#at least a month i'm just not gonna worry about writing at all and we'll see how it goes after that

[jaggededges123]

i'm going on hiatus for a little bit again after fiab XD just so y'all are aware

[raphael-angele]

Nico Protection Squad

WARNING: Use of hateful slur

Nico, coming home from school with Percy: Hey, Reyna. Hey, Jason.

Reyna: Hey, Nico.

Jason: Hey, Buddy

Percy: Hey, guys. Uh, Nico, why don't you go to your room and rest. We need to talk.

Nico: Mkay. *leaves*

Percy: Make sure to do your homework, alright?

Nici: Uh huh!

Reyna: What happened?

Jason: Is he okay?

Percy: ...we need to call the team

---Later---

At one of their rooms:

Percy: Good day, everyone. I know it's late and it's unusual for me to call a meeting at this time but this is an emergency

Annabeth: But first, an attendance check. Annabeth? Here. Bianca?

Hazel: Oh, she comes back next week

Annabeth: Ok. Jason? Here. Thalia? Here. Percy? Here. Hazel? Here. Piper? Here. Reyna? Here. Will? Here. Grover? Here. Leo? Here. Frank? Here. And Mr. D? Present! Ok, that should be everyone. Take it away Percy

Percy, clearing his throat: Okay, I need you guys to swear that you will not go berserk right after this and you will remain seated until we have a plan.

Everyone:

Percy: So, I was picking up Nico from class. On the drive back, he...

Hazel: He what?

Percy: He...asked me what a faggot was.

Everyone:

Thalia: WHAT THE FUCK?!?!

Will: Is he okay?!

Hazel: Where did he even learn that from?!

Jason: Did someone call him that?!?!?

Reyna: WHO THE HELL WOULD CALL HIM THAT?!?!?

Leo: Every single douchebag in school, of course!

Piper: You think they'd learn their lesson after the first time

Percy: *gavels* Order! Order!

Grover: I think we're all missing the point here. How's Nico doing?

Percy: He's fine. I asked him where he knew the word from. He said someone was calling him that, a couple of students a year above him apparently.

Frank: What happened then?

Percy: I asked him if he knew their names. He didn't and he asked me again what it meant.

Will: What did you say?

Percy: I didn't answer. There was a McDonalds right there and I went for it. He took the bait and has been quiet for the whole car ride.

Grover: So...what do we do?

Leo: OH! *raises his hand* WE'LL SET THEIR LOCKERS ON FIRE!

Thalia: I think what Grover meant was what do we do for now? We don't know these guys, and we don't know how much it's affecting Nico.

Reyna: Thalia's right. We need to have a plan to protect Nico and catch these bastards.

Annabeth: Percy and I already thought about it.

Percy: Introducing the Pick up/Drop off Nico Chart. We each get a schedule of when to pick him up, and when to drop him off

Annabeth: And to make sure we catch these guys, we think it would be best to see Nico off to his classrooms or at least the building.

Thalia, raising her hand: Uhm-

Percy: Don't worry. We adjusted it for times you guys are away. Which is why we used magnets to represent us. See? I'm the water droplet, Annabeth's the owl, Grover's the goat, Leo's the fire, you're the tree, Hazel's the-

Annabeth: They get it, Percy. All in favor of the chart say aye

Everyone, raises their hand: Aye!

Leo: So how are we gonna get back at these guys?

Jason: We could tell them off to the dean

Percy: You'd suggest that, wouldn't you, Mr. Goody Two Shoes?

Piper: I can charmspeak them to do embarassing stuff

Percy: Eh, we need something more

Annabeth: I'm writing that one down, it sounds funny

Mr D.: I am the God of Insanity. I can just drive them crazy.

Annabeth: Mr. D, no.

Percy: Not a bad idea though. I'm writing it down.

Will: Wait. I think I figured out another problem

Percy: What is it, Will?

Will: Who tells Bianca?

Everyone:

Percy: ...all in favor of keeping this a secret from Bianca, say aye?

Everyone, terrified: Aye!

Will: Whu- Percy, no. Remember that time you didn't tell her about how you accidentally destoryed Nico's mythomagic cards and made him sad for nearly a month?

Percy: *shivers* I still get nightmares from that.

Annabeth: Fine. Who tells her?

Everyone: *looks at Reyna and Thalia*

Reyna: No

Thalia: Absolutely not.

Mr. D: Hang on. If Bianca is so terrifying, why not just give the guys to her?

Percy: Mr. D, although that's a tempting plan, there is no telling what Bianca will do to those guys if we let her get near them.

Mr. D: She can't be THAT scary.

Everyone: Yes, she can.

Percy: With what she did to me? She might as well have sent me to Tartarus!

Frank: Gods, what did she do to him?

Annabeth: She took away all the blue in our apartment and replaced them with orange.

Percy: It took a month before she put them back! There was no blue food for a month!

[jackhues]

ferrari?! - charles leclerc

request: hii I loved your wolff!reader x charles ig concept could you please write more of them<33

requested by: anon : )

notes: trying out some new things, hope you guys like it, and pls don't be silent readers!! thanks for requesting <3

join my f1 taglist!

part one

pictures are not mine!

y/nwolff

liked by scuderiaferrari, lucawolff, pierregasly & others

y/nwolff - charles has got dad's approval, ferrari on the other hand... also, luca's a pain, i don't recommend having older brothers. check out the full video on my youtube! tagged lucawolff

pierregasly: did you guys take him on vacation to tell him?? -> y/nwolff: we needed him to be a little bit happy. i had no idea how he was going to react

lucawolff: older brothers are goated -> y/nwolff: i'd like to return mine

y/nisqueen: the pinky promise 🥺 liked by y/nwolff

charles_leclerc: so am i allowed to be in his vision or will he destroy me on sight?? -> y/nwolff: you can be in his vision lmaoo -> charles_leclerc: really? -> lucawolff: don't listen to her, she's lying -> y/nwolff: go away luca! but just to be on the safe side charlie, you should probably be near me so that his (nonexistent) anger dies down -> charles_leclerc: this isn't boosting my confidence -> userone: charlie 🥺🥺

usertwo: this is the toto content we signed up for!

userthree: luca and y/n are the best siblings on this app, love them!!

userfour: bestie, when's the new music coming?? liked by y/nwolff -> y/nwolff: we'll see 🤭

conangray: why is this the funniest thing i've ever seen?? liked by y/nwolff -> oliviarodrigo: it's true, he hasn't stopped laughing for twenty minutes

f1newsandmore

liked by userone, usertwo, userthree & others

f1newsandmore: Toto Wolff and Charles Leclerc spotted before the race. After the video of Toto reacting to his daughter, Y/N Wolff, dating Charles Leclerc, we're all dying to know just exactly what this conversation was about. tagged charles_leclerc, y/nwolff

userone: toto explaining to charles that he's not good enough for y/n while he's with ferrari -> usertwo: and charles zoning out the second he heard y/n's name liked by charles_leclerc

userthree: i'm so invested in this entire thing -> userfour: aren't we all??

y/nwolff

liked by mercedesamgf1, lewishamilton, oliviarodrigo & others

y/nwolff: dad, i promise i'm still a mercedes girl 📷 : charles_leclerc 🤍

lucawolff: says she's a mercedes girl, tags a ferrari boy -> y/nwolff: if you took the pictures like i asked, you'd get the creds

charles_leclerc: the ferrari bracelet is saying otherwise -> y/nwolff: charles!! shh!! -> userone: LMAO! y/n's fighting for her life and charles out here exposing her

lewishamilton: mercedes >> ferrari -> y/nwolff: LOUDER FOR THE PPL IN THE BACK!

landonorris: mclaren >>> -> y/nwolff: boo 👎👎

y/nisqueen: YOU LOOK STUNNING! liked by y/nwolff -> y/nwolff: mwah 🥰

y/nwolff has posted on their story!

caption: 🤍

charles_leclerc

liked by lucawolff, conangrey, pierregasly & others

charles_leclerc: date night! (with toto's approval) tagged y/nwolff

y/nwolff: can't believe you didn't post the vid of me throwing you in the water -> charles_leclerc: i need to at least try and look cool on social media love -> userone: no one cares if you look cool! we wanna see the vid! liked by y/nwolff -> y/nwolff: don't worry, i gotchu -> charles_leclerc: i'm concerned -> lucawolff: no one told you to vote yes when she asked if she should make a yt channel -> charles_leclerc: y/n literally told me to -> lucawolff: this is where being a simp gets you -> y/nwolff: get out of my bf's comments or i'll post the vids from your last bday party -> userone: I LOVE THIS!

lucawolff: is no one gonna ask for my approval??! -> y/nwolff: no -> lucawolff: rude -> charles_leclerc: you literally covered for us for months, the approval had been given -> lucawolff: oh yeah -> usertwo: lmaoo luca tryna start shit but it didn't work!

userthree: time to pack my bags and sleep on the highway

userfour: they're so cute!

userfive: god, when will it be my turn?? 😭😭

part one

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for wanting a material thing rather than an experience for my college graduation gift, and being upset I still don't have it?

I skimmed through some other AITA posts to prepare me to write this one properly, and saw someone use the term "validation bait." I bring that up because I fear this post may read like that once all is said and done, but I genuinely am worried my perspective might be skewed. I encourage you to enter "Reddit Mode" if you decide to reply after your judgement with additional context and feel the need to be blunt.

Background context: I have an older sibling who graduated before me during the beginning of COVID. While his gift was delayed as a result, we as a family (three children one father) ended up going to Disney World, NASA, and Universal Orlando in 2021 to celebrate his accomplishment. It was a great trip, aside from the horrific humidity and the hurricane that just barely missed us. Later on, I asked my sibling if that was what he actually wanted to do, and he said our father proposed some ideas because he didn't really have any and Florida sounded like a good idea to him. My asking this will make sense later, but putting it here seems the most logical.

Additionally, it may be important to know that my father goes on a lot of trips. At least, more than anyone I've personally known. I'm not gonna try to calculate the exact number, but I will say in the span of less than a year (after the family Florida trip), he went to both Canada and Mexico for a week each, on top of additional excursions to Florida and Vegas-- almost all also including bringing his girlfriend. At the same time, he claimed assistance with college tuition was out of his budget, started having me pay rent on a part time job, and told my younger sibling fixing the AC in their car would cost too much as well. Even I know something doesn't add up here, but maybe I'm taking it too personally. End background context.

Fast forward to spring of 2023, and it's my turn to graduate college. Here's the thing: my brother was asked at least a year in advance to his graduation what he would like to do. I wasn't asked; I had to bring it up myself, and I waited until my graduation was only two months out. It was also over a phone call, because my father was out of town for at least the fifth time that year already. I dropped the hint that, for my graduation present, I would really like to get a nice gaming desktop. My father's response was, "... We'll see." Later on, he elaborated through text stating, "I took everybody to florida because i think graduations should be more about memories than what material thing you can get out of your dad."

Here's the thing: it's no secret to my dad that I'm a gamer, and I like video games. Additionally, it's no secret that a gaming desktop is something I have wanted for a decade. Even since middle school I've talked about gaming desktops and how much I wanted one. Even so, I happily played games like Saints Row III on a laptop that chugged along at 12 frames per second and took every crash in stride. I also thought that this kind of gift would be a relief to my dad, as my thought process was it would be far less expensive than taking an entire family somewhere out of the state for a week. Not only that, but there wasn't really anywhere I wanted to go. I don't have the desire to travel like he does; I don't mind taking my time off at home or locally, and relaxing with the things I have rather than spending a ton on a fancy dinner or hotel or concert.

So, naturally, I was confused, dismayed, and heartbroken. While I started crafting a text response explaining why a gaming desktop would not just be for personal use, but would also be advantageous for my career (my degree was in animation and I learned surface level coding for making video games), I also wondered why it was wrong for me to want a "material thing" even if it wasn't something necessarily "useful." Because while, yes, a gaming desktop would have the power I needed for more intensive animation projects, that wasn't really why I wanted one. But I figured explaining as such would help convince my dad why it was a good idea.

My dad ended up calling me before I could finish crafting my text, so I did my best to explain my standpoint, as well as pointing out how the specs for a gaming desktop are pretty much parallel with the specs for a desktop for things like 3D rendering and animation. He stood his ground on "making memories" as well, and also hinted that I was acting entitled for asking about my graduation present. I think I pointed out to him how he asked my older brother far in advance what he wanted for his graduation, but those details of the conversation are a little faded with time. I did end up sending my text after that phone call anyway, as I felt it better explained what I was thinking and feeling than I could say in verbal conversation (I've always gotten a little flustered talking to my dad about things I want that he doesn't approve of).

Fortunately, after reading my text, my father seemed to come around, and invited me to put together a list of parts for my computer, since I wanted to build it. I got really excited and got the help of my computer-savvy friend to put together something I thought was reasonable-- it had a really good graphics card and processor, and I made compromises on some of the other parts to lower the cost. I haven't looked at the list in a while, but the total cost-- tower, two mid-range monitors, basic keyboard and mouse-- was something like 2.5k approaching 3k. Mid range (at least, it is these days) I think, but it would be enough for the things I wanted to do.

I put the list together, and emailed it to my dad. The assumption I had, was he would purchase the parts, and then we would build it together (or I would build it alone). However, later on I went to ask him if he had gotten my email, and while he said yes, he also said, "I'm not paying for the whole thing. I can't afford it, and it's not fair to spend more on you as an individual than what I spent on your brother as an individual for the Florida trip."

I find the latter point somewhat fair considering I'm the only person who benefits from this gift, but the first point, given the background context on my father's habits, I'm not sure how much I believe. But arguing with him would have been pointless. I definitely would have liked to have had that information beforehand, but it ultimately didn't change much.

This is getting long, so I'll try to summarize the rest. This was just the first instance of my father changing the goal posts for my graduation gift. First, he tried to convince me that getting a prebuilt tower would be just as good. I did the research, and a tower with the graphics card I wanted would have cost as much as building my own tower and buying a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, and still not have been as good in other specs anyways. Then, he tried to tell me he was only going to give me $1000 towards the computer. I pointed out paying for my older sibling for the Florida trip would have cost at least $1500-- if I hadn't done the research, I wouldn't have known any better and just blindly agreed. Then, two days after my graduation, he stated that he wasn't going to give me the money for the computer until I had secured a full time job.

At that point, I just gave up, and agreed.

Fast forward to now. I'm still working the part time job, I barely make enough to put a couple dollars into savings, no one is hiring me full time, and my dad hinted that, instead of doing presents for Christmas this year, we all agree to go on vacation somewhere. Not only that, but his family in Canada just told him they're going to Mexico in November. Not only is my dad implying we should go too and I should pay a portion of my own way, I have a further feeling he may say that this will be our Christmas as well. I still don't have the computer, even though my dad has noticed how much I'm struggling.

If I had the computer, I wouldn't have minded the vacation-- but I feel like my wants and feelings have been completely pushed aside in favor of what my dad thinks is good and/or right, and the wind has been taken out of my sails regarding my graduation entirely. On the other hand, maybe he's right that I focus too much on a material thing and should redirect my attention to an experience and go somewhere to relax/get away from daily life.

Am I a materialistic asshole?

What are these acronyms?

[peachhcs]

THE NEW BREAKUP TIMELINE!!

hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will)

after some consideration, i'm changing the breakup timeline for our lovely friends samy and will!!! wooohooo!! (because let's be real, could i really drag it out that long? no.) i've bulleted everything that's changed, so take a read and see what's new!! i will be writing bigger fics for the major points so don't worry, but if there's any bullets you want expanded into a fic or blurb, let me know!!

i will still keep the previous breakup timeline fics up, we'll just pretend some of it doesn't exist and it's like a parellel universe to the au lmao. the charm bracelet still does exist btw!! but yay!! enjoy new samy and will timeline!! i just love them so much i couldn't drag it out more, so i changed it up!! also yes will's new post may have influenced this decision as well :))

au masterlist

will breaks up with samy a few days after they get back from worlds (end of May) 

will signs with the san jose sharks (end of May) 

samy and will don’t speak for the month of June (the longest they’ve gone without talking)

will goes to the bauer combine where he talks to this girl in hopes of getting his mind off samy, but it doesn’t work because when he makes a joke that the girl doesn’t laugh at because only samy gets, will realizes it’s all wrong and he shouldn’t have broken up with her 

this highkey makes him spiral hard because he realizes how big of a mistake he made 

he panic calls gabe and ryan in hopes that they’ll tell him what to do 

gabe and ryan tell him that he needs to talk to her!! 

will’s scared to reach back out because what if samy doesn’t want to talk to him (rightfully so)  

he goes back home for a bit where he confides in grace and his mom (for once!!) 

they tell him that he should reach out if he wants it’s really up to him, but he needs to realize he lost all of samy’s trust because of what he did and said, so she may not warm up to him as quickly or easily 

meanwhile, samy sees all the content of will at the combine which makes her happy and sad at the same time 

happy because he’s experiencing all these things and meeting so many new people, but sad because she misses him and wishes they worked something out between them or at least talked more before will made that decision

she doesn’t reach out though. too scared and not wanting to distract him from working on all his media things 

another week passes and now it’s july which means the smith + hughes family vacation is coming up!! 

(i said will would skip out on this, but i’m changing it so he does end up showing up) it’s the first time they’ve seen one another since the breakup so two months 

they’re kind of awkward and avoid each other at first because they’re only really there because their parents forced them to be 

samy hangs around on the deck or anywhere away from the boys because she knows wherever her brothers are, will is there 

(jack, quinn, and luke are like lowkey still pissed at will, but they cool off a bit when they talk to him about it more and see that he really regrets it and wants to get back together) 

on the third day, samy and will can’t keep avoiding each other. they’re the only ones awake one night after a long day going out and about with everyone 

will approaches samy first when he finds her down on the dock just sitting by herself 

they talk some awkward small talk before getting into the meat of everything 

in short, will admits he messed up, he was just scared of the distance and not being good enough for her because he’s gonna be so far away once summer’s over and he doesn’t want to hold her back from anything 

samy half forgives him, but tells him she wishes he talked to her more. basically, will’s going to have to work to get her trust back and he definitely knows that, so they decide to start back as friends before jumping into anything

after that talk, the rest of the vacation is less awkward and they slowly warm back up to one another which the parents are happy to see 

the smiths go back to boston after the vacation, so samy and will don’t see one another again until the end of july/beginning of august when will’s move out is coming up  

they still talk a bit over text though 

(the farewell party is a bit different now and will knows they’re coming instead of finding out the morning before and they talk at the party again. another mini reunion again) 

samy talks with gabe and ryan privately later that day about her and will. 

once the party’s over, samy and her family and the guys stay back for a bit and they all just hang out like old times

later that night, will gets samy alone again. they make cute little small talk which leads to will asking samy to fly out to california with him to help him move in like they always talked about 

she agrees and so they’re all flying out that next week  

they spend that whole weekend decorating will’s apartment and making it “him” 

the day before samy flies back home to start her own pre season camps for soccer, will takes a chance and takes samy out on a date 

it’s like they never even broke up in the first place on that date 

by the end of the night, will asks samy if they could try again and he promises he won’t fuck it all up again 

samy agrees and they get back together with the promise that the distance doesn’t matter no matter what happens!! 

[wrenwinchester]

So, I started writing this snippet back in December, and it started based on the whole “and when dad came home…” line from Dean in season five. Obviously. I’m not sure if this will be included in my actual fic, but my timeline is that this happens when Sam is 11, since I couldn’t find a canon age. This is unedited, though I did read through it the other day, and it’s definitely painting John in a harsh light.

I don’t know that this fits all characteristics of how I see them, but like I said it’s unedited and I’m gonna stop stalling and just let you read if you so choose. Happy 4th of July.

TW: child abuse, canon typical violence,

Word count: 4,330

Flagstaff

Sam 11, Millie 13, and Dean 15 (we don't have a canon age for when he ran off.)

"Why do you guys have to go this time? And why can't Dean and I come too?"

Dean's head snaps towards Sam before he looks at me. And I try to hide the worry in my face, and ignore the tension growing in my shoulders as I turn away from the bag I'm packing.

Sammy's voice isn't scared, he's frustrated. I don't blame him. I'm just as tired of this shit as he is.

"Dad told you why. He needs Dean to work on research for that other case, and Dean hates doing stuff by himself. Besides. It's a simple salt and burn, we'll be a week, tops." I smile at him, hoping it's reassuring as I reach up to ruffle his hair. When did I start having to reach up to the top of his head? At least he's still shorter than me. Even if only barely.

I shake my head. And Sam deflates, going to mope in the other room. Fucking preteens, man. Goddamn. I give Dean a look of sympathy. I know he'd rather be the one going on this hunt, hell, I'd rather stay here with Sam.  At least then I'd only have to worry about one brother.

"Mills, if you don't finish packing, Dad is going to be pissed when he gets back." I nod, Dean's eyes promising me they'd be okay.

The door opens, and despite everything I tell myself, my body freezes.

"You ready to go?" Dad's voice is gruff, and I flinch as the door slams behind him. Sam comes back into the main room, ready to fight before Dean gives him a look.

I nod stiffly, not trusting myself. Unlike either of my brothers, I know what this hunt is actually about. And it's not just another hunt, but God do I wish it was.

Dad is using me as bait.

He's using me as bait, and I can't fucking tell my brothers.

"Sam, you'll be fine. Just listen to Dee, and stay out of trouble." I smile at him, reassuringly. He just nods sadly.

"Sam." Dad's voice is harsh as he says the name, and Dean and I both ready to jump in if necessary. "Stop throwing a fit over every little detail." The quiet that sweeps over the room is thick. "If you needed to be on this hunt, you would be." Sam flinches at the words, and I just want to stay and hold him.

But I can't.

Dad has already left the room, so I have to trail behind him.

I glance between my brothers before I walk out the door. Dean can handle Sammy. He always has.

...

Unsurprisingly, the hunt took longer than a week. Hell, it took almost a month, Dad ran me ragged, keeping me up late in the night figuring out what it was, because it sure as hell wasn't a ghost. (I'm still not sure what it was.) Dean had called at some point, but we were busy, and Dad yelled at me for trying to answer it. That was a week ago. I haven't heard from either of my brothers since, but frankly it was weirder that we'd gotten a call from Dean at all.

It had me worried.

But now we're on our way back to the motel where we left the boys at.

"Millicent, stop bouncing." Dad's voice is harsh, and I force my legs to hold still.

My finger starts tapping. "What was that thing, Dad?" I ask trying to distract myself from everything that could have gone wrong with my brothers.

"An Okami, they're rare in the states, 'cording to Bobby, but it stayed down, so guess we did something right." He's demeanor is so calm. It pisses me off, how can he not even be concerned about the lack of communication from Sam and Dean. I rub the bandage on my arm nervously, at least I'll see them soon.

"Interesting, why do you think there's one here now?" At least if he's talking I can pretend to be focused on that.

"No idea kiddo, but it's gone now." He reaches over to ruffle my hair, and I let him, if only because I don't want his mood to sour. "Get some rest, we've still got a couple hours 'til we're back with your brothers.

I nod and turn towards the window, watching as the sun sets and stars come out. Wishing more than anything that we were with my brothers right now.

I must have fallen asleep shortly after, because the car is now pulling into the motel parking lot.

Before Dad even has the car in park, I jump out of passenger seat, ignoring the cut in my side as it pulls from the movement.

Dad shakes his head in amusement, as I rush to the door, knowing I'll have to wait at least 5 minutes for him to get our bags and get over here with the key, but I'm too impatient.

Thankfully, I don't have to wait that long, I don't even have to do the knock. Dean opens the door, and within a second, I've wrapped my arms around his neck, and out of sheer habit, he lifts me up to swing me around.

I wince despite wanting to enjoy this rare show of affection, and Dean quickly sets me down on the sidewalk.

"Are you okay?" He asks, worry in his eyes.

I nod, "yeah, just a small cut. I'm fine." I don't mention the stitches dad had to put in, or the cut on my arm, as I check Dean over. Usually when Dad takes just Sam or I on a hunt or to practice, Dean seems healthier, at least more rested.

Dean's only response is to nod back, before turning his attention to Dad.

"Dad?" He calls out, his voice small and scared. I started to worry. Dad had looked up from the trunk of the impala, and I didn't like the look in his eye. I went into the hotel room, I didn't need to be out there, for this conversation, and I'd missed Sam too.

I checked all the rooms for Sam, but I couldn't find him. Dean wouldn't have let Sam go off on his own. I glance back towards the door as the realization dawns on me.

Sam is gone, and Dean is telling Dad right now.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Not two seconds later, Dad is storming into the motel room, Dean following behind earnestly.

"WHY THE FUCK DID YOU LET HIM GO OFF ON HIS OWN?" His voice is harsh, and once the door is closed, my heart starts beating fast. I try to step in between them, but Dad pushes me out of the way on to the floor. My heart is beating faster, and panic is setting in as I watch, disoriented from the floor.

Dad's hand is... it's wrapped around Dean's throat. De.. Dean is struggling to breathe, I can see it in his face. I try to stand up, dizzy and disoriented, I probably have a concussion now, but that's every other week at this point.

"Dad. Dad!" I rush across the room, throwing myself on Dad's arm, trying to get in-between. "Dad! You're going to kill him!" My voice is harsh, I've never been more scared. As I'm pulling on his arm to get him to set Dean down, I look in his eyes.

"Dad, please!" I'm pleading with him now, but I'd do anything to get him to stop. When he finally looks at me. He lets go of Dean, who then falls to the floor. He brings up his hand, slapping me across the face.

"He lost your brother! The Hell am I supposed to do?" He quickly turns back to Dean, moving on to wailing on him, not hard enough where people would see the bruises when Dean went back to school, but still. My heart breaks more than it ever has.

"Dad! It's not his fault!" I just wanted it all to stop, and he just hits me once in the stomach, hard enough to put me out of commission for a while.

"Enough!" Dean's also out of commission for at least a week, but Dad walks out of the motel. I don't really care where he's going, I'm just glad that he's gone for a while, and assume he's going to look for Sam, or to a bar. Probably a bar.

I crawl over to Dean.

"Dee?" My voice is strained, and I'm pretty sure I have a broken rib or two, and the cut on my side is definitely reopened.

"Are you okay, Millie?" his voice is hoarse, and I can't believe that he is asking if I'm okay, when Dad almost killed him.

"ME? What about you?" I let out a dry chuckle, "Dad almost killed you."

I'll be fine, it's nothing that hasn't happened before." He looks away from me as he says it, his voice barely above a whisper, not to mention the fact he all but lost it from Dad choking him.

My eyes soften, as my heart breaks into smaller pieces. "I knew about the hitting, that's nothing new, but he's choked you out before?" tears start welling in my eyes, and I don't mention the ones I see in his. He just nods. "Oh, Dee." I try to lean against his shoulder, but wince as the cut pulls, reminding me of reality.

"You sure you're okay Millie?" Dean asks, more like coughs.

I try to nod reassuringly, but the sting in my side has gotten worse, and my hand reaches up to grab it. "Shit." Frankly, we should both be going to the hospital, but we both know that's going to happen, and it's not even really an option.

Dean glances down to where my hand is gripping my side, and his eyes widen as he sees the blood starting to show through my shirt. Double shit.

I try to move, but I can't, it just makes it worse.

"Shit. Millie. What the hell?" Dean asks, he struggles to stand, but once he's up, he carefully lifts me up.

"Dean. Put me down. I'm fine." I try to push away from him, but everything in me wants to just close my eyes.

"No, you're not." He sets me on the bed. "Let me see it." It's not a request, but I roll my eyes, trying not to pass out as I do.

"Dean, I walked a mile out of the woods with this, then rode in the car for half an hour before Dad put the stitches in. I'll be fine for a few minutes." I hadn't meant to tell him what happened, especially not how long I'd been bleeding for, but nonetheless, it came out. Stupid delirium.

He looks at me in shock as I continue, "I mean, I didn't have a double concussion, or a broken rib, but still."

"Fuck, Millicent, what the fuck." He stares at me a second more before turning to my wound. Finally, I let him pull my shirt up to look at it. I hadn't checked it since last night, but it was fine. "Shit, Millie." he looked up at my face. I tried to ignore the rasp in his voice, it just made me angrier at Dad, and the last thing I needed was an increase in blood pressure. "I'm going to have to restitch this, and it's going to hurt like hell. Do you know which side the broken rib is? Can you tell?"

"Y-yeah," I sound breathless, and it's hard to breath. I remind myself it's nothing new, and it's not the first time I've had broken ribs. "At least one on both sides. I-I think."

"Motherfucker." Dean sighs. He shouldn't be the one doing this, but there's no one else I would really let. The only reason I let Dad was because I was too far from Dean, and I couldn't do it myself. "Okay, stay awake. I'm going to grab the first aid kit. Can you tell me what happened on the hunt? Or do you want me to tell you a story?"

He got up as he was talking, and I started to panic. "Y-you." my breathing is labored, and I think I'm in shock a little, because the reality of what just happened is just now hitting me. I shake my head. "Tell.. tell me why Sam took off, an-- and when." I say, trying to control my breathing.

When Dean comes back with the kit, he has me lay down on my left side, the side without the cut. I focus solely on Dean's voice as he talks, watching his hands move rhythmically as he sews up the cut in my side. The next few weeks are going to suck ass.

Dean tells me about a small fight he and Sam got in after Dad and I had been gone longer than a week. I nod in understanding, followed by a wince as he pulls my skin together with the floss. It wasn't the first time Sam lashed out when a hunt didn't go as planned.

Dean continues, saying Sam seemed to calm down after that, and it wasn't until a little over a week ago that Sam ran off. That's when he called. He tried to find him for a couple days before he called, but Sam never came back, and he couldn't find him.

"It's probably the most stress I've ever felt, until you guys came home, and I had to tell Dad." his voice feels distant, farther away than it should, and I can't tell if it's because I'm falling asleep, or if his voice is just that far gone.

Not long after that, he has me sit up. "This is going to suck worse, but if you're right, and you do have broken ribs, we have to wrap them." I sigh, wincing as I do, before nodding.

After I'm all patched up, and I can breathe again, I check Dean over for any open wounds, or anything, but there's nothing to patch up.

"I told you, I'm fine. You need to rest." He gets me to lay back down about an hour after he was done fixing me.

"We need to find Sam." I'm pacing now, grateful for my older brother who always watches out for me, but in this moment, I'm focusing on the fact that Sam has been missing for over a week. "Did you check the library? or the I don't know, is the county fair happening?" I ask, I know it's around that time of year, and Dean just nods.

"We're not going to find him in the next few hours, and we both are going to collapse if we don't get some rest. Come on." He practically pulls me to one of the two beds, and I reluctantly follow. He tucks me in, humming "Hey Jude" like Mom used to do before moving to sleep on the other bed.

"Where are you going?" I ask confused, it's almost never a question on whether or not he and I share a bed, hell we still occasionally all three share a bed.

"Millie Wren, you have at least two broken ribs, and a hole in your side," he sounds flabbergasted as he says it, "I'm not risking hurting you in our sleep."

"Dee, please. You know I don't sleep without sharing a bed with someone." That gets him, and he rolls his eyes.

"Dammit Wren, It's not my fault if you get hurt." I smile because for once he actually sounds like a brother, so I just nod in agreement.

A few minutes later, with the lights off, and both of us comfortable in the bed, Dean says, "are you still awake?" I turn my head to face him.

"It's only been five minutes, of course I'm awake." I tease, but even in the dark, I can see the seriousness of the conversation he wants to have.

"We can't tell Sam what Dad did when he found out. It was my job to protect him and I failed, it makes sense, and you know that getting in between makes things worse, it was bound to happen. It makes complete sense why Dad did what he did. He's scared of losing us like we lost Mom." I nod in agreement.

"You're right. Dad's reasons make sense, and We need to protect Sam." He nods and we both turn to look up at the ceiling instead. It's one of those popcorn ceilings, the textured ones. "You know I'm always going to step in right?" I ask him after a minute, and I feel his eyes turn to me as I talk. "You're not the only one instructed to protect their siblings, and that includes you. Besides, I can handle the yelling, the beating, as long as it's directed at me. You and Sam... You guys are my weaknesses."

"I really wish you wouldn't, but I understand why you will." With that comment, the conversation ends as we both know we have an understanding.

The next morning comes quickly, and movement is quickly stifled by pain and stiffness throughout my body. As I sit up, I glance over towards Dean's side of the bed, he's still sleeping, understandably so. Yesterday was one of the rougher days we've had. I glanced over to the other bed, it was untouched, Dad hadn't been back. I just hoped he was looking for Sammy rather than sitting passed out in a bar somewhere.

I slowly move towards the bathroom, the last time I'd been was like 18 hours ago. My mind wanders to Sam, what he's doing right now, if he's safe or not, and what Dad's reaction is going to be when he finds him. I shudder at the last thought before I remember that despite his loud opposition of Dad's orders, he is the golden child.

It takes me a while in the bathroom, literally every muscle in my body aches, I carefully lift up my shirt after I wash my hands, and I see the huge bruise on my left side and back from where Dad threw me on the floor. I sigh.

By the time I slowly walk out of the bathroom Dean is up, and we are ready to go look for Sam.

A couple more days pass by before Dad finally comes back, without Sam. Shit.

He's calmer now, and I can't smell any alcohol, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been drinking. Dean and I are walking on eggshells around him, not knowing what might set him off.

When Dad passes out around 2 that afternoon, a thought occurs to me. "Hey, Dean?" I whisper to avoid waking Dad up. He looks up from the news paper where he is reading for any approximately 11 year old John Does that might have turned up in the past couple weeks, there's nothing. "Isn't Flagstaff around here?" I ask, as an idea forms in my head that I can't believe we didn't think of sooner.

His eyes light up as realization dawns on his face. "Shit, Yeah it is." He looks like his brain is moving a thousand miles a minute. "Holy Fuck, I can't believe we never looked there." He doesn't have to worry about whispering, because even though his voice is mostly back, it's still pretty raspy.

"We have to wake Dad up." I say, anxiety coating my words. "It's the only place that makes sense, and you can't drive the car by yourself.

"Dammit, I hate that you're right." His voice is weary, but somehow less raspy.

"We could wait until he wakes up on his own?" I offer, but we both know it's a bad idea. We'd likely get another beating for waiting to go get Sam from whatever trouble he got himself into. Dean just looks at me. "I know. I know."

"Go to the other room, Millie, I'll wake him up." Dean says, courage building in his voice, but I can hear the fear he's trying to hide.

"No, we're doing this together. I'm not letting you take the heat for this by yourself." I sound a lot more confident than I feel, but Dean doesn't push. Very carefully we wake him up.

Neither one of us gets yelled at, a welcome surprise, instead, he makes both of us get in the car as he drives to Flagstaff. The car is silent the whole ride.

When we get there, Dad instructs Dean and I to stay in the car. We obey. We've gotten whooped enough times this week, we weren't about to open the door to another one.

Dad goes in to a diner in town to check with locals about whether or not they've seen Sam. Dean and I diligently stay put, the silence in the car beginning to get overbearing. Dad talks inside the diner for a good half an hour or more, and just when Dean and I give each other a look considering disobeying orders, I see Sam.

"Dee..." I start.

"Millie, you heard what Dad said--" he started.

"No, Dean, look. It's Sam." I point out his window, and within a second, both of us are jumping out of the car, broken ribs and all, though at this point the cut is mostly healed.

"SAM!" Dean yells across the street. Sammy turns to face us, shock and wonder crossing his face.

"DEE!" he yells, before he sees me behind him. "MILLIE, YOU'RE BACK!!" I smile at him as relief settles over me, at least he's okay. Sam quickly looks both ways before making his way over to Dean and I. Despite his frustration, I can see Dean's relief in the slump of his shoulders and everything about how he's holding himself.

"I swear to God, Sammy, if you ever, and I mean EVER, do something like this again, I'm gonna throttle you myself," Dean says before giving him another hug. Sam knows nothing but empty threats like this, and I know that is all it is.

I hug both my brothers. "If either of you ever disappear on me again, I'm going to beat your asses." I say, before allowing Dean to guide us back to the car.

"Bitches." Dean says, pointing his word at both of us.

"Assholes."

"Fu-" Sam starts, but Dean and I both stare at him, he just rolls his eyes. "Jerks." I smile at the normalcy of just the three of us, until I remember one of us has to go get Dad.

Dean and I shove Sam into the car, not meanly, just making sure he's not going to slip away again before Dean says, "I'll go get Dad." I just shake my head.

"No way, I'll get him, he'll be softer on me, I'll be fine." Dean starts to object, but I cut him off, "Dean, you've taken the brunt of it this week, let me do this, and one of us needs to keep an eye on Sam." Reluctantly, Dean concedes. It's not like Dad is going to beat us in public, and then Sam will be back, so he'll be in a better mood.

Dean gets in the car next to Sammy, and I turn around sighing, it'll be fine. He's not gonna do anything that might cause suspicion from locals. I force myself to relax, before I walk into the diner after my dad.

It looks the same as most other diners I've been in across the country, a row of booths, a row of tables, and the counter. I glance around the room for Dad. I know he's in here somewhere, he has to be.

As I'm scanning the room for the third time, I finally see him, he's hunched over the counter a coffee in his hands as he's just sitting there. Sam's missing and he's sitting there.

Okay, well, Sam's not missing anymore, but he doesn't know that. I shove my anger down, I have to hold the family together, so I cautiously walk to where he's seated halfway across the diner.

"Dad," my voice sounds small, and I watch him fight the urge to snap at me for disobeying.

"Millie," his voice is strained. "I thought I told you to wait in the car?" It's not a question, he's giving me an out. Do other thirteen year olds think about this stuff, are they this cautious around their dads?

"Yes, sir, but Sam came back." I just blurt it out before he can cut me off, before the anger he's so good at pushing down boils over.

A weight seems to lift off of Dad's shoulders. Perhaps relief, perhaps he's no longer grieving his youngest child, perhaps he's just glad he's not in danger or hurt, or dead. "Good. Go wait in the car, I'll be out in a few minutes."

"Yes sir," I nod, turning around (practically in a perfect military style about face, but that's irrelevant). I go back out to the car, and join my brothers in the back seat of the Impala.

"Everything okay, Millie?" Dean asks, the worry lacing his tone only so much that I could tell, but Sam couldn't. Years of training our expressions taught us that one.

"Yeah, he says he'll be out in a few minutes." Dean nods, and we continue to sit in silence.

"Is Dad mad at me?" Sam asks, and my heart breaks. It's not something he should have to worry about. Ever. "I know I shouldn't have run off, I was just so frustrated."

Dean and I share a look before he looks back at Sam, "Dad could never be mad at you, you just scared him. You can't run off without telling anyone, okay?"

"Okay, Dee."

[recurring-polynya]

Writing/Art Update 2.6.2024

I managed to write exactly 4000 words of what I am currently calling Chapter ?10?, which is to say, "the last chapter," however many end up getting squeezed in before it. It's coming along pretty well, and I think the stuff I had planned in the outline is going to fill out the space of one chapter pretty nicely. I had been worried that I was going to write all of this up and it was going to be, like...3000 words total, and I was going to have to come up with some more stuff, but that doesn't seem to be the case. (phew!)

It's a little bit ambitious, but I've set "Finish Chapter ?10?" as my goal for this week. On this project, I have been aiming for 4k words/week, and it's probably going to be more like 5 or 6k, but we'll see!

It's kinda crazy, actually, because I can remember back in October, estimating out the size of what I thought this fanfic was gonna be and saying to myself, "If I can write 4000 words/week, I can finish it around March", which felt like both so many words and so far away, but somehow, it's February, and it's already longer than I thought it would be (finished) and I'm still trying to grind out 4k/wk and it still feels so far away, except that it's still looking like it might be done sometime in the vicinity of March and that's next month. This is definitely the hardest fanfic I have ever written (every fanfic is the new hardest fanfic I have ever written). 0% inspiration, just scraping every one of these words out of the dirt with my fingernails. Astonishingly enough, it's still kinda good. At least, I think it's kinda good. We'll see.

I used most of my daily drawing time this week to work on a combined Kuchiki Sibs birthday drawing. I was feeling pretty good about it until I showed it to my kid and she was like, "Mom, can I give you some constructive criticism?" and then I shriveled up and died, but I don't care, I still like it.

Okay okay okay okay I'm doing this update early today, so I can jump back in and start clocking words for next week, let's gooooooooo

[totaldramafan-lauri]

Looking at the futures of both of us

S-so, with the end of this year's Golden Cheese content, and the empty feeling that comes with the end of all updates I love.....I've been doing some thinking, in order to keep my spirits up. About her, and when we'll be seeing her again....and about the near future of my blog, and what I'm gonna be doing while waiting for that day....

Th-this might be kinda rambly, so...s-sorry if you're not interested....^^;

---

The future of Golden Cheese in CRK

Now....our queen needs to rest. I think that's....p-pretty obvious. X////D Sh-she deserves a nice time away from any action, just.....chilling in her kingdom with Smoked Cheese and the Cheesebirds. After what she went though in Beast-Yeast, I'm sure she doesn't mind not seeing any danger for a while.....

B-but....still, my simp self is gonna get i-impatient, when it comes to waiting to see her again....and I've been thinking about when the earliest that'll be....First off, there's the New Year's event next month, which usually consists of recaps of sorts of all the updates we've had over the year, in the form of portraits that show us short scenes that take place after every story. We MIGHT see her there. It's not guaranteed, like....i-it might also be a scene of the Kulfi talking about what happened, or something....but it COULD happen.

But, then......a-after that....when will be the next time we see her.....? Since she's one of the ancients, chances are, she won't be in any side-stories....It'll have to be the main story, and....

I-I really, really, really hate to say it....but....unless we have a REALLY pleasant surprise......I-I think it's gonna be another year.

Why do I think this....? Cuz....if anyone's seen the 2024-2025 roadmap we got a couple months ago.....Well, here's how Beast Yeast is gonna go. We're gonna complete all the Beast stories through the course of 2025....and then, in early 2026, for the game's fifth anniversary, we're gonna get playable Dark Enchantress. This heavily implies that, for that update, we're gonna be seeing Dark Enchantress summon all the Beasts at once, and the ancients are gonna all come together to stop her. And, that'll be the finale of Beast Yeast, probably.

If that's how things are gonna go, then....yeah, obviously, Golden Cheese is gonna be in that story. We're gonna have all the ancients as a group together for the first time since the prologue, and it's gonna be really cool and stuff.....There is the possibility that she might be sidelined, and that White Lily and Pure Vanilla are gonna get the most focus for obvious reasons, but....I REALLY hope that isn't the case....I hope all the ancients get moments to shine.....

(Also, I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope we get to see her getting in some hits against Dark Enchantress....L-like, c'mon, she deserves it more than ANYONE-)

I-I also hope that, at the end of that story, they at least....mention her going to wake her subjects up....W-we don't need to SEE her wake them up if the story's too busy (altho I would love that), I just need her to mention she's going to.....Cuz, she said she was going to after Dark Enchantress' defeat....I-it's gonna be the best time to hear about that, y'know....? They even slightly allude to the Kulfi maybe being able to help!

So....y-yeah, that's my prediction for when we'll see her again. I'd be MOOOOOORE than happy to be proven wrong. I'd freak the heck out if she popped up somewhere sooner.......but, for now....I-I think this is most realistic.

Sooooo....if we're not gonna get new canon content of her until early 2026......How am I gonna try to keep her fanbase alive throughout 2025....? Well.....

The future of my writing

I-I don't think I need to worry about my interest in her waning any time soon. I've been playing CRK since 2021 and I don't plan on stopping any time soon. I'm deep in the trenches for this game, and at this point, for her, too. I-I THINK the only thing that can make my interest in her wane is if another new cookie shows up that I fall for, which....c-could happen, but it's unlikely.

F-first of all....I still haven't worked up the courage to spread MUOM on Tumblr by putting it in any fandom tags. I-I'm gonna do that soon. I dunno when, but when I do, it'll hopefully bring more interest to it and maybe bring more people to my blog....Right now, I'm thinking.....maybe when it gets its 100 kudos, I'll do it in celebration. Cuz it's at 99 right now....b-but I dunno how long that'll take, so...M-maybe just SOMETIME next month.

Next. there's my self-shipping drabbles. I-I'm gonna keep those going. Both SFW and NSFW. F-following the....er, loving advice of a recent anon, I've realized that....m-maybe I'm leaning too hard on the smut, when I'm still not very good at writing it. I-I wanna keep at it, so that I can get better at it, and also needy sub rights, but...a-also, I wanna bring it back just a little, by writing more SFW stuff too. M-maybe try to explore our dynamic a bit more outside of the smut. I-I already have a few ideas for SFW interactions, so I'll definitely be doing that. I'm more confident in writing fluff than smut, so hopefully this'll strike enough of a...uh, balance, between making more of the stuff I'm best at writing, and trying to improve at the stuff I'm not great at yet.

Finally......th-there's the matter of new big fics for AO3. I-I'm on break from these for now....b-but I think I'm gonna be in the mood to write more of that soon-ish. Like....m-maybe as early as next month (a Christmas gift for my followers, maybe....? Ehh, we'll see. I don't wanna set specific dates...)

L-like I said multiple times before....I have a few X Reader fic ideas rattling around in my head. They're all oneshots, so they won't take up a fraction as much time to write as MUOM did. I-I dunno which one I'll be writing first, so...I-I was thinking of making a poll or something, but....I-I do plan on getting to all of them eventually. I-I wanna fill her tag on AO3 a bit more, after all....a-and, if no one else is doing it, then......"fine, I'll do it myself", y'know? X/////D I-I'll keep going, for her.....cuz she deserves more.....

To give a short summary of each of my ideas: There's one fluff, one smut, one SFW but a bit suggestive in places and also has some angst moments, and one fluff with some angst. The whole spectrum here. X/////D

A-and even when I start writing X Reader again, I'm still gonna write more of the self-ship stuff on the side, cuz it takes less effort, and it'll tide people over while I'm working, I-I hope....

And....yup, that's about it for my plans for the future! H-here's hoping I write plenty throughout 2025 until we see our queen again, and here's hoping those choosing to stick with me throughout the wait continue to engage with me, and that our little corner can keep each other company!

Th-thanks everyone for your support, and I promise you more content soon! ^^

[tame-a-messenger]

It’s so depressing how sad I am over damangela. It’s not like they hang out outside of Smosh (at least from what we know) so we don’t even get content from Instagram or anything. Yes they’ve mentioned each other in videos and stuff but I just wanna see them together again. I know every ask is about how we miss them but I just have to write it somewhere to get it out of my head 🫤

Don't worry this is a Damangela blog! of course everyone is gonna be sad about the Drought!™

I also wish we got some other interaction other than Angela mentioning him in videos... (NOT TO TAKE IT FOR GRANTED !!! I LOVE HER FOR DOING THAT!)

I'm just so sad! I don't think we'll be getting them at all this month! (I really hope I'm wrong and todays upload has them~)

Have this, to help hold you over dear Anon <3 V V V

I hope our sadness ends soon..

[spectrallik]

Specter Learns Guitar, the Hard Way

Big things often start small

I may have made a terrible mistake.

I’m a lifelong keyboardist. Not a great one, but an OK one. And I’m finally comfortable enough with the instrument to write my own music. Just one problem: the kind of music I want to make, the stuff that’s running through my head all the time, is on the dream pop/shoegaze end of post-punk. Keyboardists have a place in dream pop, and some of my favorite dream pop acts like Alvvays and Hatchie prominently feature synths. But any genre that descends from punk rock, even something this far-removed, is still fundamentally a guitarist’s genre. Plus, the songs in my head are on the heavier side like The Joy Formidable - no keyboards there, unless you count getting on your hands and knees and playing your effects pedals like a keyboard.

My synth has guitar tones, but they come nowhere near replicating the real thing. And I have some guitar-playing family members who are willing to help me out, but I don’t really know how to communicate my ideas to a guitar player. They don’t read sheet music, they just play everything by ear. How could I communicate how to play a part, or even what tone I’m going for, when I didn’t really know how a guitar works?

The only halfway decent guitar tone on the Roland Fantom, and it only sounds good after you shove a fuckton of reverb and delay after it.

So, I decided that the only way to get that knowledge was to experience the guitar firsthand. I don’t want guitar to become my main instrument or anything, but I want to at least get comfortable with it. Once I understand how a guitar truly works, it will be much easier to write for it. 

Unfortunately, the guitar I want to get - a G&L Fallout - is backordered for a few months. So, in the meantime, I got a cheapo starter guitar to screw around with and hopefully get some of the basics down. I’ll trade it in for a pedal or something later.

This is the Eastrock 39, and it is a piece of shit. It barely stays in tune, the pickups sound thin and lifeless, and the frets are rough. You have to actively fight this thing to get the strings to ring properly. Some of my tone problems are because I still need to build finger strength, sure, but I’ve read reviews from veteran guitar players that say that this doesn’t play easily. Not great for a supposed “beginner” guitar. On the bright side, it came with a ton of extra stuff that doesn’t suck - a nice guitar bag, beginner picks, a solid capo, audio cables, and luthier tools to replace the strings and adjust the action. It even came with a practice amp, but I live in a studio apartment and have an audio interface for my synth, so I don’t have much use for it. 

So… goals. My first goal is to get the basic chords down, figure out how barres work, and learn ONE simple song. I’m not too worried right now about memorizing the fretboard - I’m not gonna do any solos anytime soon - but I need to understand chords to actually play songs. Luckily, guitar sheet music is more commonly written in an alternate form called tablature that is WAY EASIER TO UNDERSTAND THAN TRADITIONAL NOTATION, HOLY SHIT, WHY ISN’T THERE A VERSION OF THIS FOR PIANO!? I’m still not great at reading sheet music, despite my ClAsSiCaL SuZuKi MeThOd training, but it took all of 5 minutes to pick up TAB.

So, what’s my first song? Well, a few months ago, I got a picture of one of my characters playing air guitar and singing along to a song:

As it turns out, this song - Future Me Hates Me by The Beths - is very beginner friendly. 90% of the rhythm part is the same power chord shape, and the lead guitar part is pretty reserved and minimalistic by Jonathan Pearce standards. Plus, the guitar I'm waiting on is the exact same model that Liz Stokes played on that record. So it should sound perfect, especially once I get a RAT on my pedalboard.

So yeah, we'll see where this goes. I do want to keep track of my progress somewhere, and I'm planning on getting the fuck off Twitter once and for all, so I guess it will go here.

[pt-disconnected]

Minor Announcement + Micro Anon Asks

Okay, so let's start things off with an announcement of mine. No, Disconnected isn't going away, don't worry. I'm not doing that- this is honestly amazing to write and I'm stunned at how many people enjoy it. So this isn't going anywhere for a while.

However, with how Chapter 21 went, I've realized that my method of writing isn't gonna work anymore. I can't just write as I go.

So I've done some thinking and I have a few plot points to work with. Asks will certainly retain the potential to influence the story, but there's going to be certain things I'm working towards- not just writing as I go.

This doesn't mean that I'll get to where I have everything planned out to a T, like how Lynx did at the end of Paper Trail. There's gonna be plans, but ideas may have me shift a bit depending on what I think of it.

I don't want to back myself into a corner again, and I want to retain the quality of the first dozen or so chapters. If I want to do that, I need to make sure I have a path to go down.

So, I've begun to jot down notes in a Google Doc that I'm going to keep private (as it contains IMMENSE spoilers). I may or may not have some method to access it, or bits and pieces of it, down the road. But for now, it's not going to be shared and will be used purely so I can look at it and know what I want to focus on next.

(It also includes all the stuff on the Evil Overlord List that the Knight/Gaster has 100% failed or would fail. Go check that out- it shows you just how dumb lots of antagonists are, and what they have in common. Plus it helps with figuring out how to make a threatening antagonist, with the note of figuring out which things they would fail at to have them be actually possible to defeat. There's multiple iterations of this list, not just the one linked. So definitely take a look at those as well, and tell me what you think Gaster has botched up or would botch up.)

Hopefully, this notes doc will help me get more ideas in the future and make future chapters easier to write.

On that note, the post that was the potential chapter 21 has been adjusted and is now officially Chapter 21 in the story, as I feel I know a way to continue from that point in terms of:

Gaster's plan involving the Over World

The time travel situation

Trying to repair the Light and Dark Worlds

...something else that remains to be seen

which means that, after a few modifications to make it feel a little more fitting, I felt good enough to allow it to be what it was intended to be.

There's also another cipher there as well, for those who enjoy that. I may not do ciphers on all my chapters, but they will certainly be used every now and then. The keys won't be hidden in the same place or the same way for the most part- so keep your eyes peeled. (I do mention in the post-chapter text that the keys will not be in the chapter itself unless I mention otherwise. So don't worry about hunting through the chapter to try and find them.

Lastly, I want to try and figure out a better schedule for writing chapters of Disconnected. Clearly twice a month is not quite working out... by a long shot. However I do want to say that I am not going to forget about this story. Even if I end up vanishing for a while, I'm not going to forget, short of an untimely end on my part. So unless some freak accident happens, things will go on. And hopefully, said freak accident won't actually happen. (And if it does, I'll try and have something set up to let you all know about it.)

As for the schedule, it's definitely gonna be tough to figure it out. But three months is far too long. If that were the case for every chapter so far we'd have been through five years already. So I'm going to see if I can handle at least one chapter a month with this new Google Doc of notes I have. (If inspiration strikes, it may be more. But we'll see.)

That just about concludes everything I'm needing to say in terms of announcements. I did get a small amount of asks that I'm gonna go ahead and reply to while I'm at it.

————————

"Lol angry rouxls noises"

"Honestly I think everyone could use a rouxls kaard translator"

Yup. A bit too much of that old English accent there... I think that's what it's called.

In fact, it was actually hard for me to write Rouxls. I half considered scrapping that scene entirely and avoiding using Rouxls because I felt I'd either use too much of that accent or not enough for his character. So I went for a sort of medium- instead of adding "-eth" or "-st" to a bunch of words, I used words that would fit the situation best (such as "thou", "mine", "thee", etc.) and had a small selection of words with the "-eth" added in, where I thought it fit best. And even then I think I might have overdone it a bit.

In short? Rouxls is a weird character to write.

————————

"Gasp Dess is here too!?"

Indeed she is! She was there in the last chapter as well, at the end- but now we're getting more about her, and I hope I can figure out a good, fitting personality for her since we actually don't see much of her in Paper Trail- and nothing in Deltarune itself. So it'll be TOUGH. But I think I might have an idea...

As for what that idea is?

That question gets the GIF. I know people would ask about it after all. Plus it's been ages since I used it. So yeah.

————————

"Welcome back man!"

Thank you, again I really feel bad for the extended delays. Hopefully this new method of writing will change that.

————————

And that's all the asks I have for the moment. Hopefully I can get the next part out for you all because DANG I think I left off on a cliffhanger. And I know how much those can be annoying when left untouched for extended periods of time.

For now though, that's all I have to say. So, take care, and I'll see you again soon.

...Hopefully. I don't want to leave you all hanging again. Especially with this last chapter.

(Also I just realized this is my 100th post on here... jeez, it's been a while. I really should work on this more.)

[halfmoth-halfman]

Every time I read designer dress I get so ANXIOUS 😫😫 (all your fault thank you very much). I’m very surprised on how it ended. It makes me wonder how everything went down directly after she got shot.

The conversation between canary and her dad 😭😭 it was soooo intense.

I remember a lot of people saying that they believe it will take canary a long time to acclimate to the gang especially with the trust being betrayed and let’s not forget the emotional/physical/ trauma she endured. So I was sort of expecting canary to spit at them (🥹) or maybe spit out some words to them saying how hurt she was by them when she woke up. (But then again this is something that is going to happen down the road… SO MUCH STUFF and ANGSTTTT)

But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy this chapter !

OH and I just realized since price got arrested he

1) thinks she’s dead for realsies. Or

2) knows his team were able to get her out BUT does not know of her condition, especially since it has been weeks

Poor man is probably just going Insane not knowing about canary.

As always thank you for an amazing chapter !!

ngl i get anxious when i write designer dress sometimes LOL don't worry tho we'll see what happened right after graves shot canary in the next chapter!!

it was kinda intense, but i think it was something that neede to happen. canary needed someone to light that fire under her, and i felt like adler was the perfect person to do that.

i think it will take canary a long time to acclimate, or get close to being able to trust the gang again, but she also understands that she's probably going to need them at least until she can recover so she can't immediately jump into screaming and yelling at them. not to mention she's just woken up from a near-death experience, in price's room, with gaz telling her she's been unconscious for a few weeks. she probably doesn't even know how she feels about them yet, just because she hasn't had that time to herself to really process it. i think her first priority rn is figuring out what happened in that time, but she's gonna be around the 141 for quite a bit i imagine as things calm down and she heals (physically) we'll start to see more of the effects the last five months have had on her start to show.

who know what price knows?? i'm sure graves and shepherd would do everything in their power to make sure he couldn't talk to anyone on the outside, so he probably doesn't even know if canary's alive but who can say for sure??? ;)

[bklynmusicnerd]

Why the writers insist on making this shot more complicated than it needs to be with Esme. This would be a good way to close the chapter on her by letting Sprina turn in the evidence and then locking her up. Instead, they about to prolong it more by having the evidence be fake and Trina not wanting it to be used and adding more angst to Sprina’s relationship. As if we don’t have enough already.

All I know is, if this shit comes back to bite Spencer on the ass and puts a strain on their relationship after we just got to where we are with them. I’m gonna be so pissed. Like c’mon, can we at least get over the “I love you” hump? I heard the other couple already got to say it after months, meanwhile years later with Sprina and still nothing 😑

I agree in the sense that I feel like if they have a set up to throw this character that's not working back in jail, instead of stalling on it, they should just do it. No one is interested in her redemption, real or fake. It's just not entertaining. This evidence from Victor is a chance to course correct and make her a go and come villain like she always should have been. Her and Heather coming out for revenge on Spencer and Trina for getting her locked up and separated from demon spawn is a story that writes itself.

I don't see the evidence being serious angst tbh, not like breakup worthy angst. Spencer is keeping it in his backpocket as ammo. Will Trina be annoyed should he ever reveal that he didn't destroy it? Possibly, but Esme could also go full psycho again, and then Trina might be grateful that he didn't destroy that evidence. It's not like he's immediately using it behind her back. That would be a bigger betrayal.

This is...not great because I'd rather they honestly agree to disagree like they usually do, but not even close to some of the much worse stuff Trina has forgiven. I'm just glad that Trina admitted that she still wanted that girl to rot in jail. She may want it only done the ethical way, but I'm glad any semblance of "forgiveness" has been blown to smithereens.

I just can't really see a scenario where Trina dumps Spencer over POTENTIALLY fake evidence against a girl they both have admitted they want in jail. But we'll have to see the full context of the scenes on Monday to see how bad the fib reads. At the moment, I'm not really worried about it lol.

[hyenaswine]

sorry this is just me rambling about veterinary stuff & i don't remember how to do a read more or if tumblr even has that function. it's nothing major or terrible

so bubo's got a lot going on right now. he spent a couple nights in the hospital last month with bronchitis/asthma (main symptom was abdominal breathing; cats should not be breathing so hard that they have to use their abs to move air in & out of their lungs). while he was there they also diagnosed him with hyperthyroidism & lymphocytosis based on blood work. this is on top of his prior history of head trauma, neurological damage, feline viral rhinotracheitis, eosinophilic granuloma complex, food allergies that cause his skin to get red & angry & start sloughing off if he eats [checks notes] MEAT. ANY KIND OF MEAT. WHAT KIND OF GOD MAKES AN OBLIGATE CARNIVORE THAT'S ALLERGIC TO MEAT?

oh & he also barfs when he purrs too much.

ANYWAY. his breathing is better now but he still clearly has a secondary infection because he has yellow-green nasal discharge that isn't improving with his current antibiotic. he's on methimazole for his thyroid & there's not really a way to tell if that's working without blood work, so we'll do that in 2 weeks. i was supposed to taper him down on prednisolone to only every other day, but now it looks like his skin might be going bad again & that's so hard to control once it starts, so i'm still giving the pred daily (eosinophilic granuloma complex is an autoimmune disease that attacks the skin & pred is an immune suppressant).

i thought i was going crazy cuz to me it looks like the left side of his face - specifically his ear, that bald spot cats have in front of their ear, & his lips - gets kind of red & puffy in the nighttime, but ONLY the left side, & ONLY at night. his left eye also waters. he also has a weird little sore in the crook of his left arm (i mean... left front leg. on the cranial aspect of the left front leg just distal to the elbow, ok? if you wanna get technical).

i took the above photos to show his vet at his next appointment; he's clearly got a fat lippy & he's started developing comedones (cat acne) on his chin. he also just seems dumpy! he's a cat so it's hard to tell but he seems to be sleeping more than usual & is just quiet & not himself. at the appointment with his regular vet i feel like she just kind of brushed off the lymphocytosis, but since that was confirmed by a pathologist & can be a sign of lymphoma or non-viral leukemia, i'm worried about it. the answer is probably that he needs to start seeing an internal medicine specialist again, cuz i'm getting really sick of being passed around the office & subjected to these guessing games. i know that's how veterinary diagnostics work but... i'm just frustrated. they don't follow up or follow through. i was technically supposed to already have a referral to an internist. he was supposed to have an ultrasound like 6 months ago. plus they told me that nobody in town does radioactive iodine treatment for hyperthyroid cats & that's not true.

idk. i'm just writing. i like to talk about veterinary details cuz i guess it helps me feel more in control. i've been working on this cat's cascade of problems for 11 years. god doesn't want this cat to be, but i know better than god. also the vet said "he could have a few more years left" & that really bothered me because he's ONLY 12. i know he's been through a lot but he's gonna live to be 20 at least. all my cats live forever. don't make me think about my cat's mortality when my dog just died last year.

[alexanderflowerbird]

little progress report of how writing is going :3

New Faith: Word Count: 62,389

I'm between doing research and cranking out scenes right now, because producing scenes separated from their context is kinda my jam right now. Of course I have chapters 1-12 written cuz originally I was on top of writing it in order, but I am thinking once I start Fuck Nano next month, I'll be able to write through the in-betweens and drop whole scenes into the OG doc and that feels... super gratifying. I keep telling myself I need to look for a bible verse about looking away from something and then I forget and then I remember and then I forget lol. I know I wanna start looking for the right words in the story about Sodom and Gomorrah but we'll see if the text actually has what I'm looking for. I'm leaning into the idea of angels and demons being more active players in the story because I told my husband I was worried if I did that it would end up like Supernatural and he said fuck it, it won't, and even if it's got hints of it so what. Which like... thank you husband, you're so right, angels and demons here I come. Turns out there's plenty of ritual in the world for casting out evil, but a lot of it serves to deal with spirits rather than demons. And my demons are def not spirits so... gonna keep studying. I don't want my story to be so heavily reliant on Christianity, but it sure is challenging when I have the most access to Christian and western literature, and much of what I can access about other cultures I have a hard time trusting the minute it's some cis white dude explaining it to me. But reading and learning and researching is just the name of the game so I'mma keep it pushin'. At least the writing comes easy lol, I love being in Mercutio's head, even if I wanna shake him. Blood Sun Territory: Word Count: 5298 I've been reading westerns and southern gothics a ton to try and decide what elements of that sort of story telling I want to bring into Blood Sun Territory. I did not know this before I started reading, but a western and a southern gothic are often in very different regions of the US, even if they're both very southern in nature lol. So I keep getting dragged back and forth between green, lush, mountainous landscapes, the endless stretch of orange sandy deserts, and occasionally even swamp land. I know I want my story to happen in a place where more often than not, you can see for miles and miles and miles, so swamps and super dense forest all over the place is out, but desert or mountains desert or mountains.... I'm also starting to figure out the romance between Dolcezza and Malachi; I LOVE writing men who are kinda so gay they can't help but have their thoughts infiltrated with fondly noticing details, so it's been very fun to write these two men trying to be professional, getting to know each other by nature of being stuck together on the road in a dangerous place, and the little things that make their heart pitter patter about each other. New Faith has a lot of this with Mercutio, but because Mercutio is holding the narrative stick the whole time, you have to read into what Vincente's all about. I've already decided that Dolcezza and Malachi share this story, so you get both, and for me? That's double the fun.

[stokesy55]

VK would be so furious when he discovers he can't take the other omegas' places for the bets. He'd hate the concept of bets, fullstop, but if that awful ordeal is to happen, he'd rather it happened with him and nobody else. He's the oldest of them all, he'd view it as his personal responsibility to protect the other, younger omegas in his team. And then, he discovers his bonding prevents him from taking their place.

I wouldn't even put it past VK to go to Pat, asking for permission to let him take the place of whichever omega was betted.

VK just strides up to Pat one day, bold as brass and snaps, "I need to talk to you."

Pat blinks, taken aback. Usually, VK doesn't initiate any conversation with him unless absolutely necessary. He regards his omega with a slightly worried gaze. "Go ahead then, I'm listening."

VK shifts from foot to foot, wondering how to phrase this. "I need your permission," he bites out through grit teeth finally. He winces, hating how weak and submissive that sounds. As if he's a child, incapable of making the correct decisions on his own. He grimaces. "Well, technically I'm not asking for your permission." He makes sure to clarify it. "Just know, I'm going to do it regardless of whether you say yes or no. Consider this a warning, I guess? It doesn't matter to me if you give your permission or not, but I'd like going into this knowing you're okay with it too. That way, at least we can avoid a fight after I come back, about how I never bother to inform you of my choices."

The niggling worry in Pat's mind has turned into full-blown anxiety now, and he can't keep it from seeping into his voice. "Just what exactly are you planning to do?" He asks carefully. "Unless I know that, I'm afraid I can't possibly say anything."

VK closes his eyes and breathes deeply, as if summoning patience for this conversation. "Well, I assume you know about the betting stuff?" Pat nods silently. "So um, they will offer up one of my teammates as the bet in case we lose the series against England. Probably Hardik or Rishabh, I guess. I'm not saying we'll lose, because of course we won't, we're a great deal better than them, but just in case we do, one of them gets sent to the English dressing room."

"What do you want me to do about that?" Pat is utterly perplexed.

"Nothing!" VK answers honestly. "It's just, the only reason they're getting offered instead of me is because I'm bonded to you. Bonded omegas aren't on board for this twisted little game. Not unless their bonded alpha gives their board official written permission to." He swallows. "That's what I need your permission for," he confesses finally in a small voice. "I need you to write an official letter to the BCCI, saying that as my bonded alpha, you're making me available for the bets for this series and every series following this. Then they'll have to bet me instead."

Pat's face is thunderous by the end. "Like hell I'm gonna do that!" He booms out. "Are you out of your mind? I get that you want to protect your teammates, but sometimes you just can't and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"Shut up!" VK screeches at him suddenly, sounding quite demented. He tends to lose his temper quickly when told that he's powerless to do something about a certain situation. "I'm going whether you like it or not!"

Pat sneers. "I'd like to see you try. No way in hell am I letting you do that."

VK blows his hair out of his face in frustration. "Why not?! You're sleeping with that whore anyways, why do you care if I sleep with someone else? It's just for one day, heck, not even a day, a few hours at the most. I haven't said a thing to you about that little harlot of yours and you've been sleeping with him for months now. If I can tolerate you cheating on me for months and months, then you can, no you have to tolerate it if I go and sleep with someone else for a day!"

Pat can't conceal a surprised flinch. "Don't call him a whore and a harlot." He mutters. "And whatever's going on between me and Mitch is different."

It's VK's turn to sneer. "Why is it different? Because you're an alpha? You can run around sticking your dick in whoever you like, but because I'm an omega, I can't spread my legs for anyone but you? Is that it, you hypocrite?"

Pat flinches again, this time at the vulgar language used. "No. It's not that." He manages with difficulty. "It's different because whatever Mitch and I are doing is always consensual, from both of us. Whatever happens in the English dressing room is not going to be consensual, at least not on your side."

VK rolls his eyes. "I'm offering myself up, aren't I? That's consent enough."

Pat groans. "Please don't act like you aren't doing this because you don't have another choice. It's not consent when yes is the only option available. Both of us know this is forced consent Vi, and that's not healthy."

VK smiles a horrible, crooked smile. "Sometimes you don't have a choice about certain things, and you can't do anything about that."

Pat hisses in frustration. "Stop turning my own words against me. What you want to do is very altruistic and all, but you're not doing it as long as I'm alive. You're not going to offer yourself up for the bets and that's final, and I don't want to hear one more word from your mouth regarding this." He shudders in a mixture of disgust and horror.

"You don't tell me what to do." VK replies, quiet but stubborn.

"Don't I?" Pat's eyes glimmer dangerously. "When it's about somebody else touching my omega, especially against his will, I sure can. Let me make one thing very very clear, honey. You. Are. Not. Going. And that's it. The matter isn't up for discussion. You asked me, I said no, now you shut your mouth and obey like a good little omega should. And if you don't, the consequences won't be good."

"What are you going to do if I don't obey?" VK snarls, his eyes alive with a goading glint. "Beat me black and blue? R@pe me, like the English alphas doubtless will?"

Pat grabs VK by the elbows and gives him a sudden, rough shake. "Don't ever say that again!" There's barely contained rage in his eyes, and VK, breathless and surprised, realizes he's gone too far. Pat looks him square in the eye then. "So you do admit that whatever happens if you give yourself up will be non-consensual?"

"Of course it will be non-consensual, you dummy!" VK roars. "It'll hurt, it'll be frightening and I'll hate every moment of it! But I'd rather I went through it instead of any of my teammates! They don't deserve to be put through this! I'm not doing this because I fancy a fuck, you fool! I'm doing it because I don't want the other omegas to be forced to do this! It'll traumatize them, but I'll survive through it! I've been through worse in my life! And screw it! Why am I even justifying myself to you? Why do you care about what happens to me, there or anywhere?"

Pat looks at VK, hurt and bewildered. "I do care," he finally says, in a tone soft and injured. "Of course I care for you. You think I'd like it if god forbid, anything happened to you? Why do you think I'd be willing to let you put yourself in harm's way?"

"I'm not putting myself in harm's way." VK tries desperately to convince Pat. When he opens his mouth in outrage, he bulldozes on, not giving him a chance to speak. "I mean, Stu and Ali will be right there! So will Joe! And Ben and Jimmy are not that sort of alphas you know? They won't do anything to me, and I don't think they'll let other alphas do anything to me. And besides, I'm bonded. I won't smell appealing to them. I really don't think it'll be as bad as you fear it will be."

He's trying to convince himself too, and Pat can see that. "I don't care about how bad you think it will be. My omega will be bending over for another alpha, and that's bad enough for me."

VK's eyes flash. "You've been warming your bed with that little slut for about a year now, and I've kept quiet about it!"

Pat makes an exasperated sound. "That's irrelevant. Look, you're angry at me about Mitch, I get it, you have complete right to be. Sleep around all you want behind my back then. Go cuddle up to Kane or Rohit. I won't mind. I know they'll take care of you, keep you happy. Most importantly, whatever happens between you two will be consensual. But--"

Vk cuts him off, glaring daggers. "Contrary to what you believe," he seethes, "I haven't ever even looked at Kane or Rohit in that way. So I'll thank you to keep my imaginary affairs out of this."

"Don't bring Mitch into this then either." Pat responds evenly. "But point still stands. What you want to sign up for won't be consensual and that's what I have a problem with. I won't begrudge you a consensual affair with someone you like, but I'm not letting you do this, not in a million years. Cry and scream about it all you like. You don't know the lengths I'll go to to stop you. I'll tie you up to the bed or lock you in your room if I have to. If it's necessary, I'll lace your breakfast with sleeping pills to make sure you miss that damned match itself. If you force my hand enough, I'll make you retire and give up your career." Pat threatens and he's not even kidding.

"And then you have the nerve to say you care about me," VK marvels, dull and bitter in tone, leaving Pat speechless with incredulous rage.

This is very close to how I think it goes down.

I need to check my timelines but, yeah