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emptyjunior · 7 months ago

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The concept of Riz dying decades or in some cases Centuries before his friends is too sad for me, anyways Riz isekai/regression au.

So Riz, at the end of his life, I assume a decorated private investigator, maybe in and out of many agencies until he like unearthed corruption in them and got kicked out, you know just general Riz stuff.

I think he would honestly get Jacked, but in like a wiry way, I think by the time he was old his combat sense and powers of deduction would be Insane even if his body cannot keep up with his mind anymore.

And then I assume he’d die peacefully in bed OR in a dramatic and horrifying conspiracy, possibly on a sinking boat or a waterfall, that all his friends would have to investigate in his honour.

So Riz dead, gone, finally at peace.

Or at least he Thinks, BEEP BEEP annoying sound of alarm clock waking him up for his first day of school.

Chronomancy is most likely to blame.

So general premise is Riz instantly goes from an awkward teen scrambling to solve his babysitter’s disappearance, with no resources or social skills, twitchy and underfed to a calm and seasoned detective. I think that morning when Sklonda goes to see where he is, he’s made her breakfast, bacon and pancakes. And as she sits down in shock at the table, he quietly slides a file over to her which is every active case she’s working on, methodically solved with notes and clearly explained timelines to the culprit. And if she turns it over to the back, there’s also a resignation letter in there and an application to law school ready to be filled out. And when Sklonda looks up at Riz shaken, he just gives her a kiss on the forehead and a smile like he’s seeing someone he hasn’t seen for many years and then calmly goes to class.

I also want:

-Dealing with bullies that first day like Ragh and Fabian like he’s greeting loved ones. Darting out of their attempts to grab him with a dancer’s flourish that he could have only learnt from a high elf...

-I think Fabian would be a Big Part of his plans (because the most fun part of regression time travel stories is when they start Amassing wealth) so I think he honestly just goes straight to his house, tells Bill Seacaster that him and his son are best friends (which Fabian would SCREAM at if he got humiliated by this goblin earlier that day) and then challenges Bill to a shooting contest and thrashes him, which makes Bill keel over with laughter, offer him a place on his crew, offers him his son’s hand (Fabian is hitting critical levels of red anger embarrassed face at this point)

-Other fun ways to gather wealth, Riz just robs Kalvaxus. Just remembers every little detail about the accounts from his files, goes to the bank, gives all the current passwords, transfers the Entire dragonhoard to his own account

-And yes the plot would all be decimating Goldenhoard that first year, so Riz just saves every girl before they’re captured, the maidens that have already been taken, hunts them down. I think he goes to the gas station that Johnny Spells and his friend’s occupy, locks the door and walks right into this den of bikers, just full Kingsman fight sequence decimates them. Because I think he would feel So good getting a body back that hasn’t been rung with years of stress and Kristen Shenanigans that he is in like peak condition

-First Day finds the rogue teacher which is why he has so much time for running around preparing everyone’s future

-I think, honestly, he shoots Coach Daybreak in the head on sight and gets sent to the principal’s office and Aguefort’s like “are you doing a chronomancy?” and he says yea and Aguefort’s like sweet, carry on

I think he finds Jawbone taking terrible paying bouncer jobs, and just offers him a bodyguard/assistant job so he has a little buddy to investigate with.

Starts a full out war with Helio followers because they had way too much reach in town, and when they try to debate with him he has Way more knowledge about their scripture than they do and some truly dangerous deity blackmail locked and loaded and Helio himself comes down and says haha leave this kid alone he just implied he can reincarnate a God, let’s go, let’s go.

Finds some insane legal loophole that absolutely strips Adaine and Aelwyn’s parents of influence and gives their children power over all their assets. Weirdly becomes very close friends with Aelwyn, maybe it’s because they both have the same taste in liquor now.

I think he’d start an information guild that involves like Zayn Darkshadow, Fig in her many disguises, Aelwyn and surprisingly Kipperlilly. Also Kalina! And he knows exactly how to summon her and keeps saying things to her that are friendly yet intimidating and it freaks her out.

Walks up to gorgug, hands him a study plan pathway to MCAT and walks off leaving gorgug very confused (and probably asking if he was his dad)

Just fun time travel future knowledge shenanigans! And I cannot restate again, we saw how quick a Junior Year Riz is at investigating and making leaps to the right answer. By the time he is at the end of his life, I feel like he’s reached moriarty levels of detective prowess. The many new enemies he keeps making keep coming to him and he just strips them down with his powers of deduction. He’s looking at how one person favours their left side, or the crumbs on their wrist and knows everything there is to know about them.

So just Freshman Year, the perfect run, Riz with a lot of angst in a very satisfying detective story getting closure for a lot of things.

#i read a Lot of manga if you're wondering #dimension 20 #d20 #fantasy high #brennan lee mulligan #riz gukgak #isekai #au #time travel #brian murphy #text post

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ourtearsofrain · 6 days ago

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Chapter 16- A World Apart with Just One Heart Is Bound to Keel and Fade Away

Pairings: Danny Wagner x Sam Kiszka

Genre: angst, hurt(literal)/comfort

Word Count: just over 2.8k

Warnings: AU typical events/threats/violence, scorpion, slightly graphic fighting, sort of seizure

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Danny

Saturday, July 16th

“Samuel.” Danny nudges his leg gently, trying not to startle him too much. When that doesn’t work, he moves to crouch in front of him, bringing his hand to Samuel’s bicep to shake him. “Samuel. Sam, wake up.”

“Hm?” Sam shoots upright, his eyes wide and scanning the area around them. “I’m up. What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Nothing, don’t worry about it.” Danny tries to keep his thoughts away from how Sam was still clutching his arm even after he had regained full consciousness. “It’s just morning, figured we should get a move on or plan what we’re doing next.”

“Oh, yeah, good idea. You wake Hazel yet?” Glancing over to her, he rubs the sleep from his eyes, seeing that she was still fast asleep across the cavern.

“No, she still has that machete. Didn’t want to risk her taking a swing at me.”

“That’s probably for the best, I got it don’t worry.” As Sam makes his way over to Hazel, Danny tries to keep his eyes to himself, fearing how it would look if he was caught staring. As embarrassed as he was to admit it, the entire time that Sam had been asleep, his eyes had been on him. He felt calmer watching the way his chest rose and fell with every breath, his lips slightly parted in his sleep as he cradled something only he could see in his dreams. Even though it made him feel like a creep.

“Sleep well princess?”

“Fuck off.”

“I see someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Or- cave.” Danny listens in on their interaction with a smile, knowing he should stay out of it but finding Sam’s annoyed sass from dealing with Hazel amusing nonetheless. “So, what are we doing today? Any ideas? Daniel? Hazel?” Sam plops back down onto the ground next to Danny, closer than he would have expected as their knees brush.

“I think I saw some obsidian shards out there yesterday, we could go out and collect some to make weapons.”

“Do we really need more weapons?” Neither Danny nor Sam miss Hazel’s frustrated huff at Sam’s question, not stopping him from continuing as he counts their inventory out on his fingers. “We have my sword, the machete, the bow and arrow, Daniel’s axe, and an assortment of knives. I think we’re good.”

“Either way, getting out of this goddamn cave is better than being stuck in here with you two the whole day.”

“The fuck’s that supposed to mean?” Sam’s voice raises at her comment, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion and anger.

“Take it how you want, let’s get ready to go.” The air between them becomes uncomfortably silent as they all pack up their supplies, doing a once-over to make sure nothing had been missed or forgotten before Danny and Sam follow Hazel out of the cave. “Keep your eyes sharp, we don’t know who else is here.”

For once, Danny isn’t immediately annoyed by her words, somewhat thankful that she had said what he had been thinking. The cliffs surrounding them slowly shorten as they walk, until they emerge at the other side of the canyon onto a vast, blackened landscape. With the ground uneven and even leaking lava in some places, Danny calculates each step so as not to fall or trip, worry growing in the pit of his stomach as Sam saunters onwards, narrowly avoiding large holes in the ground as he walks. It isn’t long before Danny’s attention is captured by a large pool of water set into the molten rock, the water bubbling a clear blue.

“Hey, I think I found some obsidian for you.” Danny barely glances over his shoulder to see Sam reaching into a small hole, his gut screaming at him that something was wrong.

“Sam, I really don’t think you should reach in there.”

“It’ll be fine, almost got it.” Just as the words leave his mouth, he cries out in pain, ripping his right hand back towards himself as a large, pitch-black scorpion scurries out of it. The crunch of its exoskeleton under Sam’s boot sickens Danny, and he tries to distract himself from the sound by turning his attention to Sam’s hand as he finds his side. “It’s fine, I’m fine.”

What the fuck. Fear seizes Danny’s heart as he holds Sam’s hand in his own, a large, black welt on his skin forming as black tendrils snake their way across the surrounding skin. “This isn’t fine, Sam. Fuck, what do we do? How do you feel?” Danny tears his eyes to Sam’s face, relieved to see that he looked normal.

“I feel fine, I promise. It just stung me, which hurt, but other than that, I’m alright.”

Catching the way his voice broke ever so slightly, Danny narrows his eyes at him, hoping he would crack and admit he wasn’t ok as he claimed he was. Unfortunately for him, Sam holds strong under his gaze, his expression unfaltering until Danny finally gives up. “Fine, but we’re keeping an eye on you.” He finally realizes that Hazel was 20 feet ahead of them, unfazed as she hadn’t stopped to wait for them. Danny stays true to his word as they walk towards her, watching Sam carefully out of the corner of his eye for even one misstep or falter.

“What were you guys lollygagging on?” With that bitchy tone, either she doesn’t know or doesn’t care.

“Sam got stung by a scorpion.”

Instead of being concerned, Hazel only rolls her eyes as she looks at him. “Idiot. You better not slow us down.”

“That was uncalled for, I was only trying to get you some obsidian. And it won’t, I’m fine.” All three go silent as they continue on, only stopping each time they find shards of the volcanic glass as Hazel collects them.

Coming across another small pool of bubbling water, Danny stops near it, bending to observe. Feeling Sam’s presence next to him, he turns towards him slightly. “What do you think these are?” His words fall on deaf ears as Sam’s eyes lock on the distance, and Danny follows his gaze to see nothing there. Standing, his hands find Sam’s biceps, trying to snap his attention back to him with a light shake. “Sam?”

“Hm?” Although he locks eyes with Danny, his were distant and far-away, as if his mind had clouded over. His skin looks pale, too pale. What the fuck-? Danny’s gaze is ripped to Sam’s neck, where black lines had been snaking their way up his skin, starting to work up and over his jaw.

“Sam, are you ok?”

“Mhm, fine. I’m fine.” He mumbles the words out before collapsing without another word, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as Danny scrambles to catch him. Terror overtakes his mind as the other man starts spasming in his arms, trying to keep his head from hitting a rock as he holds him, both having fallen to the ground directly beside the water.

“HAZEL!” The words rip at Danny’s throat, but he doesn’t feel the burn as he desperately looks over to see her looking back with an annoyed glare. That is until she sees the state that Sam was in. She rushes over to their side with wide eyes, kneeling next to them as she looks from Sam to Danny.

“What the fuck happened?!”

“I don’t know! He just- he just collapsed!”

“Fuck! Shit! What do we do?!”

“I don’t fucking know!” Tears threaten to spill from his eyes as he clutches Sam’s convulsing, unconscious body, his stomach turning as he sees black foam seeping from the corners of his lips.

“We need to kill him.”

“WHAT?! ARE YOU JOKING RIGHT NOW?!”

“OF COURSE I’M NOT FUCKING JOKING! We need to put him out of his misery!” Hazel’s arm holding her machete twitches, as if she were preparing to strike.

“Stay the fuck away from him I swear to god!”

“Do you have a better idea?!”

“I-” Danny doesn’t even notice Sam’s right-hand flop into the bubbling pool beside them in his panic, his mind darting between solutions faster than he can process. Before he can come up with an answer, Sam’s movements stop completely, his eyes wide open and still slightly rolled back, the small veins of his eyes stark black against the whites. “Sam?” Danny can feel his frantic heartbeat pounding in his skull as he’s met with no response, realizing that the familiar, comforting rise and fall of his chest had ceased. “Sam!? Please!”

As Danny shakes him roughly, his tears spill over his lash line before he feels Sam’s hand hit his back, his body limp in his arms. Realizing what had happened, Danny rips his eyes to his hand, expecting to see the skin raw and burned from the water. Instead, he finds his skin unmarked, the sting almost completely gone as the black lines recede. Could it-? No, they wouldn’t be that merciful. It could be though… I have to try. I can’t- I can’t let him die like I did the others.

Danny wastes no time as he sheds his bag and rips Sam’s off before dragging him into the water with him, holding his back to his chest as his head lolls onto his shoulder. Please, please work like I think it will. Please dear God. Hazel says nothing as she watches, the ghost of defeat passing over her face as she accepts that Sam wasn’t waking up again. It has to work, it has to. Danny’s face finds the crook of Sam’s neck as his hopes slowly dwindle, his tears falling onto the other man’s skin as they become sobs. “Please, Sam. Please.” He doesn’t even realize that his lips were brushing against the soft skin of his neck as he whispers the words out like a prayer, begging Sam and anyone that would listen to bring him back.

Just as he begins to accept defeat, Sam gasps for air, his hands clawing at Danny’s still wrapped tight across his chest as he fights against him. “Sam! Calm down, calm down. It’s ok, I’ve got you. You’re ok.” Danny’s sobs become tears of happiness as he feels the other man’s breaths evening out, his body slowly relaxing in his arms as his head falls back to rest on Danny’s shoulder once more. “You’re ok.”

“What- what the fuck happened.”

“The sting, it must have been venomous. You collapsed and were- you looked like you were having a seizure.”

“Yeah, it was really fucking disturbing. Your eyes were all black and you were foaming at the mouth.”

Danny shoots Hazel the deadliest glare he can muster, rage filling him at her words. He casts them aside momentarily to continue his explanation for Sam, knowing he must be beyond confused and lost at what had occurred. “Your hand fell into the water and then it healed the sting, so I thought that maybe it was healing water or something, so I dragged you into it and now- uh then you woke up.” Danny finishes his ramble, feeling his cheeks tint as Sam looks up at him, still looking as if he was in a daze but understanding his words.

“Oh- thank you, Daniel.”

“Yeah… no problem.” Danny realizes immediately that they were still in the water, with Sam still pressed directly to his front. “Hazel, help him out, will you?”

Snapping out of her own daze, she grasps Sam’s forearm as she uses her entire body weight to yank him out of the water while Danny climbs out. Sam collapses to the ground immediately, seemingly uncaring at how the rock below him must have dug into his back. Danny finds a spot next to him, crouching as the once warm water soaking his clothes becomes colder in the air, the chill seeping into his bones. He pushes the feeling aside as he focuses on Sam, watching for any sign that the water hadn’t fully healed him. “You ok?”

“Yeah, yeah, I just need a minute.” Sam closes his eyes as his breaths continue to even out, not seeing the way Hazel refused to look at him. Danny waits patiently, allowing Sam all the time he needed to recover as he gently rubs comforting circles into his shoulder with the pad of his thumb.

“We need to get going.” Is she actually fucking serious right now? Danny rips his eyes to Hazel as rage fills him, her blank expression only further angering him.

“Are you kidding?! Sam almost fucking died, you suggested we kill him, and now you’re in a rush to leave again?!”

“Wait what?!” Sam’s eyes fly open at his words, trying to sit up to look at Hazel as betrayal twists his features. “You were going to kill me?!”

“I thought there was nothing we could do for you! I thought it would be better to kill you quickly than to let you suffer! Don’t act all offended, you would have done the same if it were me.”

“No, I fucking wouldn’t have, Hazel! You want to know why? Because we’re allies. We’re supposed to look out for each other. As much as I fucking hate you, I would have tried to save you before resorting to that.”

“Let’s just go.” Hazel rolls her eyes as she stands, already making a move to walk away from them.

“No, Hazel, I think you should go.” Sam’s voice is firm as he glares at Hazel, accepting Danny’s hand to help him to his feet as they stand.

“What?”

“You need to go. I don’t- I can’t trust you at all anymore, and I can’t be allies with someone I can’t trust.” She’s gonna snap, she’s gonna try to fight, I can feel it. Danny bends to retrieve his axe, the handle sticking out of his bag as slow as he can so Hazel wouldn’t focus on his actions as she huffs out an exasperated breath.

“Are you joking right now?” His hand finds the handle as he pulls it from the bag, thankful that her attention was still on Sam.

“No. I’ve never been more serious. Leave now or we kill you.”

“I can’t believe you right now! You’re just gonna ditch me the second you get your little boy toy on your side? Is that what this is? You just wanted to be allies with him and were only keeping me around until you got that?!”

Boy toy? What is she saying?

“You have five fucking seconds to get out of my sight, I swear to god.” Rage tints Sam’s tone as Danny looks between the two, hoping that if she tried to attack, he could get Sam to safety in time. He’s weak right now, I don’t know how long he’d last in combat, even with me helping.

“LIKE FUCKING HELL I DO!” Danny blocks her strike with the handle of his axe as she arcs the machete towards Sam, pushing him behind himself as she recovers from his block.

“You don’t have to do this, Hazel.” He tries to keep his voice as steady as possible as he meets her eyes, a wild, crazed look behind them as she stares back unblinking.

“Oh yes I fucking do. I can’t wait to make Sammy boy watch you bleed out. Then, I’ll fucking kill him. Slowly, painfully.” She grins wide as she speaks, turning Danny’s fear into fury as he anticipates another attack. She’s not touching a hair on his goddamn head.

Hazel lunges at him, her blade directed towards him specifically this time. Danny has no trouble blocking it but doesn’t expect her brisk sidestep as she sends a punch to his liver, sending him to the ground and gasping for air. Fuck. I may be stronger and bigger, but she’s faster. Instead of attacking him again, Hazel’s attention turns to Sam, who stood weaponless behind Danny.

“Run!” The word earns him a slash to the face as his vision cuts out momentarily, pain beginning to pulse above and below his left eye as he hears boots scuffling across the rock. Blinking through the blood clouding his vision, he can barely make out two forms sprinting away from him, with Sam in the lead only by about 10 feet. Grabbing his and Sam’s bags, he forces himself to his feet as he stumbles after them, praying that he wouldn’t be too late to protect Sam from her.

Catching up to them, he watches in terror as Hazel chases Sam up a small cliff, the edge of it growing closer and closer as Sam realizes he had nowhere left to run. No. No. NO. Sam turns towards her as he reaches the edge, squaring up as if he were preparing to fight her. Just as Danny reaches the bottom of the cliff, he sees Hazel swing her blade at Sam, catching his cheek as he jumps backwards. Before Danny can process it, he loses his footing, falling backwards off the edge and disappearing from his sight as Hazel stands triumphantly above him.

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Taglist: @jake-whatthefisgoingon-kiszka @milojames16 @gretnavannfleet @aioba1503-sdm @sanguinebats @cheersdannyx2 @musicislove3389 @holdingup-fallingsky @freyjalw @hailthegodsong @Maddie-Rae

#greta van fleet #greta van fleet fan fiction #gvf fic #daniel gvf #sam gvf #sanny gvf #greta van angst #sam kiszka x danny wagner #sam kiszka #danny wagner #hunger games au

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atmilliways · 1 year ago

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Wrong On The Money (24)

part 24 of ?? | 672 words | Teen+

Blackmail fic on Ao3 | on tumblr

Summary:

By the time Eddie wakes up, it’s not a private room anymore. He looks blearily over to his right, sees Steve lying still and quiet in a hospital bed of his own, and immediately tries to sit up. Wake up, I don’t like this.

24.

By the time Eddie wakes up, it’s not a private room anymore. He looks blearily over to his right, sees Steve lying still and quiet in a hospital bed of his own, and immediately tries to sit up.

Wake up, I don’t like this.

“Oh motherfucker,” Eddie groans at the immediate wildfire the motion starts through his core. He feels like he’s being split open down the middle.

“Easy son, easy—” By the time Wayne’s intercepting hands reach him, Eddie is already falling back the inch or so he’d managed to rise with a pained whine. It’s jarring to see Wayne in a hospital setting again, but, well. Tables are pretty damn well turned now. And while the man looks stressed and worried, that's nothing to the gray, haggard ghost of himself that he'd been while sick.

It takes Eddie several minutes, a button that sends painkiller straight through his veins like a cold bath from the inside out, and a pitiful mouthful of ice chips to compose himself again.

“Steve,” he wheezes finally. “What happened?”

Wayne snorts. “Dumbassery.”

Eddie manages a weak smile. “Be more specific?”

“Looked like he got chewed on by the same thing that spit you out, only he didn’t get it looked at. Took the time to save your life first, though.” Taking the cup of ice chips away for later, Wayne sits back in his uncomfortable visitor's chair with a sigh. “The hell’d you get yourself mixed up in this time, Ed? First I come in here to find the Harrington boy watchin’ over you and you’re handcuffed to the bed. Then he keels over, and half an hour later Jim Hopper comes back from the dead to uncuff you and say the government’s covering all the medical bills.”

And the drugs might play a role here, but Eddie tells him. There’s no ‘you’re not gonna believe me,’ not with Wayne.

He tells him everything. Chrissy, holding a broken bottle to Steve’s neck, the Upside Down and its monsters, everything. Even the blackmail part. Even though it takes him several tries over at least a whole day because he keeps drifting in and out, quality drugs and sheer exhaustion dragging him down into much needed rest.

When he’s done, Wayne regards him with a measured look—and in this case, the measuring cup is heaped full with are you fucking kidding me.

Eddie braces himself. (Mentally, anyway. Physically, he can't do shit.) The being gay, the dealing drugs, the murder charges—none of that did it, which is good, but he’s not entirely sure that Wayne won’t finally kick him to the curb for taking some poor guy’s wallet for a ride. Especially the guy who just saved his life, and who his uncle seems to have taken a liking to because of it.

“Son,” Wayne says, blunt as ever, “as soon as that boy is conscious again, you need to talk to him. You need to apologize.” There’s a long pause, and this is it, this is the part where Eddie is expecting to hear that next he should pack his bags— “And then tell him thank you.”

Another long pause.

“Is that all?” Eddie asks weakly, because he has to be sure.

Wayne nods. “That’s plenty. Want a pen and paper to plan it out like one’a your game campaigns?”

On some level, Eddie recognizes that his uncle is making fun of him. On another . . . yeah, he actually kind of does, just to scribble out the jumble of thoughts in his head, not only about Steve but about everything. On every possible level, his eyes well up.

The sleep he’d gotten since almost dying was, perversely, the best he’d had in months. Since before Wayne had gotten sick, all the way through to the end of the worst Spring Break in the history of the world.Eddie chokes out a laugh as the first tears begin to fall, a comforting old hand finding its way to his shoulder as he has a long, long overdue breakdown.

#steddie blackmail fic #steddie fic #steddie #stranger things fic #eddie munson #steve harrington #wayne munson #good uncle wayne

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dreamersbcll · 1 year ago

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“Toxic”

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Tara had built quite a reputation at Blackmore University.

After all, she was a survivor in the recent Woodsboro massacre and sported some kickass scars. She was also a pretty girl with nothing to lose.

And that got her in trouble, a lot.

It wasn’t her fault that she enjoyed partying. That drinking and smoking made her feel alive. And it certainly wasn’t her fault that the boys flocked to her in droves.

She was a pretty girl with nothing to lose. Or at least that’s what they thought.

Every boy who flirted with her, touched her, craved her, was nothing to her. It didn’t matter how many drinks they gave her, or how many times they told her she was pretty. She didn’t care. They were nothing but noise to her.

This most recent party was a Halloween event. What was she supposed to do, not go? She may be just a freshman, but she knew that everybody went to these parties. It was a night of mischief and violence. Right up her alley.

She came home later that night with a red mark on her cheek and smelling like rum. She tried to sneak into the apartment but failed miserably as she tripped and fell over her roommate’s shoes.

“Fuck,” she hissed, rubbing her shin. She was too drunk to deal with random obstacles in her way.

Plus she would wake up Sam. And she didn’t want that.

But it was too late. The kitchen light flickered on and there she was. Her big sister, sitting at the kitchen table, arms crossed.

“Oh. Hi Sam. What’s up?” Tara said, trying to sound nonchalant. The room was spinning around her. How much rum did she have? She didn’t know. She giggled to herself, stumbling to the bathroom.

Sam was having none of it. She reached over and caught Tara by the chin, yanking her back. Tara nearly keeled backward, but her sister caught her, standing her upright.

Her sister examined Tara’s face- the sweaty makeup, the lopsided grin, and her eyes narrowed at the red mark on Tara’s face. A slap mark.

“What happened?” she growled, her eyes darkening.

Tara looked down, wincing at the grip Sam had on her chin. “Uh, I got slapped. But it was probably because I stole a bottle of rum from this guy named Carter. It’s my fault for being drunk and stupid, don’t worry Sam,” she nervously said, smiling despite the dark look in her sister’s eyes.

That didn’t work.

Sam let go of her, standing up and making her way to the door. Tara stumbled after her and caught Sam around the wrist.

“No, Sam, it's okay. Really. It’s just a mark. I’ll be fine,” she stuttered, trying to pull Sam back with all her might.

Her sister whipped around, grabbing Tara by the shoulders. “He hit you, Tara. That’s not okay. Nobody should be touching you. You’re mine. Nobody else’s. I’m going to go show him that, okay?”

Tara sighed, rubbing her face in exasperation. “I am yours. I know that. Do you know that?”

Her sister nodded once, eyes focused on something else. She was drifting. Tara needed her focused on the task at hand. Sam had to be clear minded and ready. Otherwise this would never work.

“Can I watch this time? You never let me watch. I’ll be quiet, I promise,” Tara begged softly, pouting a bit.

Sam paused for a minute, weighing her options. Finally, she let go of Tara, reaching into the broom closet for the second costume. She tossed it to Tara, her costume in hand.

“Yeah, that’s fine. Just make sure you tie your hair up so we don’t leave evidence, okay?”

Tara nodded gleefully, her eyes darkening with pleasure. “Can I make the call this time? You did it all the last three times. You lack creativity, you know that?” she complained, a drunken smile creeping through her face.

Groaning, Sam tossed her the voice modulator. “I don’t lack creativity, jackass. I aim to torture, not just kill. Now get dressed and let go. I want to dump this body in a different place so the police don’t catch on.”

“What about that last guy? Duncan? The one who pulled my hair? You just scalped him and left him there. That was boring. I would’ve done it differently,”.

Sam rolled her eyes. “The last time I let you take control was with that Peter dude. You cried when you got blood on your face. Never again, dummy. Now let's go!”

“Yeah Yeah. Let’s go,” Tara parroted, slipping the mask on.

The two sisters exited into the night, their weapons in hand.

Halloween was always so fun.

#scream #sam carpenter #tara carpenter #carpenter sisters #codependent killers #something fun #ao3 author #my writing tag

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clatterbane · 7 months ago

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This shit is making me a little nervous, ngl. Maybe an hour ago, I went ahead and ate this pretty yummy tteokbokki cup (with some added kimchi and cheese), which I had actually been holding off on because it usually it is likely to hit my blood sugar like a truck even with loading up on plenty of insulin beforehand. Normally I would start out with 4 units in advance, and be prepared to get like 2-4 more units in later to cover that amount of concentrated particularly high glycemic rice carbs. By this time after eating it, I would likely be reaching for the insulin as the graph is shooting up into the red above the top range lines there. It's enough of a PITA that I just haven't felt like dealing with that enough to eat the thing.

But, tonight? One unit in advance just because it felt like maybe I shouldn't push my luck that hard to go totally without, and this is what the graph is doing:

(That's a new sensor put on yesterday, and it's wanting to be particularly noisy in the readings. Just ignore the aggravating spikiness of that line. I have double checked by finger sticks to calibrate, and it is accurate enough down the middle.)

Going by recent experience, I may actually need to grab a sweet snack before long, to keep that one freaking unit of insulin for a carb-dense meal from crashing my blood sugar right about when I want to go to bed.

Yeah, my three (3) remaining beta cells have apparently all decided to wake up at the same time recently, and go back to work cranking out their own insulin specifically in response to eating. And particularly later in the day. They seem to be night owls too.

It's apparently not unusual for later-onset folks like me to keep some level of insulin production going for longer. Which can change unpredictably.

Don't know if you can even call it a "honeymoon" at this point, since I do seem to be Stubborn Beta Cells Georg. They are still pulling this shit over 15 years in. That's kinda how the extended NHS medical negligence didn't just flat out kill me much faster. Kept limping along with just enough production to keep me progressively sicker and developing complications but only half-dead until that huge crash. Don't know how they managed it, or how they are this persistent even after it looked like they had finally keeled over for good. But, they're still going enough normally that I the endo has been surprised at how relatively little insulin I do normally need.

Some decent backup does seem to have let them recover enough to occasionally come back to work part time, though. This is just the biggest effort they've put in again so far. It's fucking weird.

Impossible to tell when that stubborn handful of beta cells will decide to go back on strike again, of course. But yeah, may as well take advantage of it while it lasts. Thus the post-midnight rice cake snack to begin with!

Maybe I should go ahead and cook some of the real deal over the weekend. I bought some tteokbokki a while back, because I do love it, but hadn't quite psyched myself up to fix it yet. May go for a cheesy variation, because why not.

Not my pic, but it is making me hungry.

#personal #T1 diabetes #food #diabetes

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kayssweetdreams · 1 year ago

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A "Perfect" Vacation Ch 16

The sunset gave way into night as everyone had made it down to see Thea's dress rehearsal. Thea herself had to squeeze herself into her old performance outfit. "C'mon dear, That's it! Almost there..." Stefan said, helping his wife. "It's not the costume that I'm worried about. It's Ka Lā's weird song choices. She still won't change them, and she still won't tell me WHY she wanted them." Thea explained.

"I know, But surely there must be some reason..." Stefan said, giving his wife a reassuring smile. Thea smiled back, but not before a stage hand tapped her on the shoulder "Miss Bruno. You're on in 6 minutes." He said, before attending to some stage equipment. "Welp...That's my cue. See you out there honey." Stefan said as he made is way outside to sit with the rest of the family. So far, Ka Lā had been practicing what she would be saying for when the opening day came...but her speech seemed to be putting more people to sleep rather than hyping them.

Leo had to resist the urge to bash his head on the table in front of him "Why is she still talking?!" He whisper-groaned. "I don't know how much more I can take...She seems to never stop!" Lora whispered, her eye twitching. Dolly was slowly succumbing to sleep, and her arm accidentally slipped, causing her to jolt awake in a frenzy. "Is she still going?!" She whispered to Mei, who gave a yawn "Eeeeeeeeeyup...She's still going." She said, sheer boredom in her voice.

The adults almost felt the same way. Iben had given Phil and Lila her phone in order to keep them occupied, while Roland had begun meditating, as the vibes here were "Too Boring" for his taste. Ka Lā could see that nobody in the audience was invested in the speech, so she decided while she tried to make a more "investing" speech, she would have them applaud for Thea "A-And now. Please welcome the world renowned singer, the queen of music, the empress of pop, Thea Bruno!" She announced, finally getting the crowd to erupt into applause.

Thea then walked out on stage, but she had a little trick up her sleeve "Thank You! Thank You! I dedicate this song to my friends and family that have stuck by me for so many years. Especially to my dearest friend Ka Lā, and to my eldest darling daughter." She said before nodding to the band. They nodded back as Thea began to sing an entirely different song than any Ka La had suggested to her. This made the tropical woman on the other hand seethe 'WHAT IS SHE DOING?!?!' she thought in anger.

The audience immediately began to perk up as the former star sang her heart out. The audience then began to dance around to Thea's energetic song, from Leo busting out more advance moves he learned dancing back on the mainland, to Iben and John breaking out into a playful tango. However, amidst the joy, Ka Lā was red with anger. How DARE Thea go against the song choices! And after she had TOLD her! Well then...two could play at that game...

After the dress rehearsal, mostly everyone had gone back to their rooms, with the exception of Yuri going to check out some of the tropical bugs that she assumed lived on the island, and Haoyu going to the ocean with Fiona. Thea however, was dealing with the aftermath of her little 'Stunt'. Right now, she was in Ka Lā's office, listening to her ranting about "It was Mutiny" and "After all that we went through". Thea eventually stopped her on her rant however.

"It wasn't MY fault that you were boring the audience to sleep! I just was waking them up again." She argued. "SO?! This was supposed to be SERIOUS! How am I supposed to prove that I'm serious of you're on stage singing ridiculous pop songs and acting like a harlot?!" Ka La questioned. Thea raised an eyebrow "I was NOT acting like a harlot. All I did was just put a little more energy into the announcement. Like I said, you're trying to get people to COME to the hotel, not make them keel over in boredom." She shot.

Now Ka Lā was seeing red "NOW YOU SEE HERE BRUNO!! I brought you here, I can kick you off of it to." She threatened. Thea became angry. This wasn't the same woman that she was close with, this was someone else entirely. "Fine then, Me, My Family, and their friends can leave first thing in the morning then. If you don't want to listen to reason, then fine. But I'm not your dancing puppet." She said, fury in her words as she turned to leave the office and inform her family. However, before she can even leave, something sharp poked her in the back of her neck.

She quickly pulled it out to reveal it was a tranquilliser dart, as her vision began to blurry, and she lost her balance. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was Ka La...with a sinister look on her face

"Oh Bruno...You aren't going anywhere."

Mei Phil and Lila belong to @sundove88

Rebecca belongs to @thehypercutstudios/@thehyperrequiem

Trisha Jane belongs to @lovelyteng

Lora belongs to @alex-frostwalker

#Balan Wonderworld

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secondsonaym · 2 years ago

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Star sighed, head still swimming from the surge of adrenaline and fear. She hadn't been injured--At least, not as badly as Narinder--but she still felt so tired.

"As much as looking for Stolas would be the right choice... We have no idea where Fox sent him, and we're in no condition to be facing any more obstacles." she concluded.

"I suppose you have a point there." Ratau murmured, glancing over at Deckard, who still lay unconscious. "We need to figure out what to do when they wake up, after all."

"If you could find something to restrain them, that would be good." Star suggested. "There's got to be something around here."

Ratau opened his mouth, as if to give a protest, but then closed it, looking to Narinder. Though Star had been ready to kill him earlier that day... Perhaps he could leave them alone for just a little bit.

Excusing himself, he got to his feet, walking off to try and find something that would suit their needs.

It was Star's turn to look at Narinder, and when she did, she let out a small sigh. He was hunched over, trying to make himself as small as possible. Though he was attempting to mask his pained expression, it was a complete failure. He looked like he was going to keel over any second.

Star didn't know what kind of resilience his former godhood had granted him, but she was surprised he was still conscious at this point. Anyone else would have passed out and perhaps even died by now.

But she had an idea. It wouldn't be a perfect solution, but...

The brazenness of her request was enough to grant Narinder some energy, as he sat up straight and stared at her, flabbergasted.

"I said don't be weird about it!" She insisted, ignoring her own flushed face. "I just want to see your wounds, okay?"

Narinder stared at her for a while longer, face twisting as he tried to decipher what ulterior motive she could have. This didn't seem like any earlier scheme of hers, so perhaps...

"Fine." He managed, reaching up to undo the collar and pulling the fleece off of his shoulders, allowing her a better view of the damage.

Star winced. Though a good deal of blood had been absorbed by the fleece, more had stained his fur. Any longer, and the entire area around the wounds would be horrifically matted.

But she didn't have time to fret over any of that. Instinct was now guiding her and she carefully leaned in, gently placing a finger on the first stab wound.

She could feel Narinder tense up and attempt to slow his breathing at her touch. Perhaps earlier this kind of thing would have amused her but now wasn't the time. The power of the crown gave her a sense of what she needed to do.

Rather than focus her energy on the wound itself, she reached further, into the threshold of life and death itself. She could sense it, Narinder's soul. It wavered just on the edge, trembling as if one strong gust would send it flying into oblivion.

Well, she wasn't going to let that happen. She closed her eyes, and a soft red glow shone on her hand, covering the wound. She took hold of the edges of Narinder's soul, gently pulling it back little by little.

From an outsider's perspective, it would look like she was merely healing him with bright red light. But something entirely different was happening beneath the surface, something only she could see and sense. Such was the power of the Red Crown.

All Narinder could do was stare incredulously, watching before his eyes as his wound began to shrink. Steadily, the blood flow decreased, and the wound soon became nothing more than a shallow scrape.

Not pausing, Star moved to the next wound, repeating the process, red glow and all. It was slow--She had to be careful handling a soul so close to the edge--but her determination kept her steady.

Finally came the wound on his arm, she just needed to--

"Star." Narinder cut in, setting his good hand on her shoulder, snapping her to attention. "Stop."

"Wha--But I'm almost--"

"You look terrible."

And then she realized just how exhausted she felt. She almost fell over into Narinder, but he managed to catch her, steadying her.

"You've never used that much power before. You're not used to it." He explained when he noticed her uneasy confusion. "But... What you did was good. I feel much better, and I think I'll survive."

Star sighed, relieved to hear at least that much. She would have liked to focus on his arm, as that looked much more ghastly, but at least with the severity of the stab wounds lessened, he wasn't in immediate danger anymore.

"Though... I can't say I've ever done something like that myself." He admitted once she was able to sit straight on her own.

"Huh?" Was all she could manage.

"Using the powers of death... To heal." He explained as he put the fleece back on over his shoulders. "It's contradictory at its core."

"I don't know what to tell you." She mumbled with a shrug. "I sensed your soul, and then I coaxed it back. So it resulted in your wounds becoming less... Life-threatening."

"I suppose that makes sense." Narinder mumbled. "I likely would have just waited until somebody was dead, then brought them back. But your application is... Good."

Star stared at him for a moment, before realizing what he was likely referring to.

After all, before setting out on this mission, she had wanted him dead. Each of them had saved the other during the fight, and now she had just brought him back from the brink of death.

It was probably best that they talked about it sooner rather than later...

#usurper au #ch3 #starwatcher berserk #ratau #narinder #deckard berserk #blood cw

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selfpositiveundertale · 2 years ago

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Hey. Vent post and update. Not a happy post.

I'm not okay. I don't know when or if I will be okay. My health seems to be getting worse. I'm having a problem that, going from the symptoms, seems a lot like hypoglycemia, but my most recent blood work says I am not diabetic or prediabetic and everything looked normal. As I understand it, hypoglycemia without diabetes is a rare condition, but with my luck and my medical history I would not be surprised. I'm needing to eat more and more frequently and it seems like the specific types of food that were helping to keep the problems at bay just aren't as effective anymore, and now I can barely even tell what specific thing I need to eat. Do I need protein? Do I need greens? Do I need complex carbs? Do I need sugar? Who knows! Not me! I just have to guess and hope I guess right, or else my body is going to throw a fit about it and give me a matter of minutes to consume the Correct Thing before it just makes me go to sleep.

I dare not stray outside my list of safe foods, and by safe foods I mean foods that won't make my issues worse. Most candy, soda, white bread, anything with a lot of simple carbs or refined sugars is out of the question if I want to stay awake, upright, and functional, with few exceptions. Even honey, eating fruit, plant based protein, most vegetables besides dark leafy greens and potatoes and sweet potatoes, and things like white rice or bread that's been enriched with nutrients, at best does no good and at worst makes me feel like I'm going to keel over, which really sucks because my ultimate comfort food is soup beans and cornbread, and if I could eat that to get me through the day I would. The only things I can at least somewhat rely on are animal protein(preferably red meat but seafood, poultry, or eggs will do in a pinch, and whey protein is a last resort), dark leafy greens(kale, collard greens, that kind of thing), fruit juice(MUST be 100% juice) or fruit smoothies, and complex carbs(mostly whole grains, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, but oat milk works for a quick fix).

I'm trying to find solutions and work around this whole thing so I can go on with my life. I'm baking a lot of whole grain cornbread these days because it's easy to make and is the perfect thing when I need my carbs. I might need to invest in a bulk amount of beef jerky. I had been getting bulk amounts of cans of apple juice online but that's been harder to get in recent weeks so I've just been getting a 90-something-oz jug of grape juice from the store instead. My therapist suggested I start making green smoothies rather than just eating my greens cooked, so I might start getting my greenery in that way. Throwing the green stuff into the blender with some oat milk, chopped fruit, and a scoop of whey protein powder might make my life easier. I'll also discuss it with my chiropractor when I see him later this week, as he is a licensed nutritionist and can probably help me figure something out.

I'm so dang sick of being tired or hungry or both 24/7 and my body being like a fuel inefficient car that guzzles a whole tank of gas just to get you to the other side of town. If I go longer than an hour or so without eating or if I eat the wrong thing, I start getting hit by fatigue, dizziness, headache, shakiness, confusion, blurring vision, weakness, stuttering or slurred speech, and it'll get worse until I either eat something or fall asleep. If I fall asleep, I usually at least wake up with just enough strength to get something small and quick into my system and give myself the energy to think of what I need to do next.

I don't know what this is or why it's happening. I find myself wondering if it could be related to my fibromyalgia, or a long term side effect from when I caught covid a year or two ago, or if I've messed up my liver by taking Excedrin Migraine for the chronic headaches I've had since 2011, or if I'm alone in this. I haven't met anyone else dealing with this exact thing. Every time I go a-googling, I only ever find articles about diabetes and I want to scream BUT I DON'T HAVE THAT SO WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO??? They say a problem well defined is half solved, but what can you do about it when you don't even have the resources to define the problem?

I have cried so much in the last week or so because I'm so frustrated with this. It's ruining everything in my life. I can't complete my personal responsibilities, I can't keep up with most of my friends except for the small handful of my very closest friends, I haven't been active on here in ages, haven't been able to get any crochet work done, barely been able to practice any self care beyond eating whatever I have the strength to put together, and I'm starting to lose sight of the point of existing if it has to be in a body that hurts all the time and can't hold onto fuel. I'm frustrated, I'm tired, I'm scared, I'm sad, I'm angry, I'm lost, and it's getting harder and harder to not lose hope. I'm really trying to hang in there, but it's so hard.

I don't know what to do anymore.

It's after 2am, so I think I'll stop there and try to get some sleep. Maybe tomorrow will be better. One can hope.

Stay determined. I'm trying to.

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my-sweet-vxlentine · 1 year ago

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Knighting Day

Not proofread lol, there's gonna be a lot of mistakes

It was an early spring morning in the earth kingdom. The land was still and the sky was clear with the exception of a couple cumulus clouds. it had rained the night before, so the smell of petrichor was still lingering in the air.

It was Knighting Day.

After years of training, Jude would finally receive his knighthood. He could hardly contain his excitement as he had wanted this ever since he stepped foot into the capital city of the kingdom, ever since…the incident. Nobility, aristocracy, and gentry come far and wide to see their majesty's newest knights swear on their lives to protect the monarch and serve the kingdom. Jude was a special case, for he was to go last because of his history of leading the army (still as a recruit) into battle and emerging victorious every single time. He's to be given special honors, and as soon as he graduates from recruitment to knighthood, he will be promoted to a general in their majesty's army.

Jude woke up in the wee hours of the morning and stayed in bed till they heard the first bells of the day signaling for the city to wake from its slumber. They rushed out of bed and onto the cobblestone floors of the castle to start brushing his chin length, wavy, black hair. He donned his special armored uniform that was a gift from the monarch themself. He polished his boots and frog lipped helmet which was only worn for ceremonial purposes as it had a narrow field of vision.

They were giddy with excitement and had so many butterflies in their stomach they could hardly eat. His life was about to change forever, in more ways than one.

The sky kingdom and the earth kingdom did not get along. One could go as far to even call them enemies. But personal feelings were always pushed aside on special occasions such as Knighting Day. The princesses Cassiopeia and Aurora both went along with their father, the king, down in a gilded carriage pulled by pegasi to the earth kingdom to celebrate the knightings. It was a big deal in every kingdom for knights to graduate. Knighting day didn't happen very often in the sky kingdom because the sky kingdom has no interest whatsoever to war with any land walkers. They simply thought that they were better than land walkers.

Cassiopeia thought it was silly to arrive in a carriage from the sky when they could just fly down. Every cloud walker did have wings, so why couldn't they fly down? She had asked her father about it and he always said “We are royalty, there's no need to do something as common as flying down.” She thinks he does it to make himself look better to other people.

The ceremony started at 1 pm, and the cloudwalker family wanted to make an entrance so they arrived around 12:30 because everyone was already going to be in their assigned seating. Being the only other royal family, the cloudwalkers were placed relatively close to Monarch Salem and near the kneeling cushion. The knighting ceremony had dragged on for about 2 hours until a certain ravenette caught the princess’ attention.

“Jude, the Brave!” called the announcer. Everyone in the room looked up at the last person to be knighted. Cassiopeia couldn't help but stare at this stranger’s dark colored eyes, and the way the sun emblem on his helmet shone underneath the light of the large chandelier. His soft looking wavy, black hair framed their angelic face perfectly. Ohhh, dear Cassiopeia was falling in love, with a land walker no less.

Jude was petrified. All these people staring at them, he didn't know where to look so he just stared into the eyes of the monarch as he walked down the aisle and kneeled on the cushion, ready to vow his life to the monarch.

“Jude, the Brave, do you vow to protect your monarch for as long as you shall live?” asked Monarch Salem. “I do,” he replied. Jude had caught the eyes of Cassiopeia and she wiggled her eyebrows at the poor knight who was already trying not to keel over, Jude was so embarrassed that he only caught the last couple of words Monarch Salem had asked of him. “... and protect your fellow troops?” Jude swallowed the lump in his throat and shakily gave his reply of “I do.”

“May you serve your kingdom well and may good fortune be ever on your side.” put forth Monarch Salem as they used the flat edge of Jude's own sword to knight him.

Cassiopeia animatedly clapped for Jude as he walked back down the aisle, off to the reception. She was going to have to meet him

#my writing #my ocs #jude the brave #princess cassiopeia #monarch salem

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aliens-took-my-iwa-chan · 2 years ago

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Yahoo~~ happy tgsday my sunshine

Spoilers ahead!!!

...... YESSSSS. YES PLEASE. I NEED THIS SCENE AND I NEED IT NOW! A fluffy little dress up scene to set off all this angst

Poor Rachel recognizing her errors and yet unable to change as of yet~ i hope she'll get better at it as the story goes on, I'd like Jasper and her to stay friends.

This marks the way too high number update without our beloved Hyde. I'm starting to miss the spirit of the London night (⁠ᗒ⁠ᗩ⁠ᗕ⁠)

I hope your week goes amazing, don't forget that you're awesome and beautiful and smart and creative and the bestest o⁠(⁠(⁠*⁠^⁠▽⁠^⁠*⁠)⁠)⁠o

ah yay!!!! great chapter to wake up to lolol

I LITERALLY SQUEALED WHEN I READ THAT- i want this scene so badly,, like omggg its so sweet and so perfect and aaaandngn

I. Love. Rachel. I feel so bad for her omg my poor little girlie,, if she fussed over me I wouldnt push her away 🥺🥺🥺 but honestly, although she did mess up with jasper, I don’t think its as big of a deal to him as it is to her. I think that if she just apologized and promised not to do it again, tried to be a little better about it ya know,, I think jasper would be understanding. As long as shes understanding of him, I think he’ll return the favor. I hope they stop being weird around each other soon ;-;

HONESTLY- I miss him so much- I’m at the point where I’m starting to imagine Hyde in every scenario- like, imagine if ito and rachel are playing dress up and all of a sudden hyde’s there complimenting Ito’s kimono? or if rachel and jasper get to talk and BOOM hydes cheering them on? or if at this little party… jekyll keels over and starts transforming?

which brings me to my next point… nobody said hyde was *done*. so the exhibitions over, he got some well needed rest, so what? hydes still there, ruining his unconscious and intent on taking him down. plus, the chapter art!! gosh I miss him ;-; part of me hopes that this story gets to be similar to the book (where he starts transforming without the potion), and while I’d feel bad for jekyll, that would be sooo cool xD i miss hyde lolol ive been separated from my fav boyo for too long xD

ah thank you!! I have today off so I got to sleep in hehe ^-^ jfjfjfjskncjd youre so sweet ;-; youre wonderful and lovely and gorgeous and stupendous and awesome and absolutely amazing!!! I hope your eeek is awesome, remember to stay hydrated!!!! ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

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the-trinket-witch · 1 year ago

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Practically Perfect Ch. 13

(Ch 14 |Ch 12 |Ch 1)

Albert’s sleep cycle was pretty much decimated. Sleep would stay for a couple of hours, only to leave in time for him to wake and retch. The morning came sooner than he would have liked, but with the day brought visitors: Yuu, Grim, Jack, Ace and Deuce. Their worried faces melted to relief as they saw their friend awake. Ace and Deuce bounced over to either side of the bed, ready to barrage him with questions.

“Dude are you okay?!”

“How are you feeling?”

“We heard you about overblotted the other night trying to keep up with orders.”

“That bastard Azul pushed you way too far. We’re gonna make him pay for this somehow.”

“Once we get that contract completed we’ll beat his-”

“Oi! Knock it off-you’re overwhelming him. He probably hasn’t even had a chance to wake up all the way,” Jack barked. “Sorry. And...Sorry about the other night. We tried getting in before we got your text and got caught. He took the opportunity with you busy to catch us into making that deal without you. Damn, we shoulda waited.”

Jack’s ears and tail couldn’t help but sag. Al tried organizing his thoughts through the mess of questions.

“One: I’m feeling better. Much better than yester-” He started before reaching for his bin. “Better than yesterday,” his voice echoed with his face still in the bucket. “It’s been off and on like...that for a little while. I-I really don’t know what happened. I needed more time, I was able to find a smidge of magic left and-” His face out of the bin, now, he tried making sense of his own words. “I was able to make it. It felt like I got a second wind, but once I had a moment to stop, everything crashed. Everything got too hot, cold, too bright and too dim; I didn’t know whether I’d be able to finish.”

“Kinda like overheating a mag-wheel,” Deuce muttered, trying to make sense of Al’s description. “The engine belt warps, sometimes it’ll catch and keep going; other times it slips and the engine about completely di-keels over.” He caught himself before bringing up the possibility of a permanent end.

“I assure you, gents, I’ll be fine, just give me til tomorrow and I’ll be right as rain and I can help get our classmates free along with our dorm back,” Al replied, eyeing Yuu and Grim. Grim gave a rather solemn look which concerned Al. “What happened? Were we not able to fufill it?”

>Right now we’ve been staying at Savanaclaw, here’s what he wanted us to do…

>Well, It’s kinda like this…

“Tomorrow’s the last day? That’s what the twins were up to? What can we do in the meantime? Do we even have a plan?” Albert asked.

“Right now our only ‘plan’ is trying to find a way to get the contract and destroy it.” Ace said.

“He’s probably already changed the combination to that lock on there. And last I’d seen he had a lock on it for a key. Unless there’s some kind of missing compartment in his desk, he probably has it on him. Damn. I’m actually kind of at a loss for ideas. I’m sorry.”

Jack assured, “C’mon now. You shouldn’t be tryin’ to carry our asses. This is our mess and we’ll figure it out, somehow. We just wanted to check in on you, fill you in and see if you needed anything. You’ll call us if you do, right?”

“Of course. Thank you, all of you. I’ll try helping out as soon as I can. Please keep me informed so we’re on the same page, in turn then?” Albert replied.

Everyone nodded. A couple of reassuring pats on the shoulder and they made their leave. He could hear Grim ask what he meant about ‘What the Twins were Up to’ as he make an attempt to slip back to sleep. He couldn’t track how long he’d been out, but the smell of something salty and earthy alerted his senses. He roused out from the covers to find a tray of food: miso soup, a few strips of some root vegetable that’d been pickled, a cup of some sweet, ginger scented tea, and a small bowl of rice porridge topped with another pickled item. Al couldn’t help feeling pitiful in his state, especially with someone building him a meal with what seemed like a lot of care. He scanned the room for the sender, to find a familiar shock of steely hair. Azul had already been focused on Al, his expression much softer than he’d ever seen before.

“Ah, there you are; did you get some meaningful rest? I see Jade and Floyd had stopped by, like I asked, to drop off your school work. Can’t allow such a ‘Practically Perfect’ student to fall behind, can we?” he noted. “I’ve been made mention that these are all good human treatments for those with a hard time keeping things down.”

Albert sat in his bed, silent. The apprehensive face he’d made didn’t seem to go unnoticed. It had been answered with Azul lowering his stare and biting his cheek. He looked between his guest and the tray for a couple of moments, before hesitantly starting in on it. The soup went down well, and when it didn’t come back to greet him, decided it as a sign to continue. He made as best an attempt at maintaining decorum, for someone getting their first taste of food in almost two days. Once the tray had been cleared, Al curled over to bow in thanks.

“I appreciate the gesture. I guess when I’m out, you know where to send the bill.”

He flung his head up at the sound of Azul chuckling. “Most things in life are transactional; in this case it’s in a different direction than you’re thinking. This is just a small movement to even things with you, actually, for your service this past week. I know, now, why you seemed so eager to join my ranks. You wanted to find some hole in my defenses that might allow you and your…friends to get some kind of leverage to free my little anemones. Most in that position, I’d imagine, would try squirreling their way out of their contractual obligation once their plan had been found out. You surprised me. You still went above and beyond to make sure we were square. Most resign themselves to failure when they finally grasp how steep their payment is. Honestly, you really didn’t have to do that. I’d almost wish you hadn’t,” He baulked. “While it would be advantageous to have your time-stop ability, or at least an extra hand in running the place, I’d rather not have had blood, potentially, on my hands just so someone could fulfill their contract.”

Silence between the two stuck in the air like fog. Albert had thought for a bit on what to say. His face showed a journey on what his next words might lead to. He ruminated on the tone the other man had given: Fake, hiding something. It was easy to tell, though, what the inflection was hiding was a genuine concern. A sigh punctuated the silence before he finally spoke.

“You’re right. I saw the dilemma my friends and their friends were in and I saw a way to help them find a way out. If you’d found yourself in that kind of position, would you do the same? I can’t say such predatory deals end up well in the end for most parties, but a contract is basically a legal promise; and I will have you know I don’t make Piecrust Promises. We agreed on the parameters, and I intended to fulfill it. No mention was made on how I was to carry it out, just to do so within the timeframe and to a specific standard. Is that not how it supposedly goes on your half of a contract? You seem to have been satisfied with the service, right?” Albert retorted.

“No. No I don’t think I would. I wouldn’t know what that’s like. I have Jade and Floyd, but we all agree we only really see ourselves as ‘associates’,” The reply stung with ice only someone who felt truly alone could conjure. “I’ve also never found myself in a position where I had friends to have to save. Still, I have to commend your attempt at giving them a leg up, even if it did end up giving me an advantage. And as much as it pains me to say, you did well enough for your deal. Honestly, though: with this plan of yours going so far south, would you have tried again, if given the chance?”

“Yes. If I knew back then what I do now, I would have a better understanding of how I could improve, maybe even change the outcome. I would do what I thought needed to be done to keep my friends safe.” His reply flew out without any hesitation or doubt.

“I don’t know why you would. You barely know them. How long’ve you known those fools? A month or so?”

“A little more than that but yes. Don’t friends usually start by just being faces you see more often than usual in a day?” Al’s face reacted before he could hide it; was it some look of pleading? An offer? “Yuu is, I like to think, my ward. They don’t have any magic, and Grim is ineffectual at best, but being designated Dorm Leader, I think I have a duty to protect everyone I lead. If not lead, I can at least assist them to be their better selves. Besides, what kind of personal assistant could I ever hope to be if I couldn’t be a second set of eyes for those that would ask it of me? ”

“By your definition, then we would…” The words clung to his throat, but a blush still crept onto Azul’s cheeks. “ No, outside of class we have strictly a professional working ‘relationship’! I certainly wouldn’t dare impose such an assumption as ‘friendship’ on someone who had just finished lording a contract over you. You know me even less than your supposed ‘friends’!” Azul sputtered with the accusation, his stomach fluttering at the implication. The collected mask he wore started to slip. “Hell, this is probably the first time either of us have actually talked with each other outside of class or work. We don’t know anything about each other, how could we possibly be friends?” Azul baulked. His face grew hot with frustration at what he assumed Albert was suggesting.

Al smiled, a little amused at his classmate’s reaction.

“Well, I’ve been told you’re a coin collector, and used to play piano. Oddly enough, I play as well, and I’d be interested in seeing how our playing styles differ. I’ve heard, also, how you are the man to go to for alchemy tutoring. Last, I have a guess because you and the twins seem to have at least a little history with each other, then either you were the first human to meet them when they came to land, or you’re a merperson as well. What type? I don’t know, part of me wants to believe you're some kind of shark or sea-snake, but I would be interested in finding out, one day. I feel like this is probably surface level stuff, though. Pray tell, what might you already know about me, relevant to any personal gain or not?” Al's stomach flipped, inducing a wince but not so rough to grab the bin.

"Those are all true-but yes, I would say that’s all rather surface level. Hmm...well you've just freely offered your history with piano as well. I may have to have one installed and conscript you to play, soon," Azul started. "You also seem to take great pains to clean up messes, physical or otherwise. Eastwinds have had family history in Personal Assistance and Clerical work as far back as I could find, so that answers my other question as to why specifically you’re pursuing that profession. Lastly, a little kitty told me you had previously been enrolled in Royal Sword Academy; and that you'd disappeared about halfway into the year. This is your first year at Night Raven College, but as a sophomore; I’m intrigued on where you went, and why you’ve decided to start your sophomore semester here over returning to RSA?”

“Ah, you ran into Che’nya; always seemed to be a bit of a gab for the little time I’ve known him…I’ve honestly just liked cleaning, keeping things in order, I don’t care for untidiness; you’ll never know who’s about to walk in your door. And-” Albert started, but the thought of what actually happened made his chest feel similar to his gut. It was difficult to hide his saddening expression, “I just had a family emergency; just some stuff around the house needed some extra hands. I think the change to Night Raven College might have actually been a better fit, anyway-I feel like I’m actually being challenged a little. Plus I think I get along with more people here.” He’d hoped it would satisfy, but the thoughts swirling in his own mind conjured his own assumption of what the other man’s life must have been like. “I don’t want to impose, but -sigh- maybe this whole affair can be water under the bridge. You seem like an otherwise decent person, even if it’s mostly to get something out of it. Outside of work or class, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in any clubs or social events.”

Albert caught a minute smirk from Azul. Said smirk turned into a shudder of quiet chuckling. He casually checked his watch, and his eyes grew soft for a moment, then returned to Al. A quick sigh escaped him as he rose from the chair.

“If you’d wanted to catch a glimpse of me outside of class all you’d have had to do was join the Board Gaming club. I run it, of course, but you would also catch the momentary sight of Dorm Leader Idia out and about if you haven’t already. I apologize for cutting this little chat so short, I actually need to gather your homework for the day, and I have some filing to tend to at The Lounge. This has been a rather…enlightening conversation. I’m a little curious now where we might continue with it, next time,” Azul finished before packing his things to leave. With his bag and cane in hand, he made for the hall, but stopped in the doorway. “Understand, we’re even at this point. I’d honestly rather forget this and clean the slate, as well. Past grievances always seem to make future dealings rather…complicated.”

At that, he rounded the corner out of sight. Now fed and awake, Albert finally took the chance to tackle his homework. He would intersperse homework with attempts at walking around to get some movement in for the day. The homework kept him occupied, perhaps to his friends’ detriment, as his engrossment kept his eyes off of his phone and the text informing him about Yuu and company’s plan. Without need to do anything outside of paper homework, the workload quickly diminished. The nurse performed an assessment for the day, deeming he was almost fit to leave, but they wanted to keep him once more overnight in case. He could only shrug as there was nothing that could be done. With the day open until more homework came in, he took about an hour to see if he could stand to use magic yet. Announcing it brought the ward to a pause. A quick pang of a headache made itself known but it quickly dispersed. He tested a few more times, every time the headache diminished. While the pain dissipated, it did still wear him out faster than he was used to, which disappointed him. He found it best not to push his luck.

Dinner went down well, but with it over and no clearance to leave the ward until tomorrow, Albert tried finding things to occupy his time. Once sorting his overnights and homework was complete, the only thing else he could think of was to check his phone. A string of messages popped up-Yuu had sent them

>Hey, we’re gonna try seeing if there’s any other way to get in that vault (12.30pm)

>Bad plan (2.12pm)

>Back at Savanaclaw-contracts booby-trapped. Grim says Azul flipped over D’s cauldron bumping the vault door. Can’t think of any other way out-Gonna try grabbing the photo again tomorrow. How are you feeling? (3.45pm)

He couldn’t help but curse to himself. He took a deep breath and pressed ‘Call’

“Yuu? Are you all okay? All right, I just now got your texts. Oh, I’m fine-nurse said I’m good to leave tomorrow and I can help out. Yeah, I’m sure, it might be easier for you all to fill me in, in person. What are you guys doing in Savanaclaw, though? Ace and Deuce couldn’t find you room? -Sigh- All right, I can’t imagine The King will be too pleased to have to add another to the pack if tomorrow goes south. What’s the plan for tonight then? Really? I…can’t imagine I’d want to see what state his room is in right now. I guess I’ll let you go, sounds like Ruggie’s cracking the whip. I’ll call once I’m free, let me know if you have a preference on where to rendezvous. Mhmm, See you all then.” -click-

Albert groaned, another instance of feeling trapped and not enough info to get out. The questions rattling in his brain made resting difficult, each thought making him turn and roll in bed. The sound of shoes on tile alerted him of someone coming. He flipped back over to find two familiar heads of teal hair. Both wore their signature toothy grins as they crept further into the space.

“Swordfishie~ Ya look like you’re feeling better. Azul stopped by to give ya food right?” Floyd called. “Him and Jade made it for ya; I wanted to make ya some omurice but they thought’d have been too heavy.”

Al’s expression softened, “Well, then thank you, too, Jade. It seemed to help quite a bit, actually. I hope I didn’t keep him too long from you two, we kinda got caught up in conversation.”

“Oh? What all did you talk about? It’s a bit of a surprise to hear him talk anything but business,” Both twins exchanged knowing looks.

“Pretty much just…getting to know each other? He wanted to make it clear this was ‘just business’, setting you all up to keep me updated on homework. I do want to ask of course, cause it’s kind of been gnawing at me: Did Azul… have friends, growing up? Something about how he talks about others gives me this awful impression that…maybe he’s used to isolation? And I don’t want to assume, but is he mer like the two of you? I know we had our…disagreements,” he averted his gaze in embarrassment, still catching the two reflexively reach for the sore spots he’d left them with. “So you don’t have to answer. I just think if he’s wanting everything as water under the bridge, I guess I’d like to kinda get to know him better? Whether he’s looking for friends at all, I’d at least want to try getting off on a better foot.”

“Awe, he didn't tell ya? Come to think of it, I don’t think we’ve seen him hang out with anybody but us since we were in elementary,” Floyd wondered. “You shoulda seen him tho! He was so cute~ Squishy and tasty lookin’, with all them little tentacles~”

Jade gave his brother a jab in the side; Albert guessed that might not have been something he was supposed to hear.

“Tentacles? Like a Cecaelia? That’s actually sort of fascinating! There aren’t many born with that kind of lineage, are there?” Al replied. “That’s kind of ironic: being able to create magical contracts, as well as being physically similar to The Sea Witch…I can’t tell if that's beautiful or unfortunate. If he didn’t want me to know, I won’t say anything. Did...did that alienate him, though?”

The two exchanged a pained look, not offering any answer one way or another but still relaying what he had been suspecting. Realization dawned on Jade’s face, to which he pulled the school bag around from behind him.

"That's really neither here nor there, but we just meant to drop this off for you, before we left," he presented the bag, holding it aloft.

Al hopped out of bed to retrieve the bag, but Jade clenched his hand back on the strap, halting Albert, momentarily, from taking it. That moment was all Floyd needed to sneak behind and scoop him into a tight bear hug. Al could only think back to the first attempt at this, but then back to the present where he didn't have his magic to free him. He thrashed any way he could to try freeing his pinned arms. All it seemed to do was encourage Floyd to hold on tighter.

“What’re you doing?! Let. Me. Go!”

"You're going to tire yourself out if you keep up," Jade warned, reaching out and gripping Al by the jaw, "If you'd relax, we could talk this out. There's no need to be afraid, I only want to be of help to you. 'Shock the Heart'."

Al couldn’t twist his head with the eel clamped on his chin, which put him in the prime position to catch Jade’s gaze. The only thing he could feel was a crash of weightlessness akin to being tossed into the sea. Something felt cold but inviting about it, sitting in that dark suspension. He instinctively tried thrashing for escape, before the rush of compulsion filled his lungs and forcing out every last pocket of truth.

"There you go," Jade smiled, brimming in revelry. "Now that we've calmed down, we wanted to know a couple of things…"

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

"....And then he left. After the funeral was about the last time I'd seen him home. I'd kept the house in order before and during her decline, so it didn't seem like a leap to just...keep doing that after. I couldn't face my classmates after being gone for so long. I transferred here hoping maybe for a fresh start," Albert droned, his consciousness teetering on the edge of collapse.

"Interesting, Thank you, Albert. You've been so amicable tonight," Jade murmured, "but one last question: you seemed to imply some sort of interest in knowing Azul more, almost like you want to be ‘friends’, what do you hope to gain in doing so?"

The mention of Azul sent a flush of pink across Al's cheeks.

"I..I saw somebody who didn't get to have a lotta friends growing up," his eyes moving between his captors with a compelling yellow tinge. "I thought he would have wanted someone to help him in catching up on everything he'd been missing out on…He seems decent, underneath it all. I really don’t know why, I just…want to help people."

The twins shared a twinge of guilt, but felt satisfied, finally, with their interrogation. Jade propped their captive's head up with but a finger, "Thank you again, you've cleared up quite a bit of confusion."

His words echoed through Al's head, dusting off any lingering magical influence. The interrogation left him completely exhausted, allowing Floyd little resistance to swing his legs into one arm, and support his torso in the other. They brought their charge back to his bed, the movement rousing him back awake.

"Err-what happened? I grabbed the homework you guys brought but...what are you carrying me for?"

"Ah, there he is~ Thought we were gonna need to get ya a nurse again," Floyd sighed. His deposit of Al back to bed could have been smoother, but there was a touch of care to it.

"You must have turned too fast-it may have thrown off your balance, if you're still in the middle of recovery," the other lied. "You're quite fortunate to have had us there."

"Yeah, looked like you were aimin' to crack the tile with your skull, Swordfishie~"

"That's...A right bit embarrassing. I appreciate you not letting that happen," Al replied with another flush on his cheeks.

"We do need to take our leave, then," Jade stated. "The word is that you're being discharged tomorrow-once you're out don't be a stranger. You don't have to work there anymore but Monstro Lounge is still open to all."

At that the two imposing figures slithered off down the hall and out of sight. With their presence gone, Albert was free once again to crash back to sleep. The rest of the night plagued him with nightmares: being stuck out at sea, a brutal mobster interrogation, and flashes of dark and lilac skin and a mass of appendages.

#practically perfect fanfic #twst oc #twst oc x canon #oc x azul ashengrotto #oc x canon #albert eastwind #floyd leech #jade leech

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rivendell-poet · 2 months ago

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Hello! It’s the same anon who asked you about the Hobbit movies :) I was wondering if you could write (no pressure! I just mostly wanted to share an idea) funny headcanons or a scenario of a female reader (could be a non-Mirkwood elf or someone from a long-lived race) who was part of Thorin’s company and meets Legolas again 60 years later when she’s with Frodo in Rivendell? Reader remembers how Legolas wasn’t too courteous to the Company and locked them up in the dungeons which made her dislike him quite a bit. And let’s just say that she wasn’t all too… thrilled upon meeting him again in LOTR and him joining the Fellowship with her ahaha. Bonus points if she remembers Legolas calling Gimli a ‘goblin mutant’ when he looked at Gloin’s locket in the Mirkwood forest xD.

Again, please take your time with this :) I understand that you have quite a few things to write, and I only want you to write whatever you feel happy writing <3

Hi anon! Sorry it took so long for your request, but hopefully this was what you meant with scenarios. If you'd prefer a oneshot please feel free to put a new request in <3 Thanks so much for the idea by the way, it was super fun to work with. And it genuinely means so much to read the last note on your request, so seriously thank you

*･༓˚✧ ❝𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧’𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲❞ ‧͙⁺˚༓˚✧ « scenarios »

Gender-neutral reader | Wordcount : 0.5k | TWs : None

✧ To be perfectly honest, you hadn’t wanted to join the Company in the first place - it was more of a collection of favours than a real desire to reclaim Erebor.

✧ Which made it so much worse when you and the Company got captured in Mirkwood.

✧ (It probably didn’t help that you’d let out a small laughed at the blond elf’s joke about Glóin’s son. In your defence it was funny.)

✧ As an elf, the guards had been cordial to you - and you’d managed to find out quite a few things about the kingdom. Such as the blond elf being Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood.

✧ He tried to visit you, once, holding the idea of having a better bed and better food over you if you gave up the information.

✧ And you may not have wanted to be in the Company, but you’d be damned if you weren’t loyal to them.

✧ So you’d simply refused to speak to him.

✧ Although all that knowing his name, and your time in Mirkwood, really did was help put a name and reasons for your grudge.

✧ A grudge that hadn’t gone anywhere, until now.

✧ Because sitting across you from you at the Council of Elrond was the same elf as the one who you’d only properly seen through bars. Not that there was recognition in his face.

✧ The matters only got worse when you realised the name of the dwarf who was joining you - Gimli.

✧ For the first leg of the Fellowship you don’t bring it up, because the quest to save Middle Earth is (sadly) more important than a simple grudge.

✧ It doesn’t mean that you can’t still be slightly petty to him however.

✧ You never do anything that could endanger him, just subtle things - like waking him up a few minutes before his watch should start, or loosening his dagger from his scabbard only enough to make him confused.

✧ Gimli eventually figures out it was you, but promise not to tell. He’s the only one aside from Gandalf who actually knows of your involvement in the Fellowship, but not of the precise comments.

✧ That’s a little bit of information you want to share on a good occasion.

✧ You decide to finally share the story a little after leaving Lothlórien, because you can tell the Fellowship needs some cheering up.

✧ And when you say it you feel completely justified in waiting this long.

✧ Because you get to watch the elf almost turn pale - as pale as an elf could go - as the realisation hit him.

✧ (The rest of the Fellowship does briefly have to deal with Legolas looking horrified while you laugh and try not to keel over.)

✧ Merry and Pippin join in the laughter as soon as you explain the joke.

✧ And it does the job in cheering the Fellowship up.

✧ Legolas takes it surprisingly well, although afterwards approaches you to apologise in private - genuinely expressing remorse for his actions.

✧ It’s unexpected but welcomed, and you thank him for it.

✧ From then on it becomes an inside joke between you all (especially you and Legolas).

✧ And, when facing what you are, even a simple joke can be one of the brightest lights for the two of you. A light both of you are grateful for.

A/N : Sorry to any readers who wished for comedy, I'm afraid I'm not great when it comes to writing this. But hopefully you enjoyed it! And, honestly, I'm very open to writing more in this universe/with this premise if people want some <3

« masterlist » thank you for reading *･༓˚✧ Taglist : @celestialhole / @starwars2222 / @xiaoseminence / @withasideofmeg / @nilintakan / @ferns-fics / @chewgazellechew / @recordofragnarokfan2 / @stormchaser819 / @raikan624 ✧ wish to be tagged?

#lotr x reader #lotr x you #legolas x reader #legolas x you #legolas x y/n #lotr scenarios #x gn reader #x gender neutral reader #gender neutral reader #scenarios

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marjaystuff · 5 months ago

Text

Interview with Suzanne Woods Fisher

Love On A Whim

Cape Cod Ice Cream Book 3

Suzanne Woods Fisher

Revell Pub

May 7th, 2024

Love On A Whim by Suzanne Woods Fisher is a delicious read. The quote at the beginning of the novel sums it up, “Eat ice cream. Read books. Be happy.” The book explores family, faith, romance, forgiveness, friendship, and second chances.

The plot begins with Dawn Dixon’s best buddy from college, Brynn Haywood, attending a civil engineer convention in Las Vegas. While there she, uncharacteristically, decides to leave the convention with someone she just met, see some of the sites, and eventually gets married. When she wakes the next morning, appalled by her behavior, she sneaks out of the room and heads to Cape Cod, hoping Dawn can help get her out of this mess. Dawn, an inveterate “fixer,” spends her energy plotting how to get Brynn’s marriage annulled, while her mother, Marnie urges Brynn to slow down and listen to her heart.

There is also Lincoln Hayes, Marnie’s boyfriend, whose estranged family is coming to town for his daughter’s wedding. He agreed to finance the wedding to ease his guilt for being a terrible absent dad. Although the daughter is willing to forgive and forget, the son, Bear, is very resentful, the epitome of what his father used to be: concerned only about himself, too busy for others, unkind, and trying to make trouble for the Dixon family.

Then the caterer gets Covid, and everything falls apart. The Dixon family to the rescue. Callie takes over the catering, Dawn makes the ice cream treats, and Brynn who is a good hobby baker, agrees to make the wedding cake.

Readers will be on the edge of their seats wondering what will happen to Brynn’s marriage, as well as other issues facing the characters that include Dawn’s infertility, Lincoln’s health problems, and can the family reconcile. The story is compelling, filled with wit and wisdom, and all the characters have their issues resolved in a satisfactory way, where the reader feels they are part of the drama. But there is also a humorous tone that lightens up the tension.

Elise Cooper: Since this is the last book in the series what do you want to say about it?

Suzanne Woods Fisher: The characters might be revisited in another series. I got the original idea because my husband is a professional ice cream maker. My editor said to write a book about ice cream in Cape Cod. It is a family saga. I enjoy writing books about outsiders who try to fit in. All the books in the series have family members who try to get back on their feet after a couple of bad mishaps. They are trying to make a go of it in a tourist town. This is all about people and relationships.

EC: Did you also put in important issues in the books?

SWF: Yes. People trying to recover from grief, having to deal with cancer, dealing with clinical depression, and infertility.

EC: How would you describe the heroine in the story, Brynn?

SWF: Sensible, responsible, impulsive, predictable, even keeled, and passionate. Because she is a civil engineer, she is logical, a planner, and organized. She is also insecure and does not like it when her heart tries to overrule her brain. She and Dawn bonded in college. Unlike what we know about her she meets and marries a guy in 24 hours and panics, fleeing to Cape Cod. She pursues her passion to be a baker.

EC: What role did Marnie, Dawn’s mom, who considers Brynn her adoptive daughter, play?

SWF: She pushes Brynn to think why she said yes to this man. She is telling her to slow down. She is a good counterbalance to the three young women. She plays the mother who is over-protective, leading them to come to a good decision, but she also will not be so direct and leads them with questions or hints to think what they want. Marnie has a quiet way because she cannot say too much, or the women will shut down. She relies on feelings, intuition, and faith.

EC: Dawn was the featured character in book 1, The Sweet Life, Callie was the featured character in book 2, The Secret to Happiness, and this features Brynn. What are the similarities and differences between each?

SWF: They are like a three-legged stool. They all are sister-like. They are all perfectionists, reasonable.

Dawn has always been in the shadow of her cousin Callie, where they both competed against each other. She grew up with a little bit of a jealous streak. She now sometimes feels like third man out. She does not look for good in people unlike Callie and Brynn. She is matter of fact. She is a perfectionist, logical, likes to find other people’s mistakes, stays on task, and is stable. Dawn likes to interfere because she likes to be in control. Readers appreciate her, but she can rub on them, very frustrating, meddling, and has blinders on because her way is the way. But she is very loyal to her friends and family and is always there for them.

Callie is a talker, positive, a perfectionist, bold, creative, effervescent, decisive, persistent, and like Dawn she also likes to be in control. She is good at time management.

Brynn is softer, gentler than Dawn and Callie. Yet, she has always been attracted to the family life of Dawn and Callie. She is logical, reasonable, relies on feedback, calm, reserved, and eager to learn.

EC: What about the relationship between Brynn and T. D., the man she impulsively married?

SWF: They were attracted to each other. The relationship was based on spontaneity and light-heartedness. They did trust each other. They had a real intimacy when they met and were able to share their real self with each other, bearing their souls to each other. They had a lot in common because they came from the same perspective of being from divorced parents and forced to be on their own. They did not want their future to be like their parents. But after Brynn left, she felt humiliated, helpless, and emotional.

EC: What about Bear, Lincon’s son?

SWF: He had a lot of baggage. He was defensive and feels abandoned. Now he is placed in a situation where he must deal with his father who abandoned him, and an over-bearing mother. He is a damaged guy. He is suspicious, distrustful, skeptical, cold, angry, uncaring, harsh, and condescending. He is incredibly loyal to his sister and his mom. He tries to protect his father because he is afraid the women are taking advantage of his generosity. Readers do see him as a good person in the way he reacts to the child, Cowboy Leo. Bear was like an older brother to him, and Leo thinks he is a caring person. Because of Bear, Cowboy Leo became baseball Leo.

EC: Does Marnie and her beau, Lincoln’s relationship take different turns in the story?

SWF: Lincoln’s daughter is getting married at Cape Cod. The wedding caused a lot of insecurities between them. Marnie relies on him. They are best friends. This is a second romance for both. She finally realizes how much he has changed over a decade. He previously put everything into his work, sacrificing his family, before he met Marnie. She sees him when he became a generous, caring person.

EC: Next books?

SWF: A series will come out with four novellas. The print version will come out in November, titled The Year in Flowers. Three girls work in a flower shop in the South. They are best friends, but around the time they leave for college something dreadful happens in the shop. Each novella has what they are doing seven years later.

I will also have an Amish book coming out in October titled A Healing Touch. It is about a doctor to the Amish, who makes house calls. She is the central character.

THANK YOU!!

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