and out of the US. And I was happy to have an answer, didn’t know how I would be able to use this to answer the code but I had something, so I went through and… not all of them were area codes, it actually broke down quite quickly, see they had checked the first 3 and then moved to look at some of the later ones that were different lengths and the “221. 658” group thinking it was a decimal and then told me that it seemed like all of them were area codes. Now we were back at square one. So I have no fucking clue where to go now.

[stabbyfoxandrew]

hello!! Happy Wednesday!! Can we get some arson Neil?

WIP Wednesday (9/18) | Arsonist Neil / Firefighter Andrew AU (Part 231)

It's easy for Andrew to relax once Aaron and Katelyn do. It's like they fully expected a wild animal to come charging into their home. And they're just realizing Andrew is merely a man. A man who used to be medicated out of his mind and who acted a bit like a wild animal… but Andrew digresses. And makes pleasant conversation, even pretending to take an interest in Katelyn's family when she brings them up.

Aaron looks pleased as punch beside him. Like he can't keep the smile off his face. It's almost reminiscent of Andrew's own face throughout college, unnerving to say the least. Andrew keeps having to look away from him. He finishes his food last, but the others don't complain. But Katelyn offers to get him seconds as soon as he places the last bite in his mouth. Andrew politely declines and Aaron takes their plates back into the kitchen, leaving them alone for a moment.

"Oh, you like hot chocolate, don't you?" Katelyn asks suddenly.

"Yeah."

"I'll make us all some to go with the cake!" She says, getting up to go into the kitchen. She and Aaron return together a minute later, with no cake or hot chocolate in sight. When Katelyn notices Andrew’s slightly disappointed look, she smiles. "I make mine on the stove like my grandma taught me. It takes a little longer, but it’s the best, I promise."

"I'll be the judge of that, Katherine," slips out of Andrew’s mouth before he can stop it. Katelyn makes a face and Aaron pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Katherine?"

"That's your name in my head. Anything with a 'K' works actually," Andrew answers, making Aaron blow air. "It was a slip of the tongue. Excuse me."

"It's quite alright, Adam." Katelyn says, taking him by surprise. Aaron looks over at her with a pleading expression but Katelyn just shrugs. "That's your name in my head. Anything with an 'A' works though."

Andrew feels his mouth quirk in amusement. "Is that so?"

"Yeah. Anything but Aaron. Because ya know, that one's taken, Alvin."

"Alvin?" Andrew parrots back. "As in The Chipmunks?"

"No, as in your name. Alvin." Katelyn says with a smirk. Andrew stares at her for a moment, wondering if she's serious. If they're the same kind of petty. He wonders exactly how many names she has for him. If she has more than Andrew.

"Guys," Aaron says, holding his hands out. "Listen, don't start. Just pretend it didn't happen. Okay?"

"Why would we do that when Karen has called me a rodent's name?" Andrew asks, almost offended by the curve of Katelyn’s lips. Aaron slumps in his seat with a sigh.

"I could call you Alphonse." Katelyn offers.

"I could call you Kelly." Andrew counters.

Katelyn leans over the table a bit. "Or Alexander."

"Kimberly."

"Alfred."

"Kayla."

"Anthony."

"Kendall."

"Adrian."

[lulublack90]

Prompt 27 - Answer

@wolfstarmicrofic January 27, word count 231

Opposite - Question

Remus waited patiently for Sirius to unfreeze. He’d heard his heart skip a beat and then start stuttering. James had taken Remus aside the other day and told him that Sirius wanted to ask him out but was struggling to do it. So, they came up with a plan for Remus to do it instead. James and Peter made sure they would be out of the way. They had been very obvious, walking up and down the corridors with the dung bombs, and it still took over half an hour before Filch finally realised what they had in their hands. 

So Remus had asked and was now waiting for Sirius’s answer. He watched him while he waited. Watched his mouth open and close slowly, nothing coming out. 

Finally, Sirius blinked hard, and he nodded. 

“Yes—Yes. Please, yes. I’d like that—yes.” His answer came out choppy and inelegant, but Remus didn’t care. He only cared about Sirius. 

“Perfect.” Remus smiled kindly at him, and then, just because he wanted to, he carefully took hold of Sirius’s hand and stroked circles into his knuckles. To his utter joy, Sirius looked up at him through his long eyelashes and smiled a sweet, shy smile. One Remus had never seen before. He hadn’t thought it would be possible to be any more gone for Sirius than he already was. But he’d been wrong.

[hidden-behind-the-fourth-wall]

Sweet past - Ch.1

Summary: 3 years ago, you moved away from Austin, leaving your wreck of a father behind. Now, some news brings you back, and you try to navigate the new life with your dad's best friend, Joel, by your side.

No outbreak is happening here.

Pairing: dbf!Joel x reader

Warnings: mention of death, some foul language, angst.

AN: This is my first time writing for any Pedro Pascal character. The story is a bit angsty and a little different from typical dbf stories out there. Nevertheless I hope you will enjoy it :)

Words: 1 231

Masterlist Chapter 2

It was one of those days when the world seemed determined to weigh you down. A day where every fiber of your being longed for the sanctuary of bed, to simply lie there, unmoving, as if stillness could erase the heaviness in the air. You weren’t exactly tired, more… depleted. It was a curious kind of exhaustion, one that stretched beyond the physical. Typically, you could rely on the people around you—smart, dependable—but today, it seemed as if they'd all collectively lost the ability to think. The simplest tasks turned into ordeals, and everything felt like wading through thick fog.

After unloading the groceries, you flicked on the television, choosing a movie at random without caring to even glance at the title. You weren’t watching it for the plot—just the distraction. The gentle clink of the wine bottle against your glass as you poured yourself a drink offered a brief, comforting sound. You settled into the couch, the cushions welcoming you as you reached for your phone, scrolling through Instagram in a vague attempt to reconnect with the world beyond the confines of your four walls. The perfectly curated lives on the screen felt distant, almost surreal, yet they offered a strange kind of solace.

Life wasn’t bad. In fact, it had become something close to good. Not perfect, certainly—not flawless—but there was a newfound stability in it. You had begun to steady yourself after years of uncertainty, and for the first time in a long while, the past didn’t haunt your every waking moment. The memory that had once consumed you, that dark chapter, was now a distant echo, something you thought about less and less. Your job, too, had shifted into something bearable, even enjoyable at times. Becoming a sous chef had surprised you, more for the satisfaction it brought than the promotion itself. Cooking wasn’t a path you’d ever expected to walk, let alone thrive in, but life has a way of leading you down roads you never could’ve predicted.

The quiet was shattered by the sharp ring of your phone, cutting through the air like a blade. Startled, your heart leapt into your throat, a cold wave of unease settling in your stomach as you stared at the screen. The number glowing there—so familiar, yet so unexpected—stopped you in your tracks. A name you hadn’t spoken or thought of in years swirled in your mind, dredging up old feelings you thought you'd buried long ago.

For a moment, you hesitated, the silence between the rings stretching on as though the universe was giving you one last chance to ignore it. But you couldn’t. Not this time.

“Joel?” you said, your voice barely more than a breath, laced with confusion and something you couldn’t quite place—fear, maybe, or anticipation. It had been three years since you’d last heard that name, three long years of silence.

"Hey, kiddo."

That voice. Gravelly, hoarse, unmistakably Joel Miller. It hadn’t changed, not one bit, after all these years. A voice so distinctive that it could cut through any crowd, and you'd recognize it in an instant. Even now, through the crackling phone line, it brought back memories, both comforting and unsettling.

"How are you?"

But you couldn’t answer that. Your instincts were already screaming that something was wrong, and you had no patience for pleasantries. "What happened?" you asked, your voice sharp, cutting straight to the heart of it. No small talk. Not when your gut was twisting with dread.

"What made you think..."

"Joel." You interrupted, firmer this time, sensing his hesitation. There was a pause on the other end, the kind of pause that made the world stand still for just a second too long. He sighed. And in that sigh, you heard something you'd never associated with Joel before—nervousness. Joel Miller was a lot of things—gruff, moody, and often short-tempered—but nervous? Never. Until now.

"This isn’t something I want to discuss over the phone," he began, his voice lower, like he was picking his words carefully. "But you never left an address." He trailed off, and you heard the sound of him settling into a chair, the weariness in his movements somehow translating through the call. Your mind raced, scrambling to piece together what he was struggling to say. Was it about your father? Had he fallen back into his old ways? Was he in jail again? Or worse?

"He never wanted you to know," Joel continued, his voice thick with something heavy—regret, maybe, or sorrow. "He didn’t want you to worry…"

You let him speak, his words falling slowly, as though each one was a burden. Joel wasn’t one to skirt around things, but today was different. Whatever this was, it was bad—so bad that even someone like Joel was struggling to get it out.

"He’s gone, kid."

The words hit you like a punch to the chest, knocking the air from your lungs. For a second, you thought your heart had stopped. Time itself seemed to freeze. Gone? The world around you faded into a blur, your mind desperately trying to process the weight of what he had just said.

"I’m sorry." Joel’s voice softened, and he said your name, but the syllables barely registered. It was as if your brain had short-circuited, unable to focus on anything but the ringing silence that followed those words.

"I… I… his liver…" Joel’s explanation felt distant, muffled, like you were hearing it underwater.

You swallowed hard, the tears already burning in your eyes. "Was he in pain?" you managed to whisper, your voice trembling, barely holding itself together. "When he died?"

"Sweetheart," Joel replied, his voice rougher now, edged with sadness. "This isn’t a conversation to have over the phone."

He was right, of course. But the thought of having this conversation face-to-face, of confronting this loss, seemed unbearable. You weren’t sure if you had the strength to hear all the details. Not yet.

"I can plan everything out if it’s too much for you," Joel offered gently, always the practical one, even in moments like this. His tone was steady, but underneath it, you could hear the strain of trying to shoulder this burden for you.

You closed your eyes, a tear sliding down your cheek. "I’ll be there in three days," you whispered, your voice barely audible. "Thank you, Joel."

As you ended the call, the silence in the room felt suffocating. You sank back into the couch, feeling the weight of grief press down on you, and let the sobs come. It was the kind of crying that leaves you exhausted, every tear carrying a part of your soul with it, until finally, sleep took you. A restless, uneasy sleep, haunted by the echoes of Joel’s words and the unbearable finality of loss.

***

Austin was one of those places that carried the weight of too many memories, memories so sweet they turned bitter if you lingered on them for too long. Leaving had been painful, but returning felt like reopening an old wound, the kind that never quite healed right. You knew, even before you arrived, that you were coming back to emptiness. And yet, something—some invisible force—pulled you back. Maybe it was nostalgia, maybe it was guilt, or maybe it was just the cruel pull of the past that refuses to let go.

The ride to your old home wasn’t long, mercifully spent in silence. The landscape hadn’t changed much since you left three years ago. It was as if the town had fallen into a kind of stasis, stubbornly resisting the passage of time. Yet, in a strange contradiction, there were new houses, new shops, all designed to look like they’d been there forever, as if even progress here was determined to stay hidden in plain sight.

You thanked the driver, grabbed your bags, and stood there for a moment, staring up at the house you once called home. A soft smile tugged at the corners of your mouth, but it wasn’t the smile of joy. It was the kind of smile that comes when you remember something that used to be beautiful—before everything went to hell. Yes, childhood had been good, once. You’d had two loving parents, a nice house, good friends who, in hindsight, had become little more than acquaintances when things got hard. But that was before. Before everything unraveled.

The key slid easily into the lock, the same key your father had given you the day you left. He had pressed it into your hand, almost desperate, as if the weight of it might keep you grounded, keep you from walking away from him, from this town, from the life you no longer recognized. You’d kept it, not out of sentimentality, but practicality. Just in case. Though you never imagined you’d use it again so soon. Three years—gone in the blink of an eye. So much had changed, and yet the uncertainty remained. You didn’t even know what you were doing here, what you expected to find.

The door swung open, and the house felt different. Not colder—cleaner. The stale scent of alcohol no longer lingered in the air. No empty bottles cluttering the floors. The walls, once dingy, had been repainted, and there was a new carpet. You froze when your eyes landed on the pictures. Photos of you, as a child, lined the hallway. You stared at them, heart tightening. Graduation photos. Family portraits. Your mom and dad, smiling, back when life was full of hope. Back when the future seemed bright.

You blinked, forcing back the tears that stung at your eyes. Those days were long gone, swallowed by the chaos that followed. You abandoned your bags by the door, drawn deeper into the house as memories flooded your mind. To your surprise, the place was in much better condition than you’d expected. It looked like your father had made an effort, had used the money you sent him after all.

Still, as you wandered from room to room, the house remained largely unchanged. The furniture, the layout—it was like walking through a frozen moment in time. Your heart ached when you reached your old bedroom. Everything was exactly as you'd left it. The posters still clung to the walls, slightly faded. The books you’d loved in high school were neatly lined on the shelves, untouched. The DVDs and CDs, relics of movie nights with your parents, sat waiting. Those Saturday nights had been a lifeline back then, a brief reprieve from the chaos. You, your parents, snacks spread across the coffee table, laughing and watching movies late into the night. You cherished those memories, even now.

Your fingers grazed one of the DVDs when the doorbell rang, echoing through the quiet house. You frowned, your heart skipping a beat as you made your way to the door. Peeking through the peephole, your eyes widened.

"Long time no see, kiddo."

There he stood, Joel Miller, looking almost exactly the same as when you’d last seen him. The same rugged features, tall and broad-shouldered, his dark hair and beard now streaked with more gray. His smirk was still there, that familiar, crooked grin he always wore when he was about to tease you.

"Joel!" you breathed, a genuine smile breaking through as you opened the door. Before you could stop yourself, you threw your arms around him, burying your face in his shoulder. His scent—earthy, familiar—washed over you, and you exhaled, finally allowing yourself to feel grounded.

Joel’s arms wrapped around you, pulling you close, and he murmured your name, his voice low and unsure, as if he couldn’t quite believe you were here. "Come on inside," he said, his hand resting lightly on the small of your back. "I stocked up for you."

He led you into the house, and you blinked away the single tear that escaped. There was a time for tears, but not now. Not after the pain Joel had already brought you, not after everything that had happened. There would be time for that later—just not yet.

[lovelyvogrincic]

I know everything about you

Enzo Vorgincic x fem! Reader

Warnings: Jealousy and mention of alcohol drinks but minor, mostly fluff.

Note: This prompt has taken ages to be here! So enjoy it, also it’s a dialogue stolen from Teresa 🫣 pardon any mistake!

malesanchezw

Liked by vogrincicenzo and 21,788 others.

Doble cita con doble shots con estos tres. @matiasrecalt @yn.yln @vogrincicenzo

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yn.yln: cual doble cita? 🙄 cállate.

santivacanarvaja: gracias por la invitación a la doble cita.

vogrincicenzo: @santivacanarvaja que no es una cita!

matiasrecalt: te amo guapa ❤️

-Es una cita entonces- you say as you kept the napkin on your purse- Me aseguraré de escribirte.

-Perfecto, esperaré tu mensaje- the guy you’ve been taking to said as he winked and left you to return to the table you were sharing with your friends.- Chao.

You arrived to the table smiling and feeling more confident in you and your looks, a little materialistic? Probably, but still felt good.

-Ah pero estás muy sonriente- your best friend told you as you sat down next to her.- ¿Que pasó con ese chico?

-Nada importante, me dio su número para hacer una cita y seguir charlando.- you said couldn’t hiding your excitement- No puedo creerlo.

-Parece que alguien está teniendo buena suerte hoy, ¿ah?- another of your best friends said seeing you blushing and excited.

You nodded and turned to see the other friend you were with.- Y, ¿vos que opinas, Enzo? Estás muy callado.

He simply returned to sip his cocktail and didn’t looked at your direction.

-Eh, ¿Por qué te ponés de mal humor, Enzo?- you asked looking for his sight, trying to make him look at you.- ¿Hice algo?

-No, solo estoy cansado, es eso.- he said after a few seconds, and returned to drink.

-Todos lo estamos, por eso decidimos venir acá, a tomarnos unos tragos, platicar y bailar, ¡Disfrutá!- Malena, your best friend told him as she cheered her drink with her boyfriend.

-Si Enzo, relájate, y sonreí, igual es temprano para irnos- Matías, Malena’s boyfriend told him, and the last words made Enzo roll his eyes.

-Tenes razón Mati, yo voy por un refill, ¿alguien queré?- you asked while getting up with your glass.

-Yo, cariño, por favor, lo que sea- Malena answered as giving you her glass too and you walked to the barman.

-Enzo, conociéndote como lo hago, digo que estás celoso- the mentioned one just clicked his tongue and looked to other side, trying to ignore his friend comment- ¿Ves? Estás celoso, ¿por qué no lo decís?

He sighed at the thought of telling you, one of his closest and best friends, that he was dying of jealousy, even though he didn’t had any right to, or that he wanted to rip apart that napkin with that dumb guy’s number, he couldn’t, he could’ve lose you and that was something he wouldn’t bear to.

-Nah Matias, estás equivocado, (yn) y yo solo somos amigos, no estoy celoso, y si lo estuviera, no tendría derecho.- the couple turned to see each other, it was a superpower they had perfectioned with the time, talk without saying a word.

-Pero, ¿qué decís? Si es obvio que vos gustas de (yn) y ella de vos, ¡deberían confersalo!- Malena said rolling her eyes at how absurd he was being.

-No, no lo haré, ella solo me ve como un amigo y eso está bien, no espero más, así que basta, esto se queda entre nosotros- Enzo said while looking at his friends searching for commitment of them to not say another word; they lift their hands, surrendering on the topic.

After a few more seconds, hardly, you made your way to the table with just had lost a little of liquid from the drinks, put them on the table and sat down.

-¿Y,de qué me perdí?- as you said that, the three people with you looked at each other.

-De nada, (yn) nada interesante.- Enzo answered, looking directly at your eyes for the first time in the evening.

-Ah, pero por fin me volteas a ver, ¡milagro!- you told him in between laughs making him roll his eyes funny.

-Eh, pará, es que ya te veo borrosa, intento enfocarte- the Uruguayan answered also laughing, making the couple sitting near you, smile at seeing you both like that.

-¿Ya se te pasó el mal genio?- you asked him, getting near him, so you didn’t had to scream, he returned to finishing his drink- ¿Que significa eso?

-Yo creo que es un no- Matías told you- Ya sabes cómo es Enzo, el mal genio le dura un buen rato.

Everyone continued to tease him about him being a grumpy old man, making Enzo more grumpy, but the thing that annoyed him more was that a lot of guys were stealing glances at you, he was the only to notice, of course.

-Eh, para, para- he asked- si fuera un abuelo con mal genio, no me levantaría a bailar- he said while leaving his drink on the table and getting up.

-Probalo- you dared him; one thing was that he got up, another was that he actually took courage to go to the dance floor, because he was shy and dancing wasn’t his forte.

-Bueno, ¿me acompañás?- he finally asked, while reaching out his hand for you to take, you looked to Matias and Malena who were in shook and also trying desperately to convince you to accept.

-Hagámoslo- your hand met his, and got up, both smiled as you headed to the dance floor- no me pises mucho, ¿si?

He nodded and arrived to the dance floor, the songs playing were jazz, everyone agreed to go to a calm place but with good drinks, your hands didn’t knew where to land, so Enzo took initiative, one of his hands went to your waist, and yours went to his shoulder and the free hands, intertwined, as you followed the rhythm of every instrument, moving side to side or forward, even adding a little turn in a while.

After a few songs,Valentine by Laufey was playing, you both had gotten closer, your both hands on his neck and his in your waist, practically hugging and smelling each other’s perfumes, much haven’t been said, but the body language was talking for itself, and finally Enzo broke the silence.

yn.yln

Liked by franromerofran and 25,600 others.

'Cause I think I've fallen in love this time 🩷 @vogrincicenzo

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malesanchezw: 😻🥺 los más preciosos!

blaspolidorii: QUE TIERNOOOS 🤧

franromerofran: Shippeo hasta el infinito !

vogrincicenzo: Vos y Laufey>>>>

-No estaba cansado, ni de malas- he confessed looking at you.

-¿No, entonces por qué estabas tan mala onda hace rato?- you asked him, really intrigued.

He swallowed before answering- Porque me moría de celos- finally he told the truth, trying to not break the eye contact, you stopped swinging.

-¿Cómo, vos estabas celoso, por qué?- you couldn’t believe what you’ve just heard, probably, you thought, he was jealous like a brother could be or jealous that you flirted and he hadn’t- ¿Por qué yo conseguí un número y vos no?

He laughed and sighed.

-No, muerto de celos porque alguien más te va a llevar en una cita, porque él cree que te merece, porque vos lo viste como a mí no, y porque…sentí que debía ser yo, no él- he told you and broke the contact you had, stepping a few centimeters away.- sé que no tene sentido y yo no debería sentirme así, pero eso fue lo que pasó, (yn), no fuiste vos.

You took some sweet seconds to process what he just told you, it was huge what he confessed and with caution, you got near him again.

-¿En serio estabas celoso?- he nodded looking down like a little kid who was just scolded.-¿Por qué decís que él no me merece?

His shoulders lifted and you giggled.

-Porque yo te conozco muy bien, y él no, porque mereces algo bueno, no a cualquiera que se te acerque en un bar- your hands went again around his neck, at first, he was shy to put again his hands around you.

-¿Ah si, me conoces mucho?- he nodded again- ¿cual es mi flor favorita?

-Los lirios blancos- he said without hesitation, making your eyes wide open.

-Esa era fácil, ¿cuál es mi álbum favorito de Taylor Swift?- he laughed at the question but he knew the answer.

-Lover y me atrevería a decir que Red compite por ahí también- you nodded shocked at how many details he knew about you- Tu película favorita es Orgullo y Prejuicio, de chica jugabas futbol y hacías ballet, preferís el chocolate blanco, y claro, tu cantante favorita es Taylor Swift, a la cual seguís desde 2010.

You couldn’t believe all the facts about you, he just said, how could he remember all that?, it must’ve been that he really, really liked you, and what a wonderful new, because you happened to liked that Uruguayan guy so much.

-Podes hacerme mil preguntas sobre vos, y todas las sabré, porque me gustas y mucho (yn)- he confessed smiling, with a shine in his eyes.

-No lo sabes todo- you told him making his eyes open wide- Te faltó algo.

-¿Que me faltó- he asked you laughing, while you were serious.

-Que vos me gustas…, y mucho, también- you confessed as the blush on your cheeks appeared and he cubbed one of your cheek with his hand.

-Todos los días se aprende algo nuevo.

And he took a deep breath to finally, after wanting it for a while, kiss you.

vogrincicenzo

Liked by yn.yln and 143,000 others.

eres lo más bonito que he encontrado.

my valentine… 💌

View all 5,449 comments.

yn.yln: My lover and valentine 💌

vogrincicenzo: @yn.yln ❤️ te adoro.

Matiasrecalt: no puedo con lo cursi que son! Igual, felicidades !

pipegonzalesotano: Aaaaay que ternura uds dos. Los quiero !

[ccawz]

quiet

short blurbs with the hyung line loosely based off songs from my ‘quiet’ playlist

hyung line (chan, minho, changbin, hyunjin) x gn!reader | 987 words in total.

warnings: none. | long distance relationships (3/4) chan second guesses something major, in fiction; none of this is to depict skz members. changbin shows a very brief moment of fear of abandonment.

boy of the year 243 wc

“Can I tell you something?” Chan asks quietly, waiting for your response before he continues. “Sometimes, I think that maybe this life isn’t meant for me.” He takes your silence as an answer and chooses to keep talking until you come up with one. If you do. “Sometimes, when I’m on stage, I look in the crowd for you.” 

“I think, ‘Even though I left them, they’d still be here for me,’ and you are, and I’m grateful.” A sigh spills past. He’s frustrated, you’re not talking, and he’s starting to think it's because of him. “I promised you i would stay, and i left the next day. I miss you so much, and it’s starting to hurt.” 

The sun begins to show itself at the base of the horizon. The hill Chan sat on gave him the perfect view of the sunrise; it should have been a perfect moment, but you weren’t there. “It’s dark over there right now, isn’t it?” You hum in agreement. Chan sighs at the affirmation, seemingly annoyed that he was right. 

“Can I come back home to you now?” He asks, clenching his eyes shut to stop the tears from building in his eyes. 

“Not yet, Chan.” You whisper. Your voice is hoarse, and Chan lets the tears flow when he realizes you’ve been crying. “I want to be with you, just as much as you do, but it’s not time for you to come home yet.” 

lullaby for you 231 wc

“It’s my birthday,” Minho says quietly into the phone, “You didn’t tell me happy birthday yet.” 

You stare at your clock. It reads eight a.m., not midnight. “My clock is a minute off,” You tell him, not mentioning the time difference. “There we go. Happy birthday, Min.” He hums, eyes turning upwards as he smiles. There’s a mischievous glint in his eyes that you know all too well, sighing as you turn over. “You’re gonna tell me Jisung said it first, aren’t you?”

“No,” he denies, but the sparkle in his eyes is still there. “You were the first one.” You hum, assuming he was going to say more. But Minho stays quiet. You’d thought he’d fallen asleep, but as you looked at your screen, his eyes were wide and misty as he looked at you. “‘M tired.” He murmurs. 

You let out an amused hum at his slur of words, smiling cheekily when his head started to fall as he fought back sleep. “Sing me to sleep.” He whispers, propping his phone up against a pillow. And when you reply with an ‘Okay,’ Minho only stares at the screen while you hum, not sing, him a lullaby. He’s still tired, and sleep is slowly taking over him, but Minho wants to relish in this moment. Where nothing is said, nothing is incomplete; where it was just you and him.

keep me  224 wc

Changbin never expected to come home to a quiet house after being away for nearly a year. He’d become so used to roaming voices and bustling sounds around him during tour that your apartment started feeling foreign to him. 

He leaves his bags near the door, telling himself that it’s a thing for tomorrow, that there was something more important he needs to do instead. He reaches the bedroom door, and a new weight settles onto his shoulders. Was he nervous to face you? Or was he afraid that there wouldn’t be anyone on the other side of the door?

Changbin takes a deep breath, twists the knob, and slowly opens the door. He sighs when he sees your figure under the sheets, your stomach rising and falling steadily as you sleep. He makes his way to your side of the bed, sinking to the floor in front of you, taking in the sight of your resting face.

He turns to settle in beside you, keeping a close distance from you. He wanted to hold you. He just didn’t know if you wanted to be held. Yet, by shocking coincidence, your arm reaches behind you, feeling blindly for his hand until he gives it. “Wake me up next time.” 

“Okay,” He whispers, eyes falling at the possibility– the probability– of next time. “I will.” 

a song nobody knows 268wc 

Hyunjin didn’t believe it when Chan said it would be a good idea to go busking to raise funds for their soccer uniforms. 

And he still doesn’t. 

His eyes follow the man who tossed a crumpled receipt and what he thinks is ten won into the open guitar case, and he desperately tries to wipe the sour look on his face when a new crowd passes by. Three songs later, Chan calls for a break. The crowd disperses at the announcement, a few people leaving crumpled bills to them. 

“This is hopeless.” Hyunjin sighed, sitting next to Chan. The older boy presses his lips in a thin line, not knowing how to disagree with him. “And it’s getting late. How much longer do we have to be out here?”

“We can go after this last song,” Chan says, beginning to grow restless himself. “Maybe we’ll get lucky.” Hyunjin hums unamused as he lifts himself off the bench. His sigh is picked up through the mic as he prepares himself for disappointment, and he closes his eyes, ready to sing a song that nobody knows.

Chan, who kept his eyes open– though he hadn’t known Hyunjin’s were closed in the first place– notices how you stopped walking when your eyes set on them. He watches you brush your friends off when they tell you to keep walking. He watches your eyes float around Hyunjin, taking him in like he was a piece of art with no description. 

And he watches you reach into your wallet, and place three folded bills into the case while your eyes never left Hyunjin.

a/n; maknae line will be posted later 🫶

[away-ward]

"

Why would Will try to limit how many chandeliers Emmy has? I assume she would have a warehouse when she and Damon keep supplies for jobs. It’s not like she’s filling every inch of her ceiling with them. That’s just dumb design. So if she wants to have her collection of chandeliers, let her?

And of course, Damon has to spoil her. This is extra irritating because I went back and checked the tampon scene that PD wrote, and they ended it with “Damon probably went in and got them”

Like. I don’t try to defend PD’s portrayal of willemmy anymore. Obviously, I just don’t get it. But it would be impossible to do so when Will is constantly telling Emory she can’t have something or he won’t get her something, and then Damon goes and saves the day.

I feel like we get it, already. Damon is everyone’s everything, and Rika is the star of the show." - your response to my anon post of all those extras from PD

I FUCKING KNOW RIGHT!!! And it really doesn't make sense at all that Will wouldn't buy Em another chandelier because LITERALLY IN FIRE NIGHT he said something like "i'm not gonna stop giving emmy what she wants" when she wanted to play with him so??????? PD is so- god, how can someone be this contradictory and frustrating?

At this point, i believe PD's the kind of author who likes to write books with weird-out-of-nowhere shock factors, but they don't know how to wrap them up well. That's why they kept on writing things that don't make sense. I feel like they're the kind of people who likes to do weird dramatic things (and write them too) and then they don't think their consequences will catch up to them, example: they're surprised when people don't get their connection and their expression because they didn't notice that THEY were the ones who were bad at explaining things, or just plainly never explained them well in the first place, with any coherence. Literally reading PD's books felt like an acid trip, being gaslighted by the author, only for the author to be like "heyyyy, no no no" but the text was "yes yes yes", like jumping through hoops just to get a point, and still not making it. But the author, of course, with their cult readers would be like "nooo it makes sense, you just don't get it" when literally those points they said still don't? Make? Sense? Just because they FEEL something, not because they THINK something. The last time i felt gaslighted by an author like PD was with Sarah J Maas' ACOTAR & TOG series, and it wasn't a good time, AT ALL. Author kept on contradicting what she wrote, and acting like readers are stupid or silly. I hate to be put in this position because i feel like these kinds of authors don't respect readers enough to trust us with their craft so not only they butchered their own story, even when we have out own underrstanding according to what THEY wrote, we're still wrong, just because we don't "FEEL" like they did. WTAF!

interesting point too, because wasn't Damon Torrance like this? His characterisation was literally just edgy Shock factor all the time, with no coherence, always being in the centre when unneeded, then he yaps yaps yaps, womp womp, acting like he has a point, but then the outcome of his plans, words, thoughts and actions that we read and we see were always so fucking poor. The reality of Damon Torrance did not match up with the rumour of Damon Torrance. Personally, I think what Damon lacked was GIRTH, he got a a dick, but does he have the girth? Absolutely not. He talks so much for someone who does nothing, and i hate these kinds of characters in fiction the most. Like if i can name one character who had girth, it's most likely Victor from Vicious by V.E. Schwab. That guy did have big dick energy. Didn't have to be overhyped by anyone, because Schwab took her time to craft and execute his character well on page. Damon was so icky to me because he was talking bigger than he can chew. Like No wonder he's PD's fav, like they both just don't make sense in a way? God, i sound so condescending, but i see more of their similarities now. And another example is Kaleb and Tiernan from Credence, again, horny rich fragile blonde blue eyes who can do no wrong, with edgy borderline abusive dark haired guy who got no personality than being edgy and wanting to paint the town red. The fact that Credence too was super fucking weird, and surprise surprise, Kaleb (the main LI) was so similar to Damon in his characterisation, even though there was no sense to hold on to that main pairing. Like??? Wtf? Tiernan could end up with the two other characters, but PD still chose Kaleb for her?

idk man, these careless way of crafting their own stories really made me lose some respect for certain authors. I understand it can happen to anyone, but damn, surely not too much? Especially the willemmy chandelier and tampon extras? It doesn't make sense! Will Grayson would never, he went out of his way to research about emmy's jewish fasting culture, but can't buy her tampons or chandeliers? Like did PD really think he was shallow like that? This man who hanged out with banks and choose to pick her bras? Wtf? No way would she be ashamed of that. Especially when it's so important to emmy. And the fact that he doesn't know emmy had vibrators? Ok now lets be fucking for real 🙄 PD really just dgaf about willemmy.

Right. PD’s treatment of Will reminds me of when TV characters eventually become a caricature of themselves the longer the series goes on. The Will PD is currently writing doesn't seem to reflect the Will that was in NF at all, and reminds me of how I thought the Will in NF and the Will in the rest of the series were two different characters because they didn’t match at all.

PD definitely likes to use a shock factor, and I guess most people read the books for that alone. There’s relatively few who are still stuck on them and who are also bothered by the lack of story development or follow through. Like, obviously I can sit through crazy, up and down plot lines, and stories that go back and forth, and plots that take a while to develop, but it has to go somewhere eventually.

And trust me, I suck at wrapping up my own long stories. Conclusions are hard. Keeping characters consistent isn’t easy. But I’m not asking for money, so I feel less bad about my skill level.

Damon was built up quite a bit, and for me, he didn’t hit. I, too, felt he was all talk and no bite. The more PD plays with his character, making him everyone’s everything, the less interested I am in him. I still stand-by that his book should have gone last and his redemption arc should have been the final climax of the series. Damon in NF feels so sterile. He’s so clean, nothing he does can scare me because I already know where his story goes. I want the scary side back, I want him to be exclusive to a few people. I want people to die curious about him. It wouldn’t have mattered how contradictory his character was if some of the mystery surrounding him remained in the end.

The reality of Damon Torrance did not match up with the rumour of Damon Torrance.

Again, this is more of a writing issue than anything else. It’s like that post from a few days back that talks about having your characters come up with a genius plan means… having to plot a genius plan yourself. It’s not easy when you’re not a genius and don’t have a writing team. IMO, the biggest issue was that people in-universe were supposed to hate Damon and be scared of him, but PD couldn’t hate Damon because they (and through Rika) sympathized with him too much, so he got watered down to be more palatable. Fan reaction doesn’t really factor much, because most readers these days will eat up any old “morally gray” or “amoral” character as long as he’s hot enough.

Cannot comment on Victor because I haven’t read Vicious, but I believe you. But your point here:

Didn't have to be overhyped by anyone, because Schwab took her time to craft and execute his character well on page.

Is exactly what I was thinking as well. PD started to believe their own hype around Damon, and in the end, they couldn’t keep him in the mold they created. Sometimes characters grown in directions that’s unpredictable, but also…sometimes authors sabotage themselves. I’ve done it. Again, not sure what happened with PD, if this is the case or not. But it just feels like that to me.

Then again, I was never really into Damon. I’ve always been way more interested in Kai and Will.

And another example is Kaleb and Tiernan from Credence

Never read Credence either, but was watching an unhinged recap on Youtube. Didn’t finish 'cause I got bored. Nice to know Kaleb was the one picked. I’m somehow not at all surprised by that. But gah, why?

This man who hanged out with banks and choose to pick her bras? Wtf? No way would she be ashamed of that. Especially when it's so important to emmy. And the fact that he doesn't know emmy had vibrators?

I actually hadn’t factored in the bra scene, thanks for the reminder. Solid point. Will Grayson goes above and beyond for the people he cares about, but somehow that’s all forgotten when Emmy asks for something, all so Damon can come in and be the hero?

Can we just stick Rika and Damon in a cage, so the rest of the characters can get a chance to actually shine? I wonder what PD would do if they were challenged to write a scene in which Rika and Damon couldn’t be used or mentioned? Maybe then we’d get some proper characterization.

As you can see, I’m feeling a bit condescending, too.

-KO

[badolmen]

Hello...I'm Mona from Gaza, I'mhousewife, my family consist of 5 people contains 3 children under 14years old .Now we live in a tent because we lost our house in the war.

Can you donate for me to rebuild my house and preserve my children lives and support me financially to evacuatefromGaza.

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✅️Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #253 )✅️

You and your family are in my prayers.

Followers, this campaign has since been verified by GazaVetters (#253 on their masterlist here).

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[hexentanzenigma]

Astarion's Age - About the Headstone ~Sometimes I use Google Translate~ Sorry for the horrible formatting, I'm still figuring out things!

Don't know if someone already talked about calendars, but this is the result a very intense ADHD afternoon procrastinating what I had to do in favor of my hyperfixation. YAY!

Different Calendars, Different dates

Similar to our world, in D&D/Forgotten Realms there are many different calendars and depending on which one it’s used, the date will change (obviously).

Without going too into too much details in this specific article, the main problem with Astarion’s headstone is that, for some, dates aren’t coherent and the suspect is Larian messed up the calendars.

The calendars involved and what we need to know

When Larian talks about dates uses a 4 digits number: for example we know that the adventure starts in 1492.

However, on Astarion’s headstone the years display on 3 digits: for example the year he engraves is 498.

For this reason people started asking what is the logic behind “dropping the 1” and wondering if it took 6 years to the party to defeat the Netherbrain. Here it comes "different calendars, different dates". Short answer: no, there's no "dropped 1". Long answer: keep reading! :D

At this point, all we need to know are 2 different calendars:

Dale Reckoning (DR) When this calendars is used, the date is usually followed by “DR”. It’s the most widely used in Faerûn.

Crumbs of History: it starts (1 DR - Year of Sunrise) from the year in which the Standing Stone was raised by the elves of Cormanthyr, as symbol of their alliance with the humans of The Dales (called “Dalesfolk” in general), after the Elven Court allowed them to settle in the open lands around the forest.

North Reckoning (NR) When this calendar is used, the date is usually followed by “NR”. It’s used in Waterdeep.

Crumbs of History: it starts (1 NR) from the year Ahghairon became the first Lord of Waterdeep after killing Rhaulor of Waterdeep, a War Lord, (1032 DR - Year of the Nightmaidens). Rhaulor wanted to found the “Empire of the North” but Ahghairon opposed him since, in his view, “wisdom and not might would govern the city”. This is considered the founding event of Waterdeep as a city.

What’s the deal with this and Astarion’s headstone?

Year 1 NR is 1032 DR This means that between the Year 1 DR and the Year 1 NR, there is a difference of 1032 years.

1492 DR is 460 NR

Following this, the dates on the headstone might be wrong, with the right year from the NR calendar but with the wrong “DR” denomination or viceversa. Let's take a look:

Astarion's Birth Since we aren't sure if the date is 129 or 229, since the symbols for 1 and 2 are very similar and the headstone texture simulates its being old and wore out we will consider both (above the NR calendar, below the DR calendar).

129 NR or 229 NR 1161 DR or 1261 DR

Astarion's Death

268 NR 1300 DR

Astarion's Rebirth

Uncertain: some see 468 NR, some 458, some 460. However, curiously enough, 460 NR = 1492 DR We will consider 460.

If this is all correct:

268 NR - 129 NR = 139 yo (Astarion’s supposed real age when he died) 1300 DR - 1161 DR

or

268 NR - 229 NR = 39 yo 1300 DR - 1261 DR

Years since being turned into a vampire Spawn

460 NR - 268 NR = 192 years as a Spawn (Astarion’s says he was turned “nearly 200 years ago”).

1492 DR - 1300 DR

Total Years passed since Astarion’s birth

460 NR - 129 NR = 331 1492 DR - 1161 DR

460 NR - 229 NR = 231 1492 DR - 1261 DR

CONCLUSIONS

If we consider 129 NR for his birth, Astarion was 139yo when he was turned. A young elf, socially adult also for the Elven culture/society, in his prime, as he himself says. However, until Larian/Stephen Rooney don't confirm it, it remains a supposition! The two different calendars would also answer to the doubts about the year in which Cazador became a Vampire Lord and the year in which he turned Astarion, since at the current time the latter would have happened before the former.

Current supposed dates Cazador becoming a Vampire Lord 1276 DR Astarion becoming a Vampire Spawn (1)268 DR Probably correct dates As stated above, 268 NR is 1300 DR.

Cazador becoming a Vampire Lord 1276 DR Astarion becoming a Vampire Spawn 1300 DR

So -if all this is right, again- Cazador turned Astarion 24 years after becoming a vampire Lord.

[Sorry for any grammar horror, mistake, weird English. Not my native language! I'll correct it with time :D] Are you curious about what "Astarion" might mean? Take a look to my analysis through the Lord of the Rings Elven Languages!

[sanyu-thewitch05]

I don’t know if this info is summarized or if it’s just directly from the game text, but I’m going to assume it’s from the game text. Which brings me to my first point,

Tw: Eating Disorder mention, Calorie counting.

Does Rollo have an eating disorder?

Since Rollo is a pretty powerful mage, I’m going to assume his needed calorie intake is on the higher end of the spectrum, which would be 3,155 calories. With Rollo’s current diet he’s getting 592.4 calories per day.

I got these calculations by looking up the amount of calories with the food mentioned.

Two croissants(assuming he’s eating medium sized ones and eating plain croissants, so give or take a few off the number): would be 462 calories. One plain croissant is 231 so multiply the number by two.

One grape is 3.4 calories. Multiply that number 16 to get 54.4 calories.

Finally a cafe au lait is 76 calories.

Add that all together and you get 592.4 calories. Which is way less than he supposedly needs. This gets me into the ED theory. Btw, this is all speculation!

Rollo hasn’t been eating enough because he’s depressed about his brother’s death.

This theory is self explanatory. Grief affects people in different ways and different periods of time. He may just feel like eating what makes him happy instead of what he really needs.

2.Rollo has some form of an eating disorder that manifested after his brother’s death.

It could be that if Rollo does have an eating disorder it works in tandem with his self hatred. Plus, his supposed eating disorder could be sort of a “I deserve it. I deserve to suffer like this.” type of thing. Like a form of self punishment for what happened to his brother.

Also, I don’t have an eating disorder myself despite fasting(I just wanted to get that out of the way in case someone found the ask I answered where I said I’m fasting to lose weight). So I don’t really know what type of eating disorder Rollo has or if it’s ednos.

[wehaveagathering]

39 Polls until Flyers Hockey Returns: #24

From September 2nd until October 11, I’m counting down to the season opener with a daily poll asking you to predict an aspect of the Flyers’ season. Relevant stats will be below the poll. Polls will be open for one week, and posted at 12 noon EST every day.

September 17: Nick Seeler days until Flyers hockey!

STATS In the 2023-24 season, Nick Seeler blocked 205 shots in 71 games played. Colton Parayko led the league with 218 in 82 games.

Reblog with a specific answer in the tags for a shoutout at the end of the season if you get it right. Happy guessing!

Day 25 / All polls