#i couldn't include all the amazing messages i've got

[clumsyalienn]

It means adult female and adult male :)

Hi, thanks for reaching out! I'll take a look at this issue and try to fix this as soon as i have time!

Yes, you can totally use it, i'm glad my cc was inspiring to you!

I'm pretty sure it is!

I've never thought about that, but i like this idea! I've never tried them on male sims so i don't know if they're broken or not, but maybe when i have time i'll make male version as well.

I use Sumahama!

Hi, thank you so much! First, you need to click the download link, and then on patreon you need to download each file separately, they can be found right under the post.

Hi, you can find them on my resources page!

Maybe! Sorry that these hairs can't be used on all genders right now, but when i get some time i'll surely do something about this!

Hi, is this still an issue for you? I'm sorry you've faced this problem, but i think you could try using some kind of vpn to acess it?

Hi! I think this is okay? As long as you leave the credit i think it's alright.

Hi and thank you! I'm also glad to be back!

And i also want to say thank you to all of the wonderful people who've been sending me messages full of love and support! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindness, i can't express enough how much it means to me. All of you are so amazing, thank you so much guys. I'll keep trying my best 💓

[lilaceatingsnow]

What if the fae boys go into heat unexpectedly and the reader is the only one that can help their problem?

╰┈➤ ❝ [Heat] ❞ 【Headcanons】

Summary ► characters get into heat! how do they get help with it?

About Reader ► AFAB, people use they/them to refer to you.

Warnings ► smut, receiving oral, period sex I think, fingering, author never wrote about heat

Characters Featured ► Malleus Draconia, Lilia Vanrouge

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

NOT PROOFREAD.

Malleus Draconia ►

it was early in the morning when you got a text from THEE Malleus Draconia. asking you to come and meet him up for something in his dorm room.

“Child of Man. I need you to come immediately to my room. it is an emergency.”

naturally, you were concerned about the matter in your hands early in the morning. so you rush out of Ramshackle to meet up with the dragon Prince asap.

once you reach Disomnia, you immediately run to Malleus' room and knock on the door to his room before he allows you in.

“Malleus, I got your message! What's the matter!?”

“....I've gotten into heat. I need your assistance with that.”

this caught you off guard, but you didn't complain, no. who would complain when a dragon Prince is begging you for help.

“Of course, I'll gladly help you out!”

the dragon Prince smirks and gives you a come here gesture with his finger, which you immediately obey and come over.

“Strip for me, my dear.”

the tone of his voice melts in your ears at how soft it was. his words and tone make you want to obey his every word, and so you strip off your clothes as you look away from shyness.

he grabs your hand and pulls you in his bed as he begins to shower you in kisses on your whole body.

whole body means pussy included. and so he loves the smell of your arousal. dear Sevens, it's such a sweet and addicting smell for him addicting enough for him to eat you out.

his forked tongue teasing your clit had you seeing above and beyond. it was such an addicting feeling that couldn't help, but grab his horns as you ride his face.

he didn't mind that you wrote his face, no no, he was so happy as he got to eat, lick and suck you of your juices.

his tongue did wonders and tried to reach such levels that no normal human would. it was an amazing feeling to feel him eat you like a starved man, like you were his last meal.

his hand was groping your chest for the sake of keeping his hand occupied as well as kneeding your ass gently.

your orgasm didn't take too long to happen, thanks to his tongue teasing your clit so much. though he doesn't give you the chance to let out your orgasm, he backs away halfway there.

you whine, and he laughs at you for the state he brought you through.

“Forgive me, Yuu, but I am far from done, and that means you too are far from done.”

Lilia Vanrouge ►

it's that time of the month when the smell of blood is around and a vampire such as Lilia could smell it around.

and who else other than you would have a smell such as that? the smell of your cycle was strong enough for Lilia to go into heat.

he needed to feast, breed. he needed to do so much with little time. and he makes sure not to waste any time by asking you to meet up in his room.

having to deal with a raging boner during school hours was impossibly hard for him, but he made it through out and that's what matters.

upon meeting him, Lilia apologized for his behaviour and, of course, asked you for permission to do as he wished. when you gave him permission, he was so happy to have a mutual understanding.

he immediately pins you down and bites your neck to suck some of your blood. his eyes rolled all the way back at the taste of your blood. he almost nutted right then and there.

he knew that cycles were a pain, and so he decided to ease that pain by teasing you. while he drinks your blood, his hand is in your pants, drawing gentle tight circles on your clit, making sure it was enough to distract you from your cramps such a nice gentleman.

not only was his thumb glued to your clit, but his fingers were inside you, taking the pain off for your mind.

he's an old man who knew how to treat you so well.

he makes sure to be very gentle with you.

A/N ► sorry that Lilia's part was short, he's like a grandpa figure for me so idrk how to write for him— also this is like the first fic I write after my surgery and it being smut is WILD. hope you enjoyed it tho :33

[smileysuh]

hello !!

im the same anon who messaged recently about the new mark fic :) since you're one of my favorite authors on here do you have any fic recommendations? Im interested to see what you deem a good fic

hi!!!! This is such a good question! You can find my archived rec's here. tbh, I don't read that much, and when I do read, I'm usually already friends with the author, or through reblogs and such I become friends with the author- so Imma tag some of my favourite writer beans :)

@domjaehyun (masterlist) - NCT & others

Jewel has a writing style that I can't even quantify. Her stuff is INTENSE, it gets you in the moment, it's literally everything- she's got some long fics that pass so fast cuz you're just THAT into what's going on. Her Hyuck filth is GOD TIER

My favourites are: Pussy Fiend & Quarentine Chronicals & Kiss U Right Now

@sehunniepotwrites (masterlist) NCT & others

Nikki is another one of those writers who I could read forever. Her stuff is so wholesome and sweet, but the smut is also hot as hell. The amount of detail is astounding- literally publishable work. Like, babes, write a book already

My favourites are: Going For The Gold & The Midnight Shift

@milfgyuu (masterlist) NCT & Ateez & SVT & others

Lana is so good at everything she puts her mind to. Like, the multi fandom in me lives for her blog. I started reading for her SVT stuff, died for her nct content, and I was foaming at the mouth when Ateez was added to the mix. 10/10 content no matter what group.

My favourites are: Babe Watch & Bingo & Peach

@seokgyuu (masterlist) SVT & others

Mitchie my love- I'd been meaning to read her long standing chaptered series for a while, put it off- finally started and couldn't put it down. Read the whole series in a day and now I'm obsessed. This hoe holds it over me tho- who is mc going to end up with? we don't know- but I think I'll cry no matter what because it's the end of an era

My favourite is: the Challenge Me Series

@bitchlessdino (masterlist) SVT

Nana is such an interesting writer. One of the softest bitches I know, down BAD for Dino- and then just pops up with a Halloween fic that included blood play. I really can't even with this girl- all I know is, her mind is amazing, and I wanna read more.

My favourites are: Scream Your Heart Out & Nobodys Home

@honeykyeom (masterlist) SVT

Mo is another one of those writers who does poetry. I've sat with this girl for hours and she types out one like four paragraphs of some of the most thought inducing, detailed shit I've ever heard. Fics like hers take time, and it shows

My favourite is: White Noise

[wosoamazing]

Portugal Training Camp & Roommates

Part 4 - Fire on Fire Series

It was your first day in Portugal, meaning you were now also officially part of the team, having joined the first team training session of the year in the morning, spending the afternoon on the beach with the girls, as this wasn't an official team trip for competitions you had roommates. Leah was yours, you didn't quite know what to think of it but it couldn't be a bad thing. Right?

After dinner the team spent some time outside before all heading to their respective rooms for sleep. However you weren't asleep, and from the amount of rustling coming from Leah's bed she wasn't either. However unlike her you were still, as you laid on your back, staring at the ceiling, you couldn't get the 2 missed calls from both your parents each out of your head, they hadn't called you in years, let alone messaged, so why now? You couldn't understand, until you spoke to your Moster before dinner. She had informed you that they wanted to talk to you, apologise for what they had done, now realising that they did the wrong thing when you were younger. But you couldn't fathom the sudden change in beliefs. They had to have an ulterior motive. Leah must've realised you were awake at some stage, as you noticed her move onto her side, resting on her elbow as she brought your attention to you.

"What's wrong?" She questioned, the sudden words slightly scaring you.

"Nothing," you tried brushing her off, as if she would care about your problems.

"I can tell something is bothering you, you can just talk and I can listen if you want"

"My parents want to talk to me," you spat out, "oh," you turned to face her, mirroring her position.

"I've haven't seen or heard from them for years, the last time they contacted me was before, well, um, no it doesn't matter, but every time the have contacted me since I moved out they have thrown things at me, they even offered to buy me a penthouse apartment in New York if I quit football and did a PHD. They don't believe someone can be successful unless they like have a PHD basically. I moved out when I was almost 11. My Aunt says they are reaching out to say sorry but I find that hard to believe after all these years,"

"Why don't you just message them, ask them to come to one of our games."

"Yeah I suppose, I mean if they aren't really determined with whatever they are planning on doing they won't come, it would be time much time, effort and money otherwise," the fell into a silence before you blurted out, "They were the reason I wasn't getting played, they were paying the club money as a support under essentially a fake company, they figured if I wasn;t getting played I would fall out of love with the sport, but it clearly didn't work." "I'm sorry, that's unfair, you're a really great player, and your aunts must be good people, as you've turned out to be an amazing human," Leah started to ramble as she got anxious. You were glad there wasn't much light in the room as you felt yourself blush.

"Thank you, good night," "night," you rolled over and eventually fell asleep.

_____

The training staff decided that they were going to do fitness testing, the beep test included, you had been going for quite some time you, Lotte and Emily were the only ones currently still going, the rest of the team had either stopped or been pulled out by the medics or trainers so they didn't over do themselves.

"How?" Lotted huffed out as she doubled over trying to catch her breath, having given up, you on the other hand looked like you were still just doing a light jog.

"Okay Y/N, we're stopping you there, sit down and make sure to have plenty of water, we're also going to get you an electrolyte drink," you huffed in annoyance but complied and walked over to were Leah was sitting on the sidelines, taking a seat next to her, she lent towards you with her arms open ready for a hug.

"I don't think you want to do that, I'm like seriously sweaty," You warned her, "That performance deserves a hug, no matter how sweaty," you laughed as you lent in briefly hugging her, before moving to lie down, your legs still bent up, "you weren't wrong about being sweaty," she joked causing you to laugh "I did warn you,". 

You and Leah were alone, as she watched the rest of the team do the other tests, you were recovering lying on the grass, with a towel over your eyes to protect them from the burning sun. "How did you do that though? Are you actually fine?" Leah asked, ever so slightly concerned, she didn't want you to be overworking yourself due to being new, "I could've kept going if it wasn't so hot, or the fact that I wasn't stopped," you said and she nodded, not that you could see though, you were informed you couldn't continue testing until you had cooled down the medics not wanting to risk you getting heat stroke, however there was no way that was going to happen anytime soon, due to the scorching sun, "Can we go inside for a bit? Speed up the cooling down process," you asked her as you pulled the towel off your eyes, lifting you head slightly to look at her, "Sure," you stood up quickly, and turned to Leah who had reached her hands out for you to grab and help her up, "you haven't done any testing today, you should be the one helping me up" you joked, and she pushed you playfully once she was standing, "that's no way to treat someone who just helped you up," "oh shut up," she said as she wrapped her arm around your shoulders pulling you into her side as you walked.

_____

"I don't even know why you like playing them, they're so boring," you said as you sat down next to Leah on one of the sun loungers, you had to admit they were really strange sun loungers, as they were double ones, for some reason meaning two people had to sit on one, but it didn't matter too much as the team was close.

"They use my brain, keep me smart," she teased "Don't want you falling behind the rest of us I suppose," you teased her back, "Oh shut up, just because you duxed," you stuck your tongue out at her before pulling out your phone to message some people, until Leah managed to rope you into helping her do sudokus, you both giggled away as you spoke, before you were interrupted by Beth, "Why wasn't I invited?" she whined "We're doing sudokus," you explained, "oh ew, what movie are we watching tonight?" she asked, not getting a response.

"Beth," you both whined as you looked over to her who just shrugged her shoulders, "what?" she knew what, she just sent a message to the team asking when everyone else would be out because she felt like a third wheel with you two. Before long the whole team was outside and the movie had started, they had decided on ABBA which you didn't really like and so you quickly found yourself succumbing to your exhaustion from the day. Your eyelids opened around half an hour later and you realised you had moved closer to Leah and snuggled into her side while you slept, she had her arm out around your shoulders, "Oh sorry," you groggily spoke as you lifted your head preparing to move, "Oh, it's fine don't worry, you don't have to move if you don't want to, it's more warm like this too," she said softly smiling as her eyes stayed on the screen, you let out a small hum before placing your head back on her shoulder and quickly drifting off again.

[tobyscloset]

I am going to talk about my favourite things from chaos theory and of course, the downsides, and my personal opinions!! (Opinions based around the benrius/yasammy topic) So major spoilers ahead under the cut!

Goodsides :D

While chaos theory is a kids show, it definitely displays more mature content, something camp cretaceous did not show! This includes blood, and visual character death (Daniel Kons was specifically gruesome), and description of mental issues, this is specifically PTSD, implied depressive states and breakdowns, the show dives deep into the world of surprise, watching it i was shocked in a good way when a scene came up. Kenji's breakdown was perfectly animated and portrayed.

Each character never faded into the background and they were all equally focused on throughout the season. The show also focused on relationships between the campers, and their families. Specifically Sammy's. Each character has their own comical relief line even when in a dangerous situation. The campers never matured, only grew, they stayed themselves and still act as a group! Same way they did on Nublar.

The plot twists are bonkers, I was not expecting the DPW to be up to sketchy business, nor did I expect suddenly blossoming romance between characters. The budget is definitely higher than it was with camp cretaceous, I couldn't tell if some scenes were animated or real. Beautifully portrayed landscapes.

Overall, the show deserved every amazing rating and my personal rating is an 11/10.

Downsides D:

My first itch was the one-sided romance with Darius and Brooklynn. It certainly was a plot twist but I feel that it was absolutely unnecessary and could've been kept platonic. I feel it would be more heartbreaking and deep if Darius sent her voice messages as a friend, telling her that he's sorry and telling her things about his day. That one scene threw me off on the episode, not because I'm an angry benrius shipper but because it very much could've been kept platonic and felt unnecessary, but was written and played into perfectly. I have absolutely no criticism of the actual writing.

(this was talked about on the discord) - It feels like Brooklynn used to be independent and a baddie in camp cretaceous until she started becoming the love interest, and then it felt like she just became dependent on Kenji and unable to do things herself, so I am hoping that if we get a season 2, that we really get to see Brooklynn not be the love interest and work independently. And I genuinely hope that it won't turn out into another klance situation with Brooklynn, because she was super overhated before, and some angry benrius/benji shippers WILL hate her for "getting in the way of a mlm ship", which is not the case.

My last point was with Darius' health. Darius never got that shine through and we really never got to see how he coped with Brooklynn's death or after the island. They show little cracks but never unpack his full health, which I do hope we get to see in future seasons.

Other than those three points, I really do have nothing to criticise because it was perfect.

Personal opinions/hopes on ships :3

I really do hope we get to see more yasammy content specifically how they build up their relationship more, especially comforting scenes like we got in Ben's soggy van. And Sammy telling Yaz about her family not being in contact, and I would really love to see their relationship play out further and elaborate on the family situation!! :)

-

As I autismed a little too hard and have had a hyperfixation on Benrius since 2021(?), it's not to say I didn't have my hopes up for their relationship in chaos theory, but I also can't say that I expected them to be canon. What maybe the directors could've done is provide that teeny bit of fan-headcanons, because from what I've seen, alot of people from the fandom headcanoned Ben as a gay man, so instead of a girlfriend he would've had a boyfriend. Or they could have Ben lie about the girlfriend because he may have worked out he likes boys, and has internalised homophobia. But back to benrius, they had ALOT of chemistry in camp cretaceous, and for me it was a little disappointing that their relationship dwindled down a little. What I am hoping (manifesting) is that Ben realises his feelings for Darius, and has issues coming out to him and confessing.

Despite my opinions and criticism, the show is definitely worth the watch and deserves every thumbs up from the viewers. I thank everyone who worked on chaos theory and put their best effort into it. 11/10 show. Thank you.

[shunin-gumis]

Nagi Birthday(2024) SSR Story

Best Wishes Snap

Happy Happy Day! (1st part)

The Yellow and white marker is Toi, Red is Ryui, Beige over black is Yodaka, Neon Pink is Netaro, and the All-black is (probably?) oshisha-sama (iykyk)

Messages Toi: Happy Birthday Nagi-kun! We love you 💖 Ryui: Happy B Day, show some energy. 🐙 Netaro: Birthday Boy 🌟🌟🌟 Yodaka: All happiness on your birthday ✨ Oshisha: My pet ➡️ Fun fact the rat ears doodled on Nagi is in reference to his radio persona named 'Nure Nezumi' meaning Drowned Rat!

Nagi: Haa.....

Boy: Mama, that man on the swing set has been staring at the ground for so long now.

Mother of the boy: It's not good to stare, we should leave him alone.

Nagi: I couldn't tell anyone it was my birthday today in the end.

Nagi: The "Random Present System"... I wonder if I was counted in it too.

Nagi: I'm sure the person who was selected to gift me a present has been decided, but no one actually knows it's my birthday today.... Besides, it must have been a hassle to get me something when the system was only just implemented....

Nagi: ...... Well, I guess it's fine even if my birthday isn't celebrated.

Nagi: Sonia sent me off with a smile and told me to enjoy the party, so I can't just go back to the shop now. I'll just return to Hama House, take a nice hot bath and sleep.

Nagi: I'm ba...ck?

Ryui: Finally! Where the hell were you off to all this time? You're late!

Nagi: Huh? Um, I'm... sorry?

Momiji: Welcome back, Nagi-kun.

Yodaka: We were just about to set off to find you.

Yodaka: It wouldn't do for the birthday boy to be absent for his own party, now would it?

Nagi: But I thought no one knew my birthday...

Netaro: What a silly goose you are Gii~ Surely you must remember the fact that you had to note down your birthday on your profile.

Momiji: It was in the company's documents too.

Nagi: Ah... you're right.

Toi: Ushio-kun prepared the cake -"Blooming Happiness ⭐ Full Bloom Flower Cake"! The flowers on top of the icing are all edible, isn't that amazing?

Nagi: Not just that, the entire table is packed with all kinds of food...

Nagi: You prepared all this... for me...?

Momiji: Nagi-kun, I've prepared a ton of vases so I can receive as many flowers as you want to give me later, so enjoy tonight as much as you want!

Nagi: ....!!

Everyone at Hama Tours: Happy Birthday!!

Renga: As fellow team leaders... let's do our best to get along and hype up HAMA.

Renga: This pink rose is my birthday gift for you.

Renga: It's thanks to your advice that my roses grew so beautifully, so you can have this one.

Nagi: ....hic.....

Renga: ...Wait, huh!? Are you crying!?

Ten: Ah... look at those tears. Renga-san, how could you do that to him....

Renga: Is this my fault!?

Renga: It's not like it's something specia- I mean, I did put a lot of thought into it, but!

Renga: O-Oi, stop crying already...!

Nagi: ....hic, I've never seen such a beautiful rose before. It's the most beautiful one in the world, no, in this entire galaxy!

Renga: I-Is that so...!

Muneuji: Hachinoya-san, please accept this watering can from me. I hope you can make use of it at your store. I wish for 'Flower Laundry' to continue to flourish and prosper.

Nagi: I-I promise to make my store one that everyone loves for the next 1000 years.

Liguang: ... He keeps crying every time someone greets him.

Ryui: He's a pain...

Nagi: Liguang-san, and Ryui... Even the two of you prepared a present for me?

Liguang: That's right. Grease and cloth included, I've prepared a maintenance tool set that you can use on your beloved bike.

Nagi: Thank you very much....

Ryui: This is a little something to ward of bad luck.

Nagi: Band-aids? It's even got a nice design...

Ryui: It's because you keep getting hurt all the time and getting Toi all worried. And stop bawling so much it's gross.

Nagi: ... Thank you for getting someone like me a gift. It's the first time my birthday's been celebrated like this...

Chihiro: Oh em gee, isn't Nagipeko crying a lil too much tho? You'll shrivel up at this rate!

Nagi: It'll be ok if I drink water right after letting it out.

Raito: Haha, guess I should prepare a pitcher for you in that case.

Nagi: I would really appreciate that.

Nagi: I want to give back all this gratitude I'm feeling. So that all of you can smile just like I am-

Nagi: I'll do a stand-up comedy right now.

Momiji: Eh, all of a sudden?

Tao: That's not what I was expecting from that speech!

Nagi: Even if you feel like cringing, please don't look away. I'd like you to accept my honest feelings of gratitude.

Momiji: Huh, wait, Nagi-kun...!

Nagi: Presenting my short skit, "How I surprised myself on my own Birthday."

Part 2

[shepherds-of-haven]

HIIIIII LENA !!! As you may already know due to my nonstop blabbering I'm very very much in love with the world of Blest 🥹 and I was wondering... do you see yourself making/compiling some sort of codex/art book in the future? Like, a book that has all the organized lore about Blest, maybe with the art you've already commissioned? I WOULD JUMP ON IT IMMEDIATELYYY, EVEN IF IT'S A KICKSTARTER ITEM OR COLLECTOR'S ITEM — just letting you know teeheeheehee

OH AND if a physical published book is too difficult, then a digital printable copy thing would also be AMAZING 🌈🌈🌈 I'd immediately get that printed and hard bound !!!

(lowkey if the answer is even the tiniest yes I WILL start slowly saving 😭 JUST !! A REAL LIVE SHOH CODEX !! RAAAAAAAAH )

Oh, but I hope this doesn't bother you 🥹 the thought just came to me and wouldn't leave me alone! Please don't feel like you need to make one or anything!

Hi snow!! 💖💖 Thanks so much for your lovely message, as always! As a matter of fact, I have been slowly putting together a digital art book/lore bible for Shepherds in my (extremely sparse) free time over the last two years or so: it's been extremely slow going, but it's basically got everything you're imagining, including concept art, official game art, behind-the-scenes tidbits and easter eggs, guides and walkthroughs, codex entries from Patreon, and more! A lot of it is more of my personal rambling and reasons behind certain design decisions or showing the progression of, say, the game's logo over the years, or the differences between the novels and the game, or my (or an artist's) thought process behind this or that, but there is a codex section that will have some organized lore as well!

It may not have all the organized lore about Blest, since I'll leave that for the in-game codex, but it will have some pages on stuff like religion, factions, races, magic, days of the week, currency, and things like that, along with the stuff we cover on Patreon like animals, food, maps, calendars, and etc.! :') I'm extremely skeptical about my own visual design skills when it comes to putting this together LOL but I've been doing my best! 💪 I was wondering if I should keep it a secret until closer to the game's official release, but your ask was so nice that I couldn't resist sharing!

This will be a digital artbook for now, bundled with the 'ultimate' edition of the game (which will also include the game's original soundtrack), since I don't think I have the time or bandwidth to figure out how mass printing and distributing physical books would work: that takes a lot of research both in which publisher and storefront is the best to use, how to keep costs down for the consumer, and also figuring out stuff like margins and bleed, which aren't as big of a deal for a digital PDF!

But I hope that answers your question! :D Thank you so much for your encouragement and praise as always, and I hope you're doing very well! 💖

[musette22]

Aahh I've had such a great weekend, guys!! Lots of great food and fun, lots of cool cultural stuff, including an amazing play a friend surprised me as a belated birthday present (starring a songer/actor I used to be obsessed with when I was 15 lmao). And then last night, I went to a brilliant classical concert for another friend's birthday and got to dress up all fancy and drink champagne and all that, which was grrreat 💫

BUT most importantly, while I was enjoying this concert I couldn't help but notice the conductor was seriously hot (like look at this guy 👇🏼 what the hell?) and he also gave off major Steve vibes, so when he shared a really intense hug with the solo cellist at some point I was like hmmm..... 💡 And of course I immediately started thinking about a potential enemies to lovers fic with gifted young conductor Steve Rogers and virtuoso violinist Bucky Barnes who start off on the wrong foot when they start working together, each of them thinking the other is arrogant and cold (even though they do admire each other professionally). But then they get to know each other better and they start to realize that their first impressions may have been wrong, and they slowly but surely warm to each other and have lots of deliciously tense moments during practice with intense eye contact and emotional revelations fuelled by dramatic music and all that 👀 And of course the whole thing would culminate in a spectacular end of season concert in which their chemistry blows everyone away and they realize they've fallen in love with each other and then kiss on stage and live happily ever after 💘

Although I do feel like this fic probably already exists? Which actually would also be amazing, so if anyone happens to know of a fic like this, do let me know!! 🙏🏻

Anyway, I'll stop rambling now! I'll hopefully be able to reply to some messages later before I have to work again tonight! Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend, mwah!! 🥰💗

[keeneschoices]

I'm gonna miss one of my classes because I stayed up late to watch the finale of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies and couldn't sleep afterwards... WELP, ANYWAY.

what a fucking good episode.

SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 10 AHEAD!

I've seen people saying they didn't like it that much because it was more relosution of past problems than anything else, but I did love it. The race didn't get to me nearly as much as I thought it would because after being presented with Cynthia and Lydia's situation, and the whole Olivia marrying that predator, I honestly had more things to worry about than any of that, but it was sort of fun.

Anyway, the whole song in the beginning of the girls telling Olivia not to marry that creep ("he's literally just a guy, hit him with your car" vibes) was just amazing. Everyone's vocals were great but holy fucking shit, ARI?? ARE YOU FOR REAL? THE TALENT.

We got a little more of backstory for Lydia and got some sort of hint regarding Cynthia's mom (my theory is she left them when Cynthia was young and sometimes she calls If she's in need of something). I'm loving to get to know these characters better, honestly.

The whole coming out scene between Nancy and Cynthia broke me. Like, literally had me crying and pausing the episode because I couldn't see anything behind the tears! I'm so goddamn glad Nancy talked to Cynthia and accepted them as they are (not that I ever thought she wouldn't), and seeing Cynthia cry, no, sob like that in Nancy's lap was so heartbreaking because their friend accepted them but it's still the fucking 50s and it's scary as hell.

AND THE MIRROR HOUSE SCENE?? WITH CYNTHIA SEARCHING THROUGH FOR LYDIA AND BEING VERY CLOSE BUT THEN AGAIN VERY FAR, UNTIL THEY CONNECTED AT THE END AND FINALLY GET THE RESOLUTION WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!! MY HEART MELTED. THEY'RE ALL IN, LYDIA!

God, I just love love love the mirror house song and scene, it was so well done (I SCREAMED OKAY?? THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE THING). And Nancy not only preparing Cynthia to go in but encouraging her and even entering the house to make sure Lydia knew Cynthia was serious about their feelings? AMAZING. NANCYCYNTHIA BESTIES, YES.

I also sort of liked that Hazel is now a Pink Lady and sort of didn'? like, I love the message and I totally think If anyone else deserves a chance to be a Pink Lady, it's her... but like, the other four are so connected already because of everything that's happened between them. I'm not saying Hazel couldn't fit into that, but with a bond like theirs it's normal that she'll probably feel left out at least a little bit and that's not what I want.

OHH, AND THE LITTLE NODS TO GREASE AND GREASE 2 WERE SO GOOD. Potato's "speech" to keep things intereseting with Nancy mirroring Sandy's to Danny from the first movie made me cackle and I just looooveeee that they included the Pink Ladies' Pledge, not only the pledge in on itself but also that little part of the song from Grease 2. I loved it!!

The only thing that really bothered me from the episode was the cliffhanger in the end. Because I was expecting like, a cliffhanger and we got, well, name dropped. Which is not bad I guess, I just don't give a shit about whoever this Zuko is and what his relation to Danny is so I'm sort of hanging here for season 2 because If this is the main plot, I'm gonna be tuning in mostly for my favorite characters. Not saying the plot won't be good (because these writers are fenomenal), but it's not as interesting as of now for me personally.

WELL ANYWAY, I'M GONNA GO TO SLEEP NOW BUT I STILL WANT A SEASON 2, YOU HEAR ME PARAMOUNT?? LET'S GO.

[peridotsrobots]

Okay so it's not just me who's disappointed in the Game Changer finale.

The mystery of Sam looking at his hands every episode aside, the episodes leading up to the finale were so good (I mean top tier, grade A quality) I was expecting something amazing for the finale. But no. It was literally just a knockoff of a trashy reality show from Netflix. That's it. It's almost 2 hours of them all sitting in individual rooms and texting each other with a "surprise star" that it doesn't seem like anyone knows or even thought was funny.

It also didn't help that leading up to the finale there were a few messages that the finale was taking so much time to cut together and they even had to push back it's launch date. And I was like "Damn they must be doing something budget breaking" but the reason it took so long to cut together is because it was just a lot of footage because each person was isolated in their own room.

Speaking of, I've watched almost all of the behind-the-scenes for Game Changers and in a few Sam and the crew talk about how when planning episodes they will take into consideration how the set design itself could possibly affect how cast members interact. So I'm confused as to why they decided to do an entire two-part finale with each cast member separated and only able to communicate through text, no audio. I'm also confused why it's just a blatant ripoff of another show. They've done remakes of existing IP before but they put their own spin on it enough to still make it unique to them. Jeopardy is one of my favorite Game Changer episodes and Second Place included a ton of popular game shows as part of it's concept. But there was nothing unique about this. I've never seen The Circle (the original show this is based off of) but I'm pretty sure this is just that show down to the narrator jokes.

In all, I got through the first episode but I couldn't finish the second. I got 20 minutes in and fast forwarded to the end, and then fast forwarded through that. This was disappointing, yeah, but not devastating. I just have higher standards for Dropout when it comes to their content.

[bones4thecats]

you can i do. Scarab x Ex wife mantis fem reader

➸ Ex to Me, Love to You; Scarab × F! S/O

Characters: Scarab A/N: This does contain some hints of a toxic relationship, though there isn't anything too specific other than anger issues. Just thought I should warn you guys just in case! Anyways, thank you for requesting this idea, @zinnia1506, it was amazing! ➥ Summary: Getting divorced is hard for someone who doesn't want it, but for you and your ex-husband, you both wanted it. At least, you thought you both wanted it...

╔══════════════════════════════════════════╗

╚═════ Scarab ═══════════════════════════════╝

🪲 It was years ago that you laid that file labeled 'Divorce Papers' in front of Scarab. And ever since then, you had happily grown to be a different person. You were able to do so many different things that you were never able to do when married

🪲 You had begun to make friends with many universe members, including that of Prismo, whom you adored. The two of you would speak anytime you could, and he was the anchor keeping you from snapping your ex's neck

🪲 Speaking of your ex; Scarab may have acted like it at first, but he did not want to divorce you. He loved you so much, and he still did. Not that you couldn't realize his constant attempts to get you back

🪲 You groaned as you heard another ring come from your cell. Prismo cocked an eyebrow and asked what was happening. You just looked at the flower that had a glowing-ball floating above and said a single name;

"Scarab."

"He's still not leaving you alone?"

"Ha. At this point, I'm pretty sure his stubbornness if the only thing left in his mind."

"Wow. Shows just how obsessive he is, yeah?"

"Yep." You replied.

🪲 Before you knew it, you put the call to messages. And after only a few seconds, he called again. Prismo shrugged and went over to speak to Simon, who was curled in a ball, looking at the yellow wall blankly

🪲 You pressed the answer button and there, facing you through the magical ball, was your ex-husband. He sighed dramatically and began to ramble about how much he missed you and wanted you to come back to him

"Look, I'm sorry that I got angry all the time! But, I can change! I swear on it."

"Do you know how many times I've heard that line from you? To damn many. Scarab, I'm going to tell you this one final time. If you try calling me or contacting me in any way; delivery, letters, call, in-person, I will not hesitate to bring a certain someone in." You warned, voice getting deeper as you threatened him.

🪲 Scarab's eyes widened as he trembled in anger. It was easy to tell that he was holding himself back from yelling at you. You just rolled your eyes as he kept it up, trying to woo you back to marrying him and being together like the 'old times'

"Actually, you know what, Scarab?"

"What?"

"You can go burn in hell, asshole."

"W-WHY YOU!-"

🪲 The call ended, by you pressing a button, a smirk evident on your face as Simon and Prismo chuckled from behind

"Let's go, Y/N!" Simon cheered.

"Amen!" Prismo added.

🪲 You smiled at the two of them and went to sit beside them. You knew your life beside Scarab was long over, but your life with the two people you viewed as family was just beginning

[sardonic-the-writer]

—the red festival

SUMMARY | the day that november sixteenth became known as the red festival in history books was the day you watch your life crumble to the ground

PAIRING | various x reader

REQUESTED | no

WORD COUNT | 10k+ words

WARNINGS | gore, death, explosions, november the 16th, etc

AUTHORS NOTES | no use of pronouns but characters use nicknames of various types. toots, mamacita, dude, etc. i've really missed just going over lore and torturing c!characters

🧨 Masterlist 🧨 Navigation 🧨 Rules 🧨

In this world, everyone was a drunk.

It didn't have to be alcohol that got them there—though in some cases, that was just it. No. In this world, you had seen people be driven to the edge by a variety of things that wasn't just a bottle of scotch. A pair of discs could do it. The feeling of blood dripping down a sword. Deep rooted ambition to be the ruler of nationwide kingdoms. A thirst for pride. Separated they seem so different. But put them together and it was all the same thing—sinners after their sin, blindsided by their own passion.

You hated that word. Passion.

The emotion was a dangerous thing. Almost entirely akin to fire in ways. A small flame was hopeful, but infective. Hardly able to do anything. However, with just the right amount of it, as long as it stayed reasonably contained, you could do amazing things. Shape the earth, sway the people, change the very rules to the game. But too much, and everything burns. Burns until all that's left is ash and charred bones.

Your bones had been burned enough to where you tried not to make those mistakes.

Dead eyes and a pair of nervously pursed lips stared back at you through the cracked mirror on your wall. Fingers nimbly adjusted the tie around your neck, hiding the slight tremor in them.

Schlatt—the leader of Manburg, your president—had required you to wear a suit to this evening festive. The order extended to all the cabinet members, even the vice president. He had requested the handywork of the beat tailor around. A woman named Puffy, who had been as kind as can be to you during the brief fitting that was required.

The suit and its accessories were all entirely red, different shades of the hue donning you from head to toe—ranging from ruby and rose to a deep crimson. When asked about the peculiar color scheme, Schlatt had given some sort of faint response about him not being upstaged as the only one in all black. To remind the people who was really in charge. You hadn't pressed anymore, just taking the suit and returning to your room until the next cabinet meeting.

It was where you stood now, a day later. Staring at yourself while tying the final knot on your tie, grimacing as you made the connection between it and a noose at that moment.

A hollow knock made itself at home on the surface of your mahogany door. You swiftly crossed the room to crack it open, expecting a disgruntled Schlatt to be staring you down. But you found a slightly shorter man instead, the feeling in your chest loosening as you saw the familiar blue beanie.

"Ready?" Quackity asked you, a slight dull in his otherwise bright eyes. He looked very uncomfortable right now in his suit and bow tie. The only clue that this was still the Quackity that sang songs about dicks on his wooden guitar to you was the lapis cap resting on his raven locks. And even that was out of place. It was a wonder in itself how he had managed to convince Schlatt to let him keep it included in his outfit.

You couldn't help but wonder if you looked as alien as he did in your own garb. You pushed the anxious thought down with a swallow, the effort of it harder than it had been a moment ago.

"Hey Big Q. Is he getting pissy? Are we running late?" His name didn't even need to be said. You both understood the message.

A quick glance on the clock at his wrist confirmed your suspicions as Quackity nodded, smiling shakily at you.

"Si. Last I saw, he had been downing another bottle. Scotch this time. I remember what happened last time he drank that, so I figured I'd busy myself and come get you." Quackity held his arm out to you as an offering as he spoke. You took it, closing your room door behind you as you both began to walk down the spacious hallways leading away from it.

"Ready to beat some ass?"

You shot a confused look at him before breaking out into short laughter. He had always been able to coax the sound out of you—a growing feat, considering the events of this past year. Perks of making genuine friends in a shitty position you suppose.

"Seriously? In the middle of everything, all you can think about is that little boxing event?" You chuckled as Quackitys grip on your arm tightened around you, bringing you closer to his side as he spread his other arm out dramatically. He mirrored your brief excitement, looking down at you with a toothy smile.

"I've been waiting a whole year to kick some ass man! Show everyone I'm not some useless nobody that's only around because of their pretty face. Or whatever else Schlatt says about me." The last part was more of a bitter mumble, the stench that surrounded the ram hybrids name dampening the mood.

"Hey." You knocked a fist into his shoulder softly, attempting to cheer yourself up as well as him. "I'll be rooting for you. If you want, I can bet on you. A million to one odds you get beaten, I reckon. Ducks can be pretty mean when they want to." The last part was a poor joke, but Quackity still smiled at it nonetheless, the soft yellow wings on his back twitching subconsciously at the mention of them.

"Don't bet everything, mamacita. After all. The Blade is going to make an appearance." He scratched at the back of his neck anxiously, releasing your arm from his own as you both noticed you were at the end of the lengthy hallway. Now all was left was to open the giant doors, gates were a better word for them to be honest, and step out into the sunlight.

"I remember." Your voice sobered up as a flash of pink and red crossed your mind, the memory of a golden crown and a piglin skull surfacing.

"Are you sure this plan will work?"

You were both speaking in whispers now. Quackity's hand was placed on the handle of the doors in front of you, and your knees were locked in place; the both of you ready to bolt. It was a dangerous thing to even think about these kinds of things within the capitol of Manburg, much less say it out loud. You quite liked your head on the top of your shoulders and didn't plan to have it chopped off anytime soon after all.

"I trust Tommy. If he's sure this will work, then it will." You barely whispered. Quackity frowned at your sentence, looking into your eyes as if he was searching for something. But if he found what he was looking for, he didn't say anything.

His eyes dropped to the floor as he sighed, eyes closing.

"This needs to work." His grip on the doors handle tightened to the point where his knuckles were white. Your own hands formed fists at your side, nails leaving marks in your skin. "This has to. I can't keep doing this dude. I'll go insane."

"Yeah. Me too Big Q."

And with one final look between the two of you, gazes somber and heavy as the air before a storm, the doors opened. And you went to greet the people of your nation.

The screams of the crowd around you were like those of a wild animal.

You sat in one of the many front rows, posture still as it could get. Your mouth was drawn into a thin line, watching—what had Schlatt called it, the pre-entertainment? —as one of your only friends and the president of this damned national circled each other like vultures.

Quackity looked like he wanted blood. You didn't let the smile on his face fool you for one minute: after all he had gotten quite good at faking those. From the moment he had stepped into the makeshift boxing ring, he looked like he wanted to rip Schlatts heart out. Rip it out, roast it over a fire, and fucking eat it.

Schlatt on the other hand was unreadable. All the gaudy jewelry he was always seen wearing was still on. Chains of gold and silver dangling from the sharp tips of his horns. Rings glinting with the little blood that had been shed from the fight. The smile on his face outshone the glimmer coming from them though.

He looked, well, happy to be beating the shit out of someone. Anyone. Although you hadn't expected anything else from the very man that had exiled two completely innocent people.

As a drinking cup flew past your head in the direction of the ring, just missing its mark, you had a brief thought. Wondering if the true animals were in the ring right in front of you, or gathered in the crowd you sat in so silently. The very notation that it was either made your skin crawl.

"Pretty cringe if ya ask me."

If your back could have straightened up anymore, it would have. Instead, you were left with a wide eyed expression, looking over to your left to be met with a grinning man twice your size, twin pink braids resting against his extravagant red cape.

You could barely force a sentence out.

"Yeah." You coughed lightly. "L plus ratio and all that."

The infamous Technoblade had always been an enigma to you. Depending on who you asked, you were either extremely lucky or extremely unlucky to have the weird bond you did with him. It wasn't friendship—far from it. You knew he didn't really do friendship. It was more so a strong understanding. That neither of you were to overstep on the other. To take advantage. And while that rule was mostly in place for you, because you both knew if Techno wanted to he could take everything you hold dear in a heartbeat, it worked just fine. Still. That didn't stop you from getting a little anxious around the widely dubbed Blood God.

For fucks sake. That sword at his hip looked sharp enough to cut pure netherite in half.

Techno snorted at your equally as dry response, leaning his head down to rest it in the palm of one of his hands as his eyes watched the still ongoing fight.

"Yuuup. They asked me if I wanted to try a round in there with one of em." He shook his head for a moment, and you understood why. The thought of him versus anyone you could think of was almost laughable. "I turned em down 'course. Didn't feel like stirrin up trouble before the festival."

You were just going to have to get used to speaking in code today, apparently. Technos sentence didn't carry a lot of weight for anyone but you. But maybe it was the way his red eyes were now trained on you that had you mindlessly shuffling in your seat.

"Damn. And to think I didn't bet on Quackity winning all of them just because I knew you were coming."

He laughed at that again, his baritone tone. overpowering your own.

"Saved yourself some money. Would've been nice for clout though. Always need clout."

"Yeah. Clout." You echoed back.

"So." Techno drummed his fingers on the edge of his knee, still looking at you through the stark white holes in his skull mask. "Everythin' ready for me?"

Ready for you? You wanted to say. You mean ready for the murder of a tyrant? Ready for quite possibly the very thing that could bring everything we've worked for down in one ugly swoop?

"Yeah. It's ready."

He nodded with understanding. For a moment, his hand reached out near your back like he wanted to pat it, but he stopped at the last second, awkwardly returning it to his side as he stood up stiffly.

"Gonna go check out the dunk tank." Techno cleared his throat. "If you see Fundy wandering around soaking wet later, you know where I was."

He didn't waste another second standing in between the mass of warm bodies, slipping away without so much as another look at anyone as far as you could tell. His ability to leave without even being seen was beyond you. Today, that would be crucial.

You didn't linger much longer either. After Schlatt pulled out an axe, calling over to Quackity that it was over for him, you left the area with a sympathetic look to your friend. Both of you knew Schlatt wouldn't do anything too brash in the eyes of the public. And while you guessed he didn't consider banishment three minutes after winning an election brash, outward murder was up there on his barely existent no-no list.

It was enough to drive you away from the arena at the very least.

"—ou can do th–"

"—ome on don't be a pussy Tub–"

"—you've got this."

Your aimless wandering found a target as a voice from your left drifted your way. Either the alleyway it was coming from had become sentient and named itself Tub, or a familiar brunet was pacing around it talking to himself.

You thought the latter.

Sure enough, the moment you got far enough down the dingey hallway, you spotted Tubbo in his own red suit. The ends of his coat sleeves were already fraying despite the tough material, and you didn't have to look long to find out the source of it. You remembered he had used to do the same thing to his old L'Manburg uniform; pulling at loose threads until Wilbur would take him aside and sew it back together with the few supplies they had, softy scorning him all the way.

You had a feeling Wilbur wouldn't be doing anything of the sort these days.

"Hey Tubs."

The kid in front of you jumped at your sudden appearance, quickly whirling around to face you with as serious of an expression that he could muster. Your attention was drawn to the small bumps on the top of his head—horns, you had come to realize over the course of their appearance—before flicking back down to his green eyes.

"Is something wrong? Did they find out? Is Tommy okay?"

The whirlwind of questions tumbled out of his mouth shakily. For a moment you felt like facepalming yourself. Of course he was going to assume the worst. You had just walked in on his nervous pacing with the leftovers of a somber expression on your face, curtosy of Schlatt and his diamond axe.

"Yes bossman, everything's alright. Trust me. I just heard you an wanted to make sure you weren't losing your mind." Your weak attempt to do damage control worked, watching as your words doused the nerve educed wildfire behind Tubbo's gaze.

It hurt you to see him like this. Not just because he was worried about things he shouldn't even be involved in, although that was true. It was rather that he was simply here. With a stupid fucking uniform on and what seems like the weight of the world, or at least a very populated nation, on his shoulders. You had seen men, even kings and queens twice his age, collapse under the threat of the very same thing.

If there was one thing you wanted to do today, it was to get him out of here. Back with Tommy. Where he belonged.

"It's going to be okay right?" One of his fluffy ears, a product of his hybrid genes, flicked down slightly in questioning. The way he looked at you, like you had all the answers in the world, made you believe for just a moment, that you did. That everything really would be okay. That come tomorrow morning he, and maybe even you, would be far far away from here.

Then you looked down at his trembling hands before being thrown out of your fantasy.

"Believe me Tubbo. The biggest battle you're facing right now if the one with your own mind." You smiled the biggest you could for him, dodging the question entirely as you went to muss up his hair. He responded with a playfully whine, lightly swatting at your hands with his tounge out until you stopped.

"Now come on. If you're lucky you can see if Niki's still selling pastries before our speeches."

That certainly got him going. You had to bark out a laugh as you tripped over your own two feet with the effort of trying to keep up with him as he bolted out of the alleyway, smiling.

Luckily Niki had still been selling some of her cooking, although all that had been left was a few slices of red velvet cake. The lady had given it to both you and Tubbo for free despite your stern orders not to do that, ushering you away with the excuse that your speeches were to begin soon to get out of you paying.

"Alright." You did a quick check offstage after waving Niki goodbye as she went to her seat, now speaking to Tubbo and Quackity, who had arrived with a bloody nose and triumphant grin. Apparently haven beaten Schlatt at least once during his boxing spree.

"Notecards?" You fixed Tubbo with an expecting gaze as he patted his suit pocket for security. For a moment you thought of mentioning the red cake dusted around his mouth but thought better of it.

"Check!"

"Strange lettuce metaphor?"

"Check!"

"False loyalty for Manburg?"

"Check."

"And our hype man?" You turned to Quackity, who was already looking at you smugly with a pair of finger guns.

"Right here mamacita!"

Tubbo's brows furrowed for a moment.

"Mamacita? What does that mean?"

You felt your neck flush as Quackity looked at you before bursting out into laughter, embarrassment flooding through your veins.

"Don't worry about it Tubs." You grumbled, face flaming as you jabbed Quackity in the ribs so hard he gasped.

"Ay ay! Easy on the goods!" He giggled. "Besides, I could call you a whooole lot worse than mamacita."

"He sure could."

Just like that your shoulders tensed and feet set themself at a center. Tubbo and Quackity followed suit, watching as you cleared your throat to address the newly arrived president.

"Schlatt." You nodded with as much respect that you could muster right now. The smell of booze and smoke didn't miss your calculated senses as the goat man sneered—or was that a grin?—in your direction.

"Mr. President." He corrected you for the millionth time since you had started working under him.

"Mr. Schlatt then." And like always, you met his demand halfway, taking nervous pleasure in the way his eyes narrowed every time you tested his patience.

He grumbled but did nothing more. Simply making his way over to Quackity's side and throwing an arm over his vice president harshly. As always, he looked all but mildly interested. Like all this was underneath him. It was strange really, how much he claimed to despise Wilbur. They were both so alike in the end. Both businessmen with ambitions that reached for the stars. Both mortals who held them at the position of a god. Both atomic bombs with an expiration date that refused to acknowledge that fact.

"I hope you pussies are ready to wow everyone." He cackled gleefully; eyes unblinking as his cold gaze fell to your own. "Blow them away, even."

"Yeah well—" Quackity pried himself away from Schlatt, although didn't stray far at the glare he was sent. "—we just need you to get it started. Everyone is waiting for you."

Schlatt just rolled his eyes. "Sure. Send your fucking boss away why don't you, Flatty Patty?"

Much to you and the others relief however he dragged himself away toward the stage steps, checking his appearance out in the reflection of the black tarp like curtains that drapped around all sides of the stage: save the front.

It was all you could do now to not grab Tubbos arm and run in the opposite direction. You had made too many promises to do that though. You weren't going to ruin it all by running away now. And you were most certantly not about to abandon her. L'Manburg meant too much to too many people, yourself included.

You listened to the screeching feedback of a mic as Schlatt stepped onto the stage and into the veiw of hundreds of people, tapping the microphone to make sure it worked.

"Uh, hello everybody!" The tumultuous roar of applause that greeted his words was like a splash of poison to you. "And welcome to the festival of Manberg! Manberg’s festival!"

From your stance you could see the orange form of Fundy jumping up and down not too far away from you, hat going slightly askew as he yelled his praises.

Quackity joined in, faking an excited giggle just loud enough for the mic nearby to pick up.

"Yes sir!! Yes sir!" He glanced at you as a reminder, and you plastered a perfect PR smile across your face at the look. It was all about keeping up appearances to the very end after all.

"Awesome!" Schlatt grinned. "I’ve invited all the citizens of Manberg and some very close friends of mine to enjoy the festivities that have—that this, uh, nation—something—I don’t know."

"Yeah, the thing!"

"Basically, I just wanted to throw a party! You guys know me—" The whistles and shouts of the crowd didn't stop even at his lackluster speech, only growing. "—I'm a nice guy! I enjoy a good party, y’know? So, uh, I decided to put one together for you all."

There goes Fundy again, his tail wagging with anticipation as he looked up at Schlatt like he was his savior. You remembered a time when he had looked at Wilbur like that too.

Come to think of it, so had you. At least until those frantically written letters from Tommy had started to come by crow in the dead of night.

"So we could all partake in this—in this beautiful count—in the f—in the fruits of this beautiful country!" Schlatt hiccupped.

"I'm going to be honest ladies and gentlemen. Let's get all the boring shit out of the way. None of you came here for the politics or the government stuff, although maybe Techno did—" His malicious joke fell flat as he singled out the warrior; whom of which was easy to spot as all the seats in the crowd surrounding him were empty, people too afraid to sit near him. He simply offered a short and awkward laugh, fiddling with one of his many weapons. Seemingly to pass time.

"—so let's get all that out of the way with some speeches? Yeah? A bit off schedule but who the fuck cares am I right!"

With the way everyone shouted their approval to him, you had no doubt that they would agree with everything he said in that moment. You would be lying if you didn't say that the thought made you sick to your stomach.

"Now let's get our lovely Secretary of State up here!" Schlatts voice boomed. It was nearly impossible to miss your cue as the words wrapped you in a tight squeeze, expelling all the air from your lung like a boa constrictor. Or maybe that feeling spawned from the way Schlatt was looking at you, blood red eyes dragging over your face with a sudden soberness.

Wooden steps creaked under your weight as you climbed the few stairs it took to get on stage. Instead of meeting the crowds prying eyes, you stared straight at Schlatt. Who you found had, again, already been looking at you with a self satisfied smirk.

His fingers brushed yours as he handed over the mic, leaving prickly feeling like thorns in their wake. One of his hands went to cover the mic as he bent down to whisper in your ear, lips pulled into a cruel smile that could seem genuine from afar.

"Fuck this up—" He hissed through clenched teeth. "—slander my name—" His grip on your shoulder tightened without you knowing it had even been there in the first place. "—even so much as think of mentioning your little friends on the rooftops of my city—" He pulled back to look you in the eyes. To watch as they drained of any hope you had garnered before stepping out into the open. "—and I kill everyone."

Then he left.

Was this the feeling Daedalus had consume him as he watched his son die? As he watched the boy who flew too close to the sun fall through the bitter winds and delve into the unforgiving sea that would become his grave?

It sure seemed like it.

"Hello, fair and prosperous members of Manburg." You settled for rotating eye contact between the only pink haired members of the crowd, refusing to look at anyone else but Techno and Niki as cold dread set in.

"It has been a challenge, working for this nation." Some whispers followed your words, no doubt speaking on the fact that you were one of the original founders of L'Manburg, and there for your word was the be scrutinized. "But it has been a privilege."

You watched from your pedestal as Techno raised an eyebrow slowly in your direction. Your speech was beginning to sound more and more like a death sentence and less of a political declaration. Although, hadn't Schlatt made it that way the second he revealed the knowledge of your plans? And hadn't you set it in motion the second you mistook him for a foolish drunkard, unable of sniffing out what you had been planning.

"Your leader—my leader—JSchlatt has done a great deal for this nation. Tearing down our countries ensnaring cage—" Your shaking hand extended to present the sight of the lack of obsidian walls, earning a few murmurs of appreciation in the process.

"He has turned us into a self-reliant nation, dependent on no one but ourselves." You swallowed as you thought of what you were supposed to say next. No, it wasn't what you had planned last night hunched over your desk, still believing you had a chance to get out of here with your friends; but rather what Schlatt had laid out for you moments ago. A choice.

Shall you die a rebel? Going out in flames with your friends, never to be resurrected again? Or would you live a reluctant traitor? Turned away by the only people who you knew still cared, and taunted by your enemy?

One last look at Schlatt was enough to make up your mind. And he knew it, spreading his lips into a shit eating grin that stretched ear to ear.

"And because of these new developments in our economy, I have come to realize the truth. That I, one of the cofounders of this land, hereby renounce all notions of the dead nation of L'Manburg—" You heard gasps ring from the crowd like an executioner announcing your fate. "—and pledge myself to the great Manburg!"

You finally saw what Schlatt had been talking about the moment those words left your lips. Two cloaked figures, one much taller than the other, stood on the top of a nearby building. Only one of them had their hood down, the expressionless face of Wilbur Soot—a madman living in the shell of what had once been your most trusted friend—staring you down without a word.

One look at the crowd below you told you all you needed to know. Nikis face was stained with angry tears, Fundy looking at you with an expression similar to the one someone would make after being slapped in the face. Even Techno was gone. Come to think of it, he had been gone for a while now, surely driven away by your betrayal, even if it was fake.

And as the cold hand of the devil rested itself upon your right shoulder, maniacal laughter spilling from his lips, you heard the words that would take your second life.

"I really didn't expect you to go that far toots" Schlatt snickered, not even caring that the microphone was picking up his every word. The nickname he adorned you with made you snarl, earning a laugh from him "Really a nice effort to keep your friends alive. Can't say the same for you though. Techno? You can come on out now big guy."

You pinpointed the exact moment your heart dropped to your toes as the Blood God appeared out of thin air, a crossbow pointed straight between your eyes. A few particles, no more visible than the smoke from a hot mug of tea, rolled off his shoulders and arms in waves. An invisibility potion then. A damn good one too from the looks of it.

"Oh." You spoke with surprising calmness, voice soft. "Thats where you went."

"Sorry." He rumbled out an apology, shrugging like he was discussing what to have for dinner with you and not preparing to shoot you point blank "He offered me more money. And blood."

"I really wouldn't try running if I were you by the way. Heard this guy can kill anything from over a mile away with just a rock." Schlatt patted Techno on the back with a twisted sort of pride—like a hunter displaying a trophy—and you watched as the pinkette stiffened. None of the friendliness he always showed you anytime you would happen to cross his path. Just the dead eyes of a mercenary with a job to do.

"Any last words, oh dear secretary of state?" Schlatt clapped his hands together with a sickly sweet smile, canine's sharper than ever as he looked down on you.

You took a breath.

"Wilb—"

"Too late!"

And then your world exploded in stars of red, white and blue.

You really hoped no one would ask you what being dead felt like.

That would be a real pain in the ass to talk through.

The closest you could get to describing it was silence. Not just in the normal sense. Although that were true as well. Nothing made a noise in the black surrounding you had found yourself encased in. One could speculate that it might be the darkness of a coffin, your dead body buried in it for all eternity. But you immediately knew that wasn't true. The soupy expanse before you stretched out for miles and miles in each direction. You didn't know how you knew that, you just did.

You had been here once before. When you were but a mere five years old. The time in your life for chasing balls down the street into traffic and scaling trees as high as your mother would let you. Ironically it had been neither of those things that had gotten you killed. Rather, it was the prick of a rusty nail from your banged up red wagon you had loved at the time. You hadn't known it then, but from that point on, it would take a week for you to die painfully, your body failing prey under the hands of tetanus.

Maybe if you had known what was to become of your future, what was to become your very destiny, then you wouldn't have waisted one of your lives on a stupid fucking wagon.

It wasn't long before that serine silence was broken with the muffled sounds of yelling. If you stretched your ears hard enough, you could barely make out the sounds of explosions. Screaming, pleading. You couldn't tell if they were echos of your last moments, or simply the aftermath of it. Both seemed plausible in that moment as you laid there, floating everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

"—ind our way."

"—xplain to them–"

"—uck off bitc–"

It was fitting that the last sense to come back to you was sight. After all, you had been killed with a shot from a crossbow no less than two inches from your eyes, the ammunition consisting of some stupidly over powered fireworks.

But it did come back. And wherever you were certainly wasn't your bed—the spawn point that had been set ages ago within the walls of L'Maburg turned Manburg. That was evident enough with the way a sky full of colors blazed overhead, smoke purging its normally beautiful hue.

"Hey. Hey! Holy fucking shit balls! Their awake!"

There was only one person that thick accent and crude language could belong too, and you had been long overdue for a visit with him.

Your vocal cords strained for a syllable to grasp onto, failing pathetically as a weak zombie like groan fell from your lips.

"Bruhh. They just died and are already tryin' to try hard life again." A vice directly in your ear chuckled, and you couldnt stop the feeling of dread as you pinpointed who it was.

"Woah, hey. Calm down man. I'm not gonna hurt you or anythin'." Technos grip around you tightened as he kept you from wiggling out of his arms. You heard Tommys loud protests for him to stop manhandling you and eventually Techno sighed, releasing you from the bridal position he had you in—presumably because you had been dead moments ago and weren't really able to walk on your own.

Of course, your legs gave out almost immediately. Against your better judgment, you grabbed onto Techno's plush red cape to steady yourself, drawing a grunt from him as he was jerked back slightly at your added weight.

"Go—" You panted with the effort of speaking, feeling like you could down an entire gallon of water right now. "—fuck yourself Technoblade."

"Yeah, okay I deserve that."

"Holy shit!" Both of your attentions turned to Tommy as he stared at your wobbly figure with his jaw open.

Techno silently asked permission to rest hand on your shoulder, and when you shot a scathing glare his way be backed off, although keeping a close enough distance for you to grab onto his cape.

"Hey Tommathy." You sounded awful and everyone knew it. The words coming out of your mouth were less like words and more like nails on a chalkboard. Not fingernails, literal nails. Like the ones you hammered into coffins.

Okay. Not the best analogy at the moment.

"Here, take this." Tommy patted his pockets for a moment before looking at Techno with a small grin, laughing nervously. The taller man just grumbled something inaudible, rummaging in his own pockets for a moment before bringing out something and beginning to hand it to you.

"Wait no I want to give it to them!"

Techno paused and you could almost hear him rolling his eyes with a small smile as he tossed it over to Tommy, who then proceeded to proudly march what you now knew was a bottle of water over to you.

You heard Techno sigh as he watched you spectate the glass of clear liquid. You didn't care. Let the pink bastard be annoyed. You were allowed some suspicion. He had just killed you after all.

"You don't think that if I wanted to kill you again—" Again. There it was. "—that I would have done it already?"

"Yeah well to be fair, I don't really give shit." You popped the cap with one of your thumbs before tilting your head back to down the entire glass, dropping it on the grass beneath your feet when you were finished.

"Alright I deserved that too."

"Wait a minute." Finally, your legs had started to feel more like some half-frozen jello concoction instead of pure jelly, just enough to where you could weakly push yourself off Techno's cape. Which you think both you and he appreciated. "Where are we?"

The trees and fauna that surrounded you were alien in nature. Of course, you knew that you were in a forest, but you had spent your entire life on this server and had never once seen trees as tall and wide as these. It hadn't been smoke blocking out the beautiful blues of the sky earlier like you thought, but instead clusters of thick branches: the leaves preventing any sunlight from reaching the three of you.

"Well, we were supposed to be at our super secret top base a couple minutes ago, but then you woke up." Tommy puffed his chest out at the mention of his hideaway. A faint name you hadn't heard in a few weeks came to mind, and you let it roll off your tounge as you realized where exactly this forest lead.

"Pogtopia. You're taking me to Pogtopia."

Tommys prideful grin and Techno's overwhelming silence only confirmed your fears.

"No. No you can't fucking take me to Pogtopia. Certainly not with him." Your words tumble over each other in a verbal avalanche as you jutted an aggressive thumb behind you at Techno, really hoping that he was still there and that you didn't look like an idiot pointing at nothing.

"I told ya they wouldn't like it."

"Shut the fuck up Big T, I'm trying to work here." Tommy snapped. And for a moment you could see the fear in his baby blue eyes. It was so hard to remember that he was just a kid sometimes. With Tubbo, at least his boyish face made it easier for others to remind themself that he was still a little kid. One that had been thrust into the harsh spotlight of the world. But Tommy? Little Tommy that had been so eager to grow up and be like his Wilbur? He had been pushed away from the limelight from the very moment L'Manburg's construction had begun. He was the waterboy, running around both literally and metaphorically behind the scenes trying to keep everything together. Loosing what had little childlike quality he had about him in the first place.

In some ways, Tommy was still a scared child. But in most? He was now a soldier with too many scars to bear. And he would have to live with all of them for the rest of his last life.

So you took a breath and steadied yourself in the moment. If not for you, then for Tommy. The boy that could outshine Helios himself.

"I trust you Tommy. I told Tubbo that the day of the festival, however long ago that was. I don't know right now and personally I don't care. So if you think that taking me to Pogtopia really will do some good, then let's go."

Tommy blinked at you once. It reminded you of the way a raccoon would, tilting its head gently while looking at a bag full of chips it wanted to steal. But Tommy wasn't a raccoon, and you weren't a bag of chips. You were just two people that had been through hell and back and then to hell and back again.

"Yeah." He spoke softly, and for a moment you thought you saw his eyes gloss over as he sniffled before the blonde turned away sharply. "It's not far from here, so you shouldn't have much trouble walking. Unless Mr. Blade here wants to, uh, carry you?"

"No."

"Yeah okay. Thought so."

"Will you at least let him, fucken, explain what happened then?"

Your eyes narrowed as you stared down Tommy, before eventually grunting with reluctant nod.

"Not much to explain." Techno shrugged, his many accessories clinking together with the effort. "Schlatt found out 'bout our plan and I had ta make some last minute changes. Couldn't tell ya, you were too close to Schlatt at the moment. Really am sorry 'bout the whole fireworks thing."

"Did he really make an offer to you? For blood and all?"

"Mm. Yeah. I accepted at the time ta keep up appearances, but it came in handy when things went south."

Tommy nodded along with Techno's words, occasionally backing him up with a yeah! Or, that's right!

"So you're telling me." You squinted. "That you really didn't want to kill me?"

"Ehhh not really." Techno shook his head. "I like blood sure, blood for the blood god and all that, but you're alright."

It might not seem like much of a compliment, but you knew when I came to Technoblade that any form of praise was to be appreciated.

"Alright." You finally relented. "Just—don't do it again."

"Wasn't plannin on it." He snorted. And with that you all set off again.

Tommy really hadn't lied about the distance it took to get to Pogtopia. The walk hadn't taken much longer than a simple ten minutes, half of those ten slowed by your constant need for breaks and water. You hadn't remembered dying being this annoying after coming back to life—which you still had question's about regarding why you hadn't spawned in your bed—but then again you had been five. And considering you couldn't remember where you put your own shoes half the time, it wasn't a surprise you had forgotten about the side effects. The very annoying, very exhausting side effects.

Eventually you noticed the changes in your surroundings. Animal sightings were few and far between now—the something going for any kind of colorful plant life. Even the birds had stopped singing, leaving the three of you to walk in an eerie silence that was occasionally broken by Tommys warbly singing—a habit he had picked up during the war you recalled. Now all that was left were trees that were getting bigger and thicker with every step.

All of it led up to one big crack in the ground, Tommy stopping at the bane of it with what could only be described as a tense smile. As you looked over his shoulder and down the edge, vertigo gripped you by the neck and shook you around like a rag doll. You had to scramble backwards, only being able to catch a glimpse of winding staircases leading up and down the walls of mother nature's natura crater.

"Home sweet fucking home. Hope you like potatoes."

Spoiler alert, you did like potatoes. You liked these ones quite a lot actually.

After getting over the fact that they had been grown with dirty rain water and expired seeds, you had taken tentative bites from the first healthy food you had laid eyes on in months. When you were back at Manburg, under the constant watch of Schlatt and all his cronies, you had grown distrustful. That extended to everyone from the servants that were required to clean your room (you had made a hidey-hole for important things inside the foundation of your bedframe) to the gardeners that trimmed trees outside your two story high window (you ended up purchasing a sheet of glass from a local blacksmith on the downlow, the brittle material enchanted so that way you could see out of it, but nobody could see in) and even the cooks that would prepare your meal.

You had taken to relying just on Niki for food. But the baker only knew how to make sweet treats. So as a result, you had been left brushing your teeth twice as long every night after surviving a day on cakes and cookies, praying your teeth wouldn't fall out at a moment's notice.

It's strange, really, how that's what you chose to think about as you sat around a makeshift cobblestone table, munching on potatoes as news of death and despair was retold to you in a detail so deep your skin prickled with the effort. You had come to learn that human mind worked in strange ways when it came to grief. But you really didn't really think potatoes would be the thing to calm you after everything.

You didn't like being alone. Especially not in Pogtopia. Surrounded by stoney (no pun intended) walls that frowned down upon you, all the cracks and crevices filled in with buttons of all types. Wooden buttons, stone buttons, metal buttons, glass buttons. All begging to be pressed. In a moment of curiosity, you had considered the possibility of pushing one before dispelling the thought as quickly as it had come. Waving it away with a pass of your hand like a smoker would do to smoke.

The human mind was a dangerous thing when left unattended to. You knew that. You had seen it one too many times in the eyes of madmen as you walked down the streets at night. And even in the eyes or rich nobles who had hoarded their wealth all to themself, becoming consumed with so much of their own greed they were simply a sick personification of a dragon.

For once it wasn't any of them you had to worry about. Rather yourself. You and the tiny pile of potatoes Techno had oh so graciously left for you in a neat stack as he and Tommy left. Something about a rescue mission and you not being allowed, which torn you between insisting you came with them to give Schlatt hell (if he was even still alive) and staying to rest. But you had ultimately made your decision, one last longing look at the food enough to tip you over the edge.

Still. Something didn't feel right. Something had been bubbling in your chest like molten lead ever since you set your eyes on Pogtopias chambers, air bubbles occasionally surfacing in the thick stew and popping, lighting up your brain with the answer for just a moment before dying out and simmering away. And each time you had to resist the urge to groan in frustration like a child faced with a list of chores.

What had Wilbur always mumbled when you used to peak into his office, finding him looking out his window? A symphony this, symphony that. An unfinished symp-

An unfinished symphony.

The lava in your chest had reached it boiling point.

You looked, and I mean really looked, at your surroundings now. All the buttons surrounding you from wall to wall. The faint smell of gunpowder and red stone. How bits of sand were scattered all across the floor, practically sticking to your already battered shoes.

"Oh Wilbur. Oh no Wilbur."

You could do nothing but stare at the pieces to the puzzle your former leader had left behind for you to find.

He really had gone mad.

"I need him." You numbly realized through a cloudy haze in your mind that only a few other people knew about what Wilbur was planning. Did Techno? Did Tommy? Was that they he had looked so saddened when he had gazed out upon this cesspool he called home? Watching as you walked around it, not knowing what sins had been committed in its very walls. Even if that was the case, Tommy was long gone now. On his way back to that damned country of Manburg. Probably already there too, along with thousands of other people that Wilbur planned to bring to an end.

"I need him." This time you were actually moving. Really moving, searching for anything to write with and write on. Eventually you gave up on going formal and ripped part of your pant leg off, dipping your forefinger in some coal dust that had gathered on the floor to write a message to someone. Someone you hadn't talked to in years.

Wil's gone crazy. Lots of death. L'Manburg. Hurry. Find me.

You paused for a brief moment before adding something that you knew would get your old friends attention.

Techno's here. Need help

"Goddamnit this better work. Now let's see if I still remember how to do this."

Fingertips tasting of ash and coal placed themselves on the inside of your mouth- forming a familiar shape as you blew out harshly, a high pitched whistle following suit.

You didn't have to wait long to bear the fruits of your labor. Only a few seconds of tense silence consumed your time before a jet black crow appeared out of nowhere and landing on your shoulder. Looking at you, it tilted its head sassily, almost as if asking what are you waiting for?

Handing it the piece of fabric with seldom a sentence on it, you nodded at the intelligent creature.

"You know what to do."

You imagined if crows could roll their eyes, this one would have. But it flew off without another second despite its attitude anyways, the only evidence left behind that it had even been there a sleek feather that stuck itself stubbornly in your hair.

It had the easy job. Now it was your turn to carry the weight and find your old friend.

Well, at least before he could commit mass genocide.

The gentle sound of guitar strings being plucked in harmony filled your ears as a soft summers breeze tickled your face.

You would be a fool to call this moment heavenly. Anyone would. It was far from perfection. The holes in your clothes and sunkenness of your cheeks were evident enough of your struggles.

But for a moment, all of that was tossed aside as you leaned against the man next to you, reveling in the warmth that radiated from him even in the hot afternoon.

"Careful there love." Wilbur chuckled, pausing the playing of his guitar to adjust the strings. "Get anymore comfortable and I'll have to carry you back to the van at this rate. Can't be having my best soldier falling asleep on me in the middle of a war."

"We're not on the battlefield though, general." You had used the title jokingly, but a sliver of respect still shimmied its way in there somewhere. It always had and always would for as long as you stood by his side.

"You jest." The British man hummed with approval as he got one of the tunes on his guitar just right, moving on the fix another. "But both you and I know war will never end. Not for people like us."

Your brows furrowed. The blanket both of you were sitting on to protect your legs from the prickly grass shifted as you sat up straighter.

"What do you mean Wil." You frowned. He looked up at you through his lashes, wiry glasses threatening to fall of his long nose before he pushed them up. "We're this close to winning L'Manburg from Dream. She'll finally be real. Your lifes work taken form—our lifes work."

"And how right you are." As the end of his sentence trailed off into nothingness, you raised an eyebrow, recognizing the fact he was about to go on another one of his poetic tangents.

"But?"

"But I am simply a conductor. And orchestrator, if you will, of something much bigger than me. L'Manburg is my unfinished symphony. Always had been and always will." You recognized the far away look in Wilbur's eyes as he stared at you, gently resting his guitar to the side as he took one of your hands in both of his. "This is a song that could, and very well might, go on for ages. Swelling and crescendoing for all eternity."

The though brough a smile to your cheeks. The very same ones that turned hot as Wilbur reached a hand up to cup your jaw with a prideful smile.

"But even as she does on, my dear soldier, once the reins have even taken from me forcefully—a thing all people in power have to go through—the tune will change. Not enough for anyone to notice the difference, oh no. But just enough to where it's always in the back of your mind, nagging you. Screaming and yelling with such an insignificant voice that something is wrong. No one will notice before it's too late and everything comes crashing down from above."

"I'm not sure I understand Wil."

"What I'm trying to say, darling, is that this symphony, as unfinished as it will always be, needs to end with me. By my hands and my hands only. Poetic, isn't it? Built and destroyed by the very same man?"

"You're always poetic, oh esteemed general." You mumbled in amusement. He had lost you again amidst his ramblings, as he always did. But as the rough callous of his thumb ran itself tenderly across the skin on your cheek, you couldn't find it in yourself to really care about anything else.

"Me and you." Hed whispered to you then. "You and I. Our beautiful nation—"

"—together until the end."

Wilbur finished the memory for you as you stepped into the bunker you had been looking for.

It took you exactly one try for you to be able to find him.

It wasn't hard really. You knew that if Wilbur hadn't wanted to be found, then he wouldn't have. If he hadn't wanted you to see the gunpowder on Pogtopias ground, or all the ominous buttons decorating the walls, he wouldn't have. But he did. He wanted you here with him. To witness the great end he had spoken about all those years ago atop a grassy hill. To end what you both had started. Together.

"What fools we were, my old friend." A laugh as bitter as black coffee spilled from Wilbur. He stood against a carefully chiseled wall, lyrics you wished you didn't recognize but still scribbled all over the hollow room like something from a horror movie.

"Since when did we become old friends? Last I checked you were wishing me luck on the downfall of Manburg." It took little effort to speak to him this way. Wilbur had aways been the one person you understood completely. Even now as he laid out a room full of mass destruction in front of you weren't surprised. Dread ridden and horrified maybe, but surprised? When it came to the two of you, neither ever were with the other.

"That was before today's festival though, wasn't it?"

"Both you and I know what I said wasn't true." So this was still the same man that had stared you down from a rooftop as you announced your false allegiance to Manburg. "I was killed by how unimpressed Schlatt was with my performance, remember?"

"Don't—" He held out a hand, hissing angrily. "—say his name. Not you, You don't get to say his name when you're with me."

"What am I, your dog?" You asked, incredulous he would go as far to demand you not speak certain things. "Grow up Wilbur and stop throwing a pity party in your doomsday room like a child. So you lost. You lost the election. You didn't lose me or the dozen other people that would die for you in a heartbeat, and you sure as hell didn't lose Tommy."

He flinched at the mention of the young blonde. Good. Let him stew in the fact he had fucked up. And he really had fucked up. Hard.

"Now come on. I'm tired of fighting today, Wil." The old nickname slipped out as easily as it always had. You supposed even with months of separation there were some old habits you hadn't been able to break. You saw his cold gaze soften in the heat of your words. "Let's go see if we can find everyone, yeah? Try and work this out. Show everyone you're not the bad guy you so desperately want to be."

"You—"

"Mate? What are you doing?"

Both of you froze, albeit for different reasons. Suprise melted into disbelief as you turned on your heal to be met with a set of brilliant black wings, the owner of them watching the both of you curiously.

"Phi." You breathed out, going to hug him tightly. The man wavered in his own moment of surprise before eventually embracing you back, although it didn't last long before he pulled away, eyes flickering down to the missing piece of fabric on your leg with realization.

"I would ask how Techno's doing, but I'm just glad I found you in the first place mate." His tone was serious as he scanned your face, hands resting on the sides of your shoulders like a security blanket. "The crows had a harder time locating you than usual. I just barely stumbled in here on my own anyways. And speaking of which—" His eyes, aged with years of experience and worry, flicked from your face to around the room before eventually landing on the only other person in the room.

"Wil? What's going on? What are you doing."

"Hello dad." Wilbur's voice shook like a child's when they got lost in the grocery store. "I assume they called you?"

"Yeah. And I think for a pretty good reason too, son." Phil took a small step away from you and toward Wilbur instead, the latter stiffening and shuffling closer to the wall behind him.

"What is this place?" Phil sounded more sullen than you had ever heard.

"Okay—I will admit. It's, uh. Do you know what this button is?"

Wilbur stepped to the side just enough to reveal what he had been standing in front of. It was a button, no larger than the size of your palm, with a red x slashed through it.

"Uh huh. I have a feeling I do." Phil spoke cautiously. You had a feeling you did too.

"Have you heard the—the song—" He pointed to the walls. "—on the walls? Before? Have you heard the song? I was just saying—I made this big point and it made—it was poignant, and it was the—it’s um—" He looked at the walls like a man trying to remember his past. "There was a special place, where men could go. But that’s not there anymore, you know? It’s not—"

"It is there!" Phil shouted over his rambling. "You've just gone and won it back Wilbur!"

"PHIL- I’M ALWAYS SO CLOSE TO PRESSING THIS BUTTON, PHIL!"

Both of you waited with bated breath as he tugged at his hair violently, and for just a moment you saw his bloodied scalp. Presumably from where he had done that many times before.

"I’ve been here—I've been here like seven or eight times! I’ve been here—seven or eight times!" Wilbur laughed a cruel laugh, his eyes darting from your face and Phils.

You watched as he took a breath.

"There was a saying. Uh—by a traitor uh—once part of L’Manburg. A traitor, I don’t know if you’ve heard about Eret?" The last part of his sentence was meant for Phil, but at the mention of her name you swallowed down years of tears. Yeah. You remembered them.

"They had a saying." He finally looked at you, offering a small smile. The same smile that got you into all of this in the first place. The same smile that you had loved to see while sitting round a fire, looking at the stars and telling tall tales. The same smile you once had pledged you would follow to the ends of the earth.

"It was never meant to be."

And then he slammed his hand down on the button.

Later you would remember the scream that drew itself from your throat. The way Phils wings covered you as a protective barrier, their soft material deflecting the heat of the TNT that exploded all around you.

But in the moment, all you could focus on was the way Wilbur's flesh sizzled and his bones charred. Burnt with the passion for his country.

Burnt with something that, indeed, was never meant to be.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[beardedmrbean]

TikTok star Montana Tucker has been using her platform to spread awareness about antisemitism in the months after the October 7 attack on Israel.

The singer, dancer and social media activist, who grew her social media following to 14 million by singing and dancing videos, recently made her Jewish heritage a bigger part of her content, she told Fox News Digital in an interview. Since October 7, she has recognized the need for more education about the history of antisemitism and Holocaust denialism among America's youth.

Tucker grew up in Boca Raton, Florida, with two grandparents who survived the Holocaust. They often told her about the horrors of the Holocaust and the importance of never forgetting the genocide of six million Jews during World War II. When her grandfather, whom she called Zadie, passed away at 97 four years ago, she felt compelled to continue his legacy by reminding people they should "never forget." 

Tucker visited Poland where she filmed a docuseries called "How to Never Forget" that was released in 10 mini-episodes on her social media. The series included a visit to Auschwitz and personal stories about her grandparents, with the goal of educating America's youth about the Holocaust. 

CHAMPION CYCLIST SAYS SHE WOULD SERVE IN IDF RIGHT NOW AMID REMOVAL FROM INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY EVENT

"Antisemitism has always been here, it has always been here," she said. "When I released that series, that was kind of the first time I introduced my followers really to my family's background. A lot of them never knew that I was Jewish. My name is Montana Tucker. My content, at the time, wasn't specifically Jewish content."

"Then a year later, with everything that happened on October 7, I felt that it was my responsibility, it was my duty to make sure that I share personal stories of what was happening," she continued. "This is my people, my grandparents didn't have a voice back during the Holocaust, and now I have a voice and I'm able to stand up for what I believe in and speak out for people who don't have a voice."

In December, Tucker went to Israel to meet with survivors of the October 7 attack and their families. She used the opportunity to spread the message of what happened and share their personal stories, which she said is of upmost importance given some have downplayed or denied certain aspects of the attack or attempted to justify it. 

"When I always heard Holocaust denial, I couldn't believe it," Tucker said. "That's why, with what's going on now in the world with all the denial, even though we were live-streamed what happened on October 7, there's still denial about it or still denial of what is going on. I never understood that concept of people denying something that was so obviously shown with evidence of survivors, but now living in it, people denying what happened on October 7, it's really scary and it's even more of a reason why I keep using my voice."

Tucker also said she has heard from people in Hollywood who've thanked her for what she has done in speaking out for Jewish people since October 7, but explained it makes her upset that people are afraid to share or talk about what they believe in. 

"I've had people in Hollywood come up to me that are, I'm here [motions down] and they're there [motions up], they're on a whole different level than me in their careers, and they come up to me and say, 'Thank you so much for what you're doing, you're amazing, you're really taking one for the team.' And I'm like, 'What do you mean? Like, have you shared anything? Have you posted anything?' And they said they did in the beginning [but] when they got so much hate from it and lost business, followers, whatever it is and now they're scared to post. In my mind I'm like ‘do hear how crazy that sounds?’"

"Especially when there are so many awesome, powerful Jews in Hollywood … I think people absolutely need to stop being scared," she said. "If you're going to lose business over you talking about being Jewish or you talking about innocent lives that were taken, then you shouldn't want to do business with those people. Point-blank."

Tucker pointed to social media as a huge reason why antisemitism has been allowed to proliferate, making it "popular to be anti-Israel" and "popular to be anti-Jew." 

"With Gen Z and younger generations, we live in this day and age of what's trending, what's popular and if you look at popular hashtags on these apps ... #hitlerwasright was a massive trending hashtag on TikTok, #osamabinladen was a massive trending hashtag on TikTok, all pro-Palestine content was super trending, billions of views, versus Israel or anything to do with pro-Israel was like super, super low."

She said a lot of people discussing the conflict on social media aren't educated on the issues, so when an average user comes across a viral video with 30 million views sharing one person’s opinion about Israel or Gaza, "all of a sudden now it's a ripple effect of everyone that just saw that video now believes that because they don't know better."

Tucker said the impact of social media needs to be taken seriously, since it is where so much information is shared and news is consumed, allowing antisemitism to proliferate in the months following October 7. 

"Even with October 7, think about if we didn't have social media nowadays, how different that could have been with what spiraled after," she said. "I think what happened on October 7 was the start, and now we're a hundred and how many days in, and it's only gotten worse with everyone's opinions and everyone's thoughts in these videos … being fed to people every single day [there is] so much propaganda that I see."

"Fortunately, I heard from survivors, but my grandma was 13 when she was taken to the Holocaust, and she's 95 [now], so in a few years, there are going to be no more survivors left," she said. "Imagine the denial that's going to happen then with literally no survivors."

Tucker said one of the ways to combat antisemitism is to teach America's youth about the Holocaust in schools.

"I grew up in Florida, which is one of the states that did have it, thankfully, and my grandparents used to speak at all the schools … But there are a lot of people who don't," she said. "It's hard to blame these kids that just genuinely don't know better because they weren't taught it in school."

"Then they come across this TikTok video that denies the Holocaust or says Jews are terrible … and that's all they're going to know and that's all they're going to believe," she said. "If their favorite rapper or their favorite athlete spews out antisemitic comments, they look up to that athlete, they look up to that rapper, they're going to say, 'That must be true.'"

Tucker encouraged Americans to do their own research and continue to learn about the long and difficult conflict in Israel and the Middle East. She also said people should be easier on each other because there is "so much hate" in the world and in the U.S., specifically. 

[breaniebree]

Writing Fanfiction in the HP Fandom

Hello All!

This is not something I usually do (i.e. post anything outside of fanfic updates), but I wanted to write a little something about Fandom.

I recently finished reading a book called "Family Don't End With Blood" which was a wonderful collection of essays about people who came together over a love of Supernatural. It included personal moments about the fandom from some of the cast, some of the fans, and some of the people involved in charities or organizations that have stemmed out of the television show and I found it absolutely inspiring! I even teared up a bit (especially reading Jared's chapter). You can find my review on my personal bookstagram brie_reads if you're interested in learning more.

But, I decided that I wanted to just reach out and say something about the idea of fandom and what it means to me because this collection of essays truly inspired me.

I started reading Harry Potter in September of 1999. I was (not to age myself here) 12 years old and my stepmom bought the first three books for my younger brother in an effort to get him more interested in reading. It worked, but I also devoured the books alongside of my brother. I couldn't wait for The Goblet of Fire to come out and fell immediately in love with the characters of Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, and Ron Weasley. There were of course other characters I loved, but those ones just meant something to me. I still don't think I can fully explain what it was that first drew them to me, but I was hooked. I began writing fanfiction in 2004/2005, but never really got into publishing my work until almost 2006 after reading Half-Blood Prince and being furious at Harry for breaking up with Ginny (the noble git).

By writing Harry Potter fanfiction, I became involved in a fandom community and it was something I'd never really ventured into before. Sure, I had a chat group about Buffy lovers on ICQ and AOL, but a true fandom was something different. By loving Harry Potter and sharing my love for the stories (and my own fanfic stories) I've made incredible friends. One of my oldest online friends I met through communication boards on Sink Into Your Eyes that delved into email sharing, instant messaging, and more. I've made friends of all ages, some older than me, some younger, and from all over the world.

I've exchanged story ideas with people, discussed possible scenario changes, and laughed and cried over things we loved from the books themselves to other amazing fanfics. I've made some incredible friends and I've unfortunately lost some incredible friends along the way as well -- people who cut me out of their lives due to disagreements or miscommunication -- and I've gained new friends in people who not only love what I write, but actually care what I have to say about funny and pointless things like how I think Harry would react in ridiculous situations.

I joined Harry Potter facebook groups (way back for us oldies when you had to have a university or college id to even have facebook) and followed Harry Potter fandoms on Twitter. I joined Tumblr (and have recently gotten over 1300 followers which is mind blowing to me so thank you) to share in my love of the fandom and have seen the most incredible artwork, read the most beautiful stories and poems, and seen things that make me wonder if we read the same books at all LOL.

But the pure joy of being in a fandom of people who love the same things is unlike anything I've ever experienced anywhere else. Now, as a woman in my mid-30s, I look back and think of how much it has impacted my life. It's opened my creativity. It's helped me grow into myself as a person and accept who I am. It's watched me grow up. The Harry Potter fandom has become something I love even more than the original novels that drew me in.

Like everything, there are toxic parts as well. People who are toxic in their views, in their comments, and in their reviews. People who get close to you, only to break you down. But there are also amazing people who fight back against those toxic vibes and remind all of us why we love the Harry Potter fandom. It's the Harry Potter fandom that made me branch out into liking other fandoms, to show off my inner nerd, and most of all, to come to the realization that even if I don't know your real name and even if we've never met, it doesn't mean we can't bond over a shared interest.

You are appreciated.

You are respected.

You are valid.

You are loved.

That to me is what a Fandom represents.

Be positive. Keep smiling. And most of all, know that this fandom means you are not alone.

Share the love. Thank a creator. Tag a friend who you met because of the fandom and appreciate.

Thank you.

Breanie aka Bree

[endlich-allein]

Article from ad.nl // Translation by Till Lindemann Belgium

Sharon Kovacs records a duet with Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann: 'He just went shopping with me and to the hairdresser'

For her new album, Dutch singer Sharon Kovacs collaborated with none other than Till Lindemann. A striking combination, which ensures a close friendship. “Suddenly I had a kind of personal assistant.”

Sharon Kovacs (32) does not look back on a carefree childhood. As a child she experiences unrest and tension and is placed in various foster homes and boarding schools by youth care. "To pass the time, I used the few hours in which I had access to music to sing my feelings off," she says. She continues to make music and is discovered by chance in 2014.

She releases an EP and is named 3FM Serious Talent. She is in the line-up of festivals, including Lowlands and North Sea Jazz and achieved a number 1 hit in Greece with the album My Love. The large fur hat she wears during performances earns her the nickname 'Wolflady'.

Kovacs has now released her third album, Child of sin.

A duet with Till Lindemann (60), best known as the singer and lyricist of the German band Rammstein, and it's the "the highlight" of the album.

How did the collaboration come about?

Sharon: "While writing the song I immediately thought of Till, I didn't want to just sing the song," she says.

Via via she got contact information. She decided to take the plunge and send Lindemann a message.

,,After two weeks I received an app with 'Hey, Till here, I wanna work with you'. I couldn't believe my eyes."

In no time, the two were on the phone with each other and not much later they met in his apartment in Berlin.

"It should have been like this"

A sign

A nice surprise awaits her in the German capital. “I found out that I used to live about 500 meters away from him, in Berlin. So I could have met him on the street at the time.

It was kind of a sign to me. It should have been like this.”

At home with Lindemann, Kovacs is amazed. “Working with him was a learning process for me. He's a very big artist

I listened as best I could to everything he had to tell me. The most important thing I learned from him is how he deals with the whole music world. I got to look backstage at his shows. They are so huge, it's completely different from my performances. He is 60, but his career is still alive and kicking. He continues to work hard for his passion and knows exactly what he wants. I am very much looking forward to that.”

And no matter how dark and dominant Lindemann's music is, his character is so sweet and good-natured.

,,When we were in Amsterdam, I had to go to the hairdresser. He came along. Alone, without bodyguards or team," Kovacs continues.

,,The two of us just walked along the canals, as you would otherwise do with friends.'' The German metal singer did not turn his hand around for an afternoon of shopping. “I needed some new clothes and suddenly I had a kind of personal assistant. I had to try and put on all kinds of crazy outfits.”

Kovacs is grateful for the collaboration, especially since Child of Sin is so close to her. ,,It's about the annoying things I've experienced in the past, for which I had to go to therapy. Then such a number gets the extra charge.

It still evokes a lot of emotions and sometimes nasty thoughts. ′′ ′′ By agreeing to it, a bit of tension fell away. “I am not alone in this way, we are in this together. Without Till, I don't know if I would have ever released the song."

The video clip – which can be seen later – in which she and Lindemann play themselves and in which the two get into a serious car accident, is the icing on the cake for Kovacs. This was recorded in Amsterdam and in the private hospital of the coroner from detective series Baantjer.

“It will be an intense clip with him, but that's how I wanted it. It was a huge set. There were about thirty people at work, a very large production. But it was all worth it. People really believe in the song, the collaboration, the message, and they're somehow touched by my song.

I'm just too proud of that."

[prodagustd]

helloo!!! hope you're doing fine 💖 i've read the chapter 4 (of the road not taken) last night, and i must praise your writing once again!!! it's so immersive and i feel that you capture the complications of what it's like to make big decisions of your paths in life, being a yong adult and human relationships in between so well!!!

the characters are complex and not once sided...you know? it's like they're real people, it's so refreshing!! i loved to see what i feel it's like new sides of the protagonist, to know her better..i'm enjoing it so so so much!!! i'm in love with yoongi once again, he's so loveble, so understanding, attentive.....of course the story is yet reveling itself to us, but idk i'm biased 🤭 ...i loveee him and i'm excited to see more of this character!!

yesterday i was at work when i got the notification that the chapter was posted and i got sososososososo happy, genually happy, and i couldn't wait to read it...this story gives me butterflies and i'm really really loving it!! sorry about the long message, but i feel like you deserve to know how good you are and how people love your writing and this story!!!!!! byeeee, stay good ✨

WHAT??? I love long messages !! 😭 it’s literally my favorite part after writing ??

I’m so happy that you already read it!! And that you liked it 🥺 I think I know many people who are oc’s age (myself included 😭) and it’s such a collective experience feeling lost and frustrated when it’s time to make decisions that are going to affect all your life!??)!!

And I’m so happy that you’re enjoying the characters!!! Especially the oc bc I know she gets a bit complicated sometimes jshdjsj but she also has so many parts of me so i love her!! and btw, I’m SO biased about Yoongi as well bc he’s so cute 🥺 he did nothing wrong your honor (or did he???!!!?👀)

AAAA no bc you are giving me butterflies with this message!!! I love reading that you’re liking it, I’ve never been this excited to know what people think about my stories lmao. So please look forward to the next one!! I’m hoping it comes sooner than this one did❤️‍🩹

And again, thank you for writing!!! I hope you have an amazing day ilyyyyyy