#i kinda wanna do some of my more well known favorites next time

[wandering-waywardly]

Losing my mind a little, time to paint some playbills!!

[hamofjustice]

Nemona the Unrivaled

Chapter 4 - Stars Align

Info / Chapter Select: here

(by popular demand, this fic continues!)

Nemona, Arven, and Cyclizar were making good time on their ride to Uva Academy. The young Champion thought maybe they'd even have time for a battle or two before they had to go sign in… right as the gleam of some familiar white helmets caught her attention.

"Whoa, hold up, Cyclizar." she commanded in a low voice, and the motorcycle-like lizard slowed to a stop a few yards away from her least favorite staircase -- gradually, so as to not throw Arven off. It didn't particularly enjoy stairs either, so they were going to stop there regardless.

Arven had been uncharacteristically quiet most of the way, but the commotion ahead got his attention. "Huh?"

Two members of the delinquent student gang known as Team Star seemed to be blocking the path of a teen with short but eye-catching red and blue hair and a big plush Eevee backpack. Even though their target didn't seem to be wearing Uva's uniform, Nemona quickly decided it was her duty to watch what happened next and possibly intervene…

"Don’t you get it?! If you join Team Star, you can shine as bright as anybody!" "Yeah! Seriously, what’s with you? Don’t you wanna burn bright with awesome friends like us?"

The girl they were harassing sighed. "… Not really."

The pair's casual demeanor quickly flipped to aggressive. "Look, we’ve got a quota we’re supposed to fill for new members, so just sign up already!"

Typical recruiters. Nemona rolled her shoulders and began stomping toward them.

"Um… I'd rather not…" the cornered girl muttered flatly, unmoved -- though her Galarian accent poked through, regardless.

The student council president made her presence known behind the delinquent duo, as Arven dismounted her Cyclizar in the background. "Oye! Pero bueno, what's going on here? Trying to pressure people into signing up again?"

The two punks jumped out of their skin and spun around, instantly toppled from the high ground they thought they had over the situation. Now that she saw their faces, Nemona remembered their last names from having reported them previously…

"Gah! It's that student council dweeb!" shouted Gruntae, the newer recruit. "Shh! Ah, hi. We weren't… NOT doing that…" added Gruntby, unhelpfully.

Nemona's expression shifted from protective anger to a dangerous smirk as she got closer. "Well, it just so happens me and my friend here are just DYING for a battle--" she began, tilting her head in Arven's direction.

"We are?" he asked, glancing down at Cyclizar as if expecting the lizard to shrug.

"-- so why don't you two help me make an example of what happens when someone tries bullying kids on my watch?"

"Uh, yeah, pick on somebody your own size, like her!" Arven awkwardly joined in, pointing at Nemona.

The Eevee fan pushed up her round glasses. "Um, actually I'm perfectly capa--"

"Bullying? Hey, you heard us, we're just looking for new friends! Right?" Gruntby asked Gruntae. "Yeah! W-we just want folks to know how much more popular they'd be with us!" "Right! Seems SOME people are fine with being total nobodies forever, though…"

"HEY!" yelled Nemona, which made the quiet girl trying to slip past the grunts unnoticed jump in surprise and skitter the rest of the way to her defenders' side.

Nemona cleared her throat before continuing, feeling a little hoarse after her previous outburst that morning. "I don't know what you call that kinda talk except bullying! Now, if you really wanna-- *cough* wanna 'make friends' with this girl, you're gonna have to get past us first." Nemona challenged. She held out a Poke Ball with one of her arms bracing the other, like it was an arm cannon ready to fire. "Ready?"

"Hold on, I'm not sure I should, uh…" Arven began to protest.

"Right, right, this would be a much more fruitful battle if we got our new Pokemon some beginner's experience with it! Silly me!" she said, swapping out her Tauros's Ball for Sprigatito's.

Arven blinked. "… Yeah, I mean, I… sure. Okay. Just what I was gonna say, Prez." he said with a shrug before holding up a Ball of his own.

"Beginners?! Hey! You can't just go treatin' Team Star like easy pickings! For the honor of the team, we've got no choice but to burn you to ash now!" shouted Gruntby. "… We don't?" asked Gruntae. "Shouldn't we just book it? I mean--" "No way! C'mon!" her teammate insisted.

With that, the four students spread out and turned the side street into their impromptu battlefield. The red-and-blue-haired girl stuck around to watch as well, lightly knocking on the side of her head like she was trying to remember something…

Arven, staring down their opponents, stepped up to Nemona's side and whispered "Didn't we both just get these Pokemon? Are you sure they can handle this?"

"Hey, we're both pros even if they're not yet, right? And we've both got Tera Orbs -- I'm sure these punks don't."

"You think I'm a pro…? But you're--"

"YO, EARTH TO DWEEBS! Less prattling, more battling!" interrupted Gruntae.

"Nice." approved Gruntby with a high-five.

=====

Gruntae and Gruntby of Team Star want to battle!

Gruntae sent out Shroodle! Gruntby sent out Yungoos!

Nemona sent out Sprigatito! Arven sent out Skwovet!

=====

"Haha, weak! You must be really full of yourselves if you think you can win with those!" taunted Gruntby.

"Callate, you! Now, let's focus down that Shroodle, before it--"

"Acid Spray!" interrupted Gruntae.

"Dive low and Scratch!"

After a moment, Nemona's Sprigatito did in fact pounce on the Shroodle and dodge the Poison attack in the process, correctly predicting the spray would launch in an arc and not straight at the little cat's face. She was also correct to assume that a starter Pokemon from the school would have some basic training.

"Bite that Shroodle like a Berry, before it moves again!" called Arven to Skwovet, keeping up the pressure on the opponent that had a type advantage just as Nemona wanted.

"Tackle 'em!" ordered Gruntby to his Yungoos, knocking back the weaker Sprigatito several feet and chasing it down to finish it off.

"Here goes… Terastallize!" shouted Nemona, tossing her Tera Orb to encrust her Sprigatito in brilliant green crystal. "Overgrown Leafage on that Yungoos!"

Arven followed suit, turning his little squirrel a shining white. "You too, Skwovet! Use this to Tackle that Shroodle with all you've got!

And soon…

=====

Nemona and Arven won the battle!

=====

"W-well, um, uh, h-hasta la vistar! ☆" Gruntae sputtered, hastily signing the team's signature star symbol before she ran off toward a nearby alley.

Gruntby, meanwhile, stood his ground, gritting his teeth. "Hmph. Figures your pal here would be a cheater like you, Prez. Did your daddies buy you those toys, just like your grades?"

Nemona's eye twitched as her face scrunched up to mirror his. "I earned mine fair and square, by putting in the work -- and so could you, if you'd stop skipping class and causing trouble! I'm not special!"

"Tch! Like you're gonna let any of us set foot in that school again without reportin' us. You got a point with that last part, though -- you ain't special, just lucky."

Nemona did her best to ignore that jab. "You guys do realize you haven't been expelled yet because we don't WANT to, right? Because the Director's been holding out hope that we can help you grow like we're supposed to?"

The Team Star boy stared blankly for a moment, then flipped back to casual mode. "Whatever. I'll be on my merry way back where I don't need fixing… Hasta la vistaaarrr! ☆"

She watched him run off, her face frozen in a frown. It was so frustrating how Team Star thought they were in the right, even as they insulted, hassled, and blockaded whoever they wanted. Neither she nor the teachers could really figure out what to do about them, especially given that they were just kids in need of guidance and not real criminals. If only she could solve this problem through battling. That was one of maybe two things she was actually good--

"I… uh… I just… Well, thanks." stammered the girl they helped, snapping Nemona back to normal.

"Wha-- Yeah! Yeah, no problem!"

"You all right there, Prez?" Arven asked.

Nemona suddenly realized she had quite a few eyes on her at that moment, human and Pokemon alike. She cleared her throat, straightened her tie, and tightened her glove before turning around. "Yeah, I'm fine! Wish battling actually solved anything, though. Um, how about you, uh…?"

"… Oh, P-Penny. Name's Penny. I'm a student here, too…"

"Hi, Penny! I'm Nemona!"

"And I'm Arven."

"You're not hurt anywhere, are you?" Nemona asked, twisting herself around to inspect the new girl curiously.

"No, Team Star doesn't, uh, didn't hurt me, no." she stammered.

"Good!" Nemona exclaimed, as Arven nodded.

"I… wouldn't let them." Penny added with an unexpected confidence.

"I don't think I've seen you around before -- I'll be your student council president this semester, in theory. Nice to meet you!" Nemona said, holding out her gloved hand.

Penny glanced between Nemona's smile and hand a few times before going for the handshake. "N-nice to meet you, too, Nemona. Arven. Um… g-good to, uh, know we've got… h-heroes watching over us… I, um, we should probably get going before we're late, though…"

"Right, I guess that ate up the time we had to spare, eh?" Arven noted.

Penny turned to face the massive staircase up to Uva Academy. "See you around…"

"All right! We'll catch up to you in a sec! Cool bag, by the way! Love that fluff!"

"Uh… thanks."

Nemona sighed contentedly as she watched that Penny girl make her way up, proud to be someone's hero. She rattled her head to get her mind back to business and started digging through her bag, looking for a healing Potion to spray Sprigatito with and the Balls to put it and Cyclizar into, as the two Pokemon looked up at her expectantly.

"Sorry, I, uh--" Arven began to mutter.

"Wha-huh? For what?"

"Those guys kinda remind me of what I'm normally like…"

"Pshhh, not even close! Besides, we turned over a new leaf, bud! Right?"

"I… yeah, I guess. I've just never been on your side of something like that before."

"Well… I'm glad you're here now." Nemona said with a warm smile.

Arven averted his gaze toward the stairs, rubbing the back of his neck while Skwovet sat on his other shoulder. "Bit weird she's not in uniform, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I wasn't sure if she went here at first! She must be new -- the Director or somebody'll probably say something to her about the dress code before I have to, though." Nemona reasoned as she finished up her team maintenance. "All right… ready for the worst staircase in the world?"

"Yep." Arven answered, pulling the straps taut on his heavy backpack.

Nemona took a deep breath, and… dashed up at full speed!

"Whoa, take it easy, you maniac!"

… She only made it about halfway before she stopped to catch her breath, and looked back to see Arven -- as well as several other students -- catching up to her at a comfortable walking pace.

Arven smirked as he walked up to her again. "Guess you were right about not making it up here easily. You looked like more of an athlete than that…"

"Haha… nope… definitely… not…"

"Well, you'd probably make it further if you took your time and paced yourself. Less likely to break something if you trip, too." Arven advised. "Keep those legs loose at least, you don't want to cramp up from suddenly standing still." His Skwovet squeaked in agreement.

Nemona took the suggestion and started shifting around on her feet. "Heh… are YOU an athlete, Arven?"

"Me? Nah, just stuff you should know if you do a lot of hiking."

Nemona nodded. "Guess I've been pretty reliant on my Pokemon to help me get around…"

After a moment or two, she looked back up from the ground and was pleasantly surprised to realize Arven was still waiting for her.

"You ready?" he asked.

"I think so. Pacing myself, huh…"

This time, they walked together the rest of the way, and made their way inside…

[help-is-on-the-way]

Ive finally reread the Lemonade Mouth book and i have feelings. This may be long.

Ive watched the movie countless times since i was like 12, it has always been one of my favorite disney movies. I had their songs in my mp3 and at school i liked carrying my house keys around so i could pretend i was Wen in Turn Up The Music. Anyway. Ive always known it was a story adapted from a book. I remember buying it when i was like 16 after watching the movie for the bajillionth time. I never finished it. I remember the different POVs threw me off a bit and the language didnt make it any easier (english isnt my first language and the book has never been translated). My bookmarker said i made it to page 152. But i honestly did Not remember at all like 90% of the changes. So im like pretty sure i read it without Actually reading.

Anyway. Now im 24 and i rewatched the movie 3 nights in a row this week. And im way more well versed in english nowadays. So i decided to give the book another shot. Now, like i said, i have feelings. I read the whole thing in 2 nights. Im not sure what im doing right now and im sure im overexplaining things, as i usually do. But well. I think i wanna say some stuff.

First of all, after reading the book i can confidently say the movie is a pretty amazing adaptation. Ive always known that, but like, now i have undisputable proof. The way they made the story flow in just under 2 hours always baffled me. They got like 7 character stories going on and it never feels too much. And the changes from the book are mostly all understandable, and some of them i even like way better in the movie in my opinion. I mean. Except their appearances changes. I love Bridget Mendler as much as the next guy, but .. Fat Olivia wouldve been so cool to see. Especially considering the movie/book themes.

I remember whenever i rewatched the movie as a 18 year old and onwards, i always thought something along the lines of. Wow. For a movie all about revolution, and being a freak, and not conforming to the social mold, and being a minority in an elitist society - the lack of queer related stuff is so Loud. I guess it always disappointed me. Not that we are necessarily freaks, but well. Im sure we all felt like it at some point. I remember being angry about it, then. But i get it. Of course i always did, in a way. It was 2011 and it was disney. And im not stupid either. Stella is a glaringly obvious lgbt subtext allegory - maybe its the Hayley Kyoko in her, but they all knew what they were doing, i think. I can see that. Its subtext. I just cant help it but feel a bit disappointed that it isnt text too. I kinda always secretly hoped the book had something more in this subject. Dont get me wrong. Stella's character in the book manages to be even more marvellous than in the movie (an impressive feat). I was in shock that she was written explicitly and diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. Being a different but similar kind of neurodivergent myself, that was really cool and genuinely surprised me, as ive always related to the feeling dumb sentiments she has. But, you know. Still kinda made me sad. You could make the argument that she didnt need a romantic arc or whatever, cause she was going through a lot, blablabla. And, yeah. I agree with you. She was going through a lot. Thats kinda the point though. All five of them were. Its the whole point of their characters. Theyre all going through their own personal stuff and they got school problems on top of it - the band and their music is an answer to all of it. Im not saying she needed a girlfriend or anything. She didnt, and her character is one of the most fleshed out ones. I just cant help but wish.

Which then brings me to my next point. Honestly. I feel like the book had a lot more romance going on than the movie. In parts it was really sweet, and in others kind of annoying. The movie always made it very clear that Mo and Charlie wouldnt be a thing, and i come from that reality and mentality. So imagine my surprise when they are actually a thing by the end of the book. Idk. Ive always disliked Scott, and hated that he got in the band and played with them at the Madison Square Garden by the end. He never felt like one of the band, he never felt like a lemonade mouth. I dont think he ever really understood their struggles as freaks. At least not in my eyes. So he always felt a bit undeserving of his spot. He's there because of Mo, for Mo and Mo only. He's even more of an asshole in the book, so im glad hes not really brought up again after he tries to apologize and Mo says she isnt interested. I really like that this is what happens in the book. I might be too much of a Scott hater, but, yeah. I do like it. I dont think Mo shouldve gotten with Scott in the movie either. But i also dont think she shouldve gotten with Charlie, is the point. Sure, Charlie's character in the book actually puts in the effort to get to know Mo, he is sweet, he makes her feel listened to, and he tries to learn about her heritage and culture. He does not feel like hes in love with the idea of Mo (aside the first few POVs of him) (he quickly grows from that when they become proper friends). He loves her for her. And thats something i dont feel like it happens with movie-Charlie.

In fact, im gonna go in a bit of tangent here, i feel like movie-Charlie is the most not-book character of them all. Hes got the most background change, and most of the time he isnt seem doing much (most of his scenes were passed on to Wen - going with Stella to ask about the lemonade machine, being the one that's approached by Lyle when he sells the Lemonade Mouth Live at the Bash CDs, etc). When theyre deciding if they should become a band or not at the pizzaria, his coin flip in the book matters because thats heavily tied to his way of seeing the world and the universe. Tied to his belief that hes the wrong brother to have survived, so Aaron (heads) also deserves a chance to choose his actions for him, just as much as Charlie himself (tails) does. And thats explored time and time again over the pages. Its incredibly interesting and original. When they get rid of his dead twin brother, and build up a living-in-the-shadow-of-a-perfect-older-brother backstory for him, the coin flip just seems like hes an undecisive guy, who doesnt have a good reason to say No, but also not to say Yes either. And while thats fine, i guess... it just doesnt hold the same value narratively speaking. It just feels more shallow, like hes simply a more laid back guy - and although that is consistent, it just couldve been so much more. I do like movie-Charlie, but book-Charlie is way more interesting. His book appearance is more fitting too. Hes described as a regular chubby guy with unruly hair. I like that.

Anyway, back to the romance thing. Its fine i guess. Im mostly against Mo x Charlie in the book because it just kinda feels weird after watching the movie for 12 years. I liked the "friendzone" arc. Its nice when a boy and a girl can just be friends in media, no ulterior motives behind it (though that doesnt really happen between them either) (we see that more with Stella and the boys). Also because idk im not a huge fan of how Mo eventually came around and confessed to Charlie in the book. I know that theyre 14 but Charlie was still hurt by what she had said, and though she did apologize and admited that she screwed up, i feel like i wouldve liked it more if she explained to him what was going on through her head better. Like if she had explained to him what she had explained to the reader, that she was too preoccupied desesperately chasing after a future that doesnt belong to her, it kinda wouldve made it a lot better for me. Cause Charlie said multiple times that he was confused by the whole thing, and still hurt, but they kinda ignored that and kissed twice. And that was it, they were dating now. But then again, if they were able to express themselves that well, they wouldnt be 14 year olds.

And then on the other side of the romantic things going on theres Wen and Olivia. Ive always liked them as a couple since i was a kid. And their moments in the book were pretty fucking good. I love the subtle ways in which Wen slowly begins to pay more attention to her, and notice how his feelings toward her change, even though he doesnt really understand what they are. I lost my mind when in the beginning he described her eyes as a simple brown, but the next time it happens he sees that it has hints of yellow as well. And their fight scene ?!?!??!! Bro !!! The peak-ism of it all..... the way Wen crosses the street without Olivia, and theyre shouting while on different opposing sidewalks, with cars going between them, a clear and visual indication of this rift they suddenly found themselves in, and how sometimes they can think in opposite ways. Its so good. Hurts so well. And it gives more of a reason for Olivia to lose her voice as well, cause she had to yell over the noise and stuff. While in the movie she lost her voice over yelling two sentences while they were 2 meters away from each other, which always striked me as odd.

Speaking of which i feel like i have so much to say about Olivia, and at the same time so little. I honestly dont know which i prefer better, movie-Olivia or book-Olivia. From a poetic and creative standpoint, i really like that Olivia's POV throughout the book is told solely through her letters to her dad (+ Naomi at the end). Its very charming. But at the same time it also kinda feels like it hurts her characterization a bit in places. She tells stuff through a letter format to her dad, so at times it feels like she is withholding stuff while at the same time saying Much More than a 14 year old would say to their dad. And, granted, that does say a lot about her as a character, but you know. The point of different POVs is to explore the characters more. But because shes stuck telling the events to her dad, i dont feel like shes explored enough, it almost feels like shes only allowed to be his daughter - and it also feels forced at times when she tells stuff to him that i know just needs to be said for plot reasons. Which is a bit sad. I have the feeling that it is intentional, but idk. I feel like after 336 pages i still barely know her. We mostly get to know about her through other people - we basically only see Olivia [daughter] and Olivia [quiet friend]. I wanna see Olivia, dammit!!! It kinda sucks cause i love her and the book did not answer the questions i had about her. Shes the main singer, for goodness' sake !!!! And in the book nobody else sings besides her too.

This paragraph from one of Mo's POV kinda sums it all. Im stuck in a fence trying to understand if thats a good thing or not, when shes still a mystery even to the reader, only a 100 pages away from the end of the book. I want to know whats going on in her head so badly.

The exerpt kinda brings me to another point, slightly connected to the romance thing. The girls barely interact with each other. Of course we know they all become friends, and by the time the Halloween Bash is over and Nancy dies, Wen is already describing them all as a family in his POV. So we know they are all closer than they were before. From this point on they always describe themselves as friends, when before there was always an uncertainty over their relationship. But like, getting to my original point. The girls' interaction is scarce. Mo and Stella have the fight scene in the beginning, when the band first tried to make things work and they butted heads during practice. And then they get a descriptive paragraph soon after of the two of them having fun while reading a magazine and coloring the pictures with a pen after practice. After that, all of Mo's scenes are with Charlie, Naomi, or the other 4 as a band (or her dad). At the end Wen mentions that Mo gives him the "shovel talk" so he doesnt hurt Olivia by dating her. But we never get to see Mo and Olivia properly interacting one on one. The shovel talk isnt effective if i dont know the lengths that Mo would go for Olivia. I guess its fine narratively speaking, but like. I wanna see, you know. Olivia's scenes are even worse, theyre all either with Wen or the whole band. Olivia has more scenes with Sydney than with the other girls in her band. And its not just the girls, Wen and Charlie also never interact with each other. I feel like the focus in romance is greatly to blame for this. The movie lacks on this too, dont get me wrong. But its easier to convey their closeness to each other when there's a visual representation of them happening in front of my eyes and i can See them all interacting in between themselves without dialogue. Like Wen and Charlie singing the jingle of Rising Star together when they were in detention, or later on the two of them walking around school together. Or Mo hugging Olivia and standing close to her after Nancy died and More Than a Band happens. The whole More Than a Band scene actually, cause it kinda becomes a "silent" montage of them having fun together. Or having Wen with Stella when she realizes the actions of her consequences and suddenly the whole school knows shes the one responsible for cutting Mudslide Crush's set for the Bash in half. You know what i mean ?? As a big fan of found family i just kinda wish there was more of the rest of the relationships between the 5 of them. And in the book thats especially jarring. Which kinda goes back into the thing i said about Olivia's POV.

She wont write about these details to her dad. The only time she wrote in detail about a conversation was when she fought with Wen, cause she was venting about it to her dad. So we're kinda missing out on a POV that Could help bridge the band together in a way for the reader to see more clearly. Cause its obvious they love each other and theyre family, but we dont get to see much How exactly that happens. The cloud watching scene is like the main bonding moment in between the group and practically the only one we get to participate in. And it's not from Olivia's POV, it never is. Her cat died and we're told what happens through Wen's eyes. She has a "nervous attack" before the Halloween Bash to the point of puking and we're told what happens through Random Girl #6 That Just So Happens to Be Hiding and Eavesdropping in The Next Stall Over. She takes the band to see her dad in prison (a pretty big deal to everyone envolved) and, again, we're told through Wen's eyes. I wanna know what she was thinking !!!!! Cause its obvious it was hard for her to do that, and she had to prepare herself before even telling them where exactly they were going. What was going on through her head, then ?? Was she scared ?? Was she nervous ?? Was she thinking that maybe they wouldnt be her friends anymore because of it ????? We will never know, i can only assume stuff !!!!!!! And its really kinda frustrating. I wanna know for sure.

In the movie, Olivia's mom died when she was really young (young enough to not remember her face), and her dad "made bad decisions because of it". The way she talks about it makes it seem that immediately after her mom died, her father got into trouble with the law. So like her dad has been gone idk 12 years or something. She doesn't know him, doesn't know her mom. We're never told what exactly he did, and i kinda always got the impression that it was something bad, something that Olivia kinda resented him by, at least a little bit. I know she simply stated that she never wrote him back cause she didnt know what to say to him, cause he was basically a stranger to her. But you know. I feel thats enough to resent somebody, cause maybe she doesnt even know what he did either. If something like this happened in my family, i probably wouldnt know either. Not until i was like 22 and my aunt spilled the story while drunk during Christmas. The point is: its not the type of thing you tell a child - it's the type of thing the child quietly accepts as just a part of their normal life. So, at the end, she decides to give him a chance by writing a letter to him. I quite like that cause she was kinda doing the same thing that she fought Wen about. He never gave Sydney a chance, and she had never given her father a chance either. I like hypocrisy in characters cause it makes them complex. It makes the fight more interesting as well, cause otherwise its just suffering Olympics. And it hurts Olivia's character in my eyes cause thats really annoying and pointless. But interpreting it this way i can make more sense of it.

Book-Olivia, on the other hand. Her mother didn't die, she simply left. Olivia also does not remember her face. Her mom and dad had a teen pregnancy, the mom had drug problems and the dad already had minor criminal records. Mom left when she was 1. And her dad was a good father to her until she was 8. And she remembers that he was a good father. He had dreams of being an english teacher. And then he got fired from his taxi driving job, couldnt get another because of his past felonies, fell into old habits, and accidentally caused an old man to have a heart attack while attempting robbery with a toy gun. So he's in jail. And Olivia knows this stuff because she remembers. She was old enough to ask questions, to demand answers when her loving father suddenly wasn't coming home anymore. So she writes letters to him all the time, she keeps him updated on her life cause she knows he would like to be present, but can't. She also knows he made mistakes, and isnt looking for excuses for him. But he's a good father too. And she trusts him a lot. He's the person she trusts most in the world. So when she invites the band to visit him, she's trusting them as well.

Theyre similar backstories but also so different. Theres things i like about both. The Sydney-dad parallels in the movie are pretty good. Its what really sells it to me. The book's scene of the band visiting dad in prison is fantastic. I feel like the movie did a good job translating the book and adaptating Olivia's backstory. I quite like that the whole movie is Olivia's letter to her dad, telling him about her band. It's a pretty good way to tie her to her POVs from the book. ..I dont remember where i was going with this, honestly. I like Olivia. I may like movie-Olivia more just because, like i said, the hypocrisy makes her more complex. And book-Olivia is unfortunately a mystery i cant solve.

Mo's story is also pretty good in both. I feel like the only significant difference between book-Mo and movie-Mo is that Naomi's whole character is gone. So is her family owned store and the obvious religious references and practices, and Mo is seen doing less extracurriculars. So the illness she contracts before Rising Star in the movie feels less like a burn out and more like a really unfortunate coincidence - which lowkey sucks cause the burn out she feels is essential to Mo finally understanding that she cant keep overworking herself like this, which ultimately results into her coming to terms with the fact that she cant plan her whole future and expect it to not go wrong at some point. Cause that burned out Mo isnt the real Mo. Which then leads her to her confronting her dad. I understand why they cut Naomi out, but the fact that Mo had a pretty good friend before the band makes so much sense. She doesnt really struggle socially, its more that she has a family influenced plan for her future, and doesnt have time for other stuff (doesnt let herself have time for other stuff, especially after Scott). Mo in the book and in the movie do not feel like two different characters, it's more that the book has bonus content of the same girl. Its nice. Same thing with Stella and lowkey Wen, i think. And because of it i dont have much to say about Mo. Shes like Stella in the way that shes a very fleshed out character. Everything she does make sense. I highly recommend the book only for her POVs cause it touches her religion, faith and heritage in ways disney could never do cause theyre cowards. It really enriches her character. I love that even though she doesnt see eye to eye with her father, she still went and prayed with him. She doesn't hate her culture nor her religion. She values her family a lot and its especially telling in the book. I feel like thats a bit harder to see with movie-Mo.

Wen also feels like pretty much the same guy. In the movie they cut his pointless popular social hierarchy chase and replaced it with self absorbed jokes, which is important characterization nonetheless cause it tells the viewer that Wen isnt really insecure. In fact, id say he is very confident in himself. If he could, he wouldve named the band Wen. I dont think he is as confident in the book, but he also isnt trying to be someone he isnt, and you gotta be confident enough for that. He never tried to change who he is; he knows he is a weird guy but he thinks he still can be popular and That could work in his favor if he plays his cards right. But, through no fault of his own, he couldnt play them and thats why he fell so hard down the social hierarchy ladder. And he isnt happy about that. The Sydney situation in the book is a bit different from the movie, and way more awkward. Wen is described as being in love with her and the photographs he accidentally brought to school with him were Sydney's self portrait nude drawings. Its a very uncomfortable situation to everyone involved, including me that had to read and imagine it. I personally prefer the movie version of this cause it minimally touches Wen's problems with his mom leaving them behind and the impact it had on him. Sydney bothers movie-Wen so much because her presence is sudden, everywhere, and to him she's trying to replace something she could never be - his real mom. So he's angry and he lashes out. Thats way more interesting to me than having a teenage boy crush on your dad's 26 year old girlfriend. But i do like that he eventually realizes he grew out of it when Sydney starts treating him more "motherly" - fussing over his injury and offering him leftovers. It slightly-but-not-really touches the 'replacing his mom' role Sydney could have. Idk. Again, i like my characters when theyre more complex. Sure, the crushing on your dad's girlfriend brought him quite a lot of guilt, and that was a positive to me for his complexity's sake, but i feel like we already know so little about Wen's biological mom and how that affects him as is. Both in the movies and in the book, we're only told that she left them. Literally only that. I guess one could interpret it as she leaving them cause of a potential death, but i personally always saw it as abandonment. And something like that is ALWAYS gonna affect a child. At least movie-Wen touches a bit on how that affects Wen, and i like that.

Also wouldve it killed disney to give Wen his fucking glasses ?! Thats literally all thats different from his movie and book appearances and that kinda hurts a lil bit. Well, despite that Adam Hicks is kinda ginger and Wen is described as blond. But i dont think that matters much.

I guess to sum all this "character study" stuff up.

• Same character as in the movie but with bonus content: Mo and Stella.

• Movie has a different interpretation of the same character: Olivia.

• Movie and book got completely different characters they might as well have different names: Charlie. (and they do have different last names)

• Wen: Wen.

I do love the movie's songs cause theyre all a BANGER and i grew up listening to them. I just wish the book somehow had a CD built-in with their songs. Just so i could know what they sound like cause its REALLY hard to imagine. Especially cause the book gives us some song lyrics as well.

Anyway. Now to talk about the band itself. The book is interesting cause they all use unusual instruments: Stella plays an ukelele (she does know how to play electric guitar, but she ditches it for the sake of the band); Charlie's got a bunch of bongos and im-assuming-at-least-some-drum-plate-thingies; Wen plays the trumpet; Mo plays the big bass instrument that i forgot the name of; and Olivia sometimes plays an accordion + her voice. Olivia is also the only singer. I really like this cause its yet another reminder that those kids are weird. And thats CHARMING as hell !!! It kinda makes me sad that the movie didnt embrace these instruments cause im really fucking curious to how theyd sound together. Like, really, thats a big complaint of mine. Its such a weird mix of instruments that i really wish i could listen to them - its frustrating, even. I feel like that could change me as a person. Cause thats what so magical about them as a band. By all accounts they should not work well together, but they do somehow. Their instruments are a visual and soundful (?) (thats definitely not a word) representation of their weird friendship, its a reflection of it. Theyre all really different people but they somehow work well together. Theyre a family. And you cant separate them cause together theyre an unstoppable revolution.

One thing i really did Not like about the movie after having Book Hindsight, is the way the band reacts to Stella and the lemonade machine situation. In the movie it really feels sometimes that Stella is the only one that cares about that. Especially during the jail scene. I do love the Turn Up The Music callback but i HATE that they all blame Stella so blatantly and they never properly apologize. While in the book theyre ALL in this together, theyre fighting for what they believe in, and they never fault her for calling them and making them come to the school. Cause they all know its not just about the lemonade machine. Charlie does say in the book that "its just a stupid lemonade machine, Stella" but we know he doesnt really believe in that because of his thiughts. Its a half-hearted statement cause he might know its a lost cause but we Know he's worried as well, we know he doesnt mean it. But, at least to me, in the movie when they say stuff like that it really does feel like they dont care, sometimes. Especially when theyre in jail. And it kinda really fucking sucks. Its the main fucking theme of the book/movie !!!!!!! The lemonade machine matters cause it symbolyzes THEM !!!!! Its in their band name !!!!! And when they lose the machine they dont even feel like fighting for the band anymore !!!!!! Thats how much it bothers them that the machine is gone !!!!!

I think im gonna reread that part and rewatch the movie and come back to this actually. So i can judge and hate on this particular movie choice with more arguments.

[devnmon]

An Almost New Day

Chapter Five: Written in My Stars

Summary: It's the morning after the Dixon's have entered the camp, but Merle can't seem to keep his mouth to himself.

Daryl Dixon x Reader

Series Masterlist | Playlist

Chapter Warnings: Merle Dixon being an asshole (i'm sorry once again), some violence if you squint, mentions of blood

wc: 3.9k

A/n: This was one of my favorite chapters to write, reader's a spitfire and doesn't take shit from any of the assholes (Merle) in camp. I looovee this chapter and hope you all do too. Happy reading!

Finally, his aches had simmered.

His eyes weren't irritated from lack of sleep, the bottoms of his feet weren't burning from being on them for too long in the day.

Daryl's body lay on the soft blankets that adorned his makeshift bed. He was resting peacefully, lost in his sleep cycle that allowed him at least 5 or 6 hours of rest, which he was enjoying for once since he'd been on the road.

That was, until he picked up his brother's voice yelling from a distance, splayed out comfortably on his cot, tucked between the blankets with warmth enveloping him.

Right now, it was truly the most comfortable he's felt since being on the road. Sure, it wasn't an actual bed, but Daryl was one for being fine with making do with what he had.

The first sound of his brother's voice pulled his body from rest, his eyes squinching just the slightest at the echoing sound in their closed state. Though, the next time he heard the voice was when he opened his eyes. The already-risen sun seeped through the net of Daryl's tent, poking his eyes as they fluttered open.

Daryl hesitated to pull himself from his very comfortable spot, since it became apparent to him that the minute he got up, it would be to fix something Merle had caused.

Once again, Daryl's been doing this for his brother his whole life.

As far as Daryl knows on the basis of family and blood, he's only been taught at since childhood that your blood are the only ones you can rely on.

Daryl pondered this aspect of himself often, admitting that he'd been questioning the only thing he's known since he was young.

His predicament was always this: would it be easy for Daryl to pull himself away from agreeing with something his brother suggested? The same thing that could do more harm than good?

At that point, he'd been considering just closing his eyes again, until he heard a different voice yelling this time. It made him focus his hearing a bit more as he tried making out who it was.

Wait. Was that... you?

Daryl shot up from his cot, as he placed his feet on the ground, pulling his jeans and shoes back on, as well as a sleeveless flannel over the undershirt he'd slept in. He paused once he was dressed, rubbing the extra sleep from his eyes, yawning as he stretched his body. Daryl waited patiently to see if those same voices would sound again. Tor the moment, it seemed quiet, so he decided to start his day with an entry in his journal.

If he didn't get his thoughts out now, they would fade from his memory before he got a chance to write them down.

Day five

Familiarized myself with the people in the group. Dunno. Things have changed. I feel.. welcome. These people.. they're different. Ain't thought about bein' around a big group of people like this in a long time.. The only person that kinda felt genuine from was a girl named y/n. These people, this group, seem decent. Nice to be surrounded by people other than Nerle for once. Don't think I wanna leave. At least not yet.

Daryl scribbled the last sentence, slightly flinching at another loud voice from the main part of camp. The sound caught him off guard, causing him to squiggle a line of pen across half of the page. He grumbled and closed the journal quickly, realizing the voice was his brother's.

Shit, he's yellin' again..

He quickly threw his journal back into his pack, tossing that under his cot, hidden by the blankets hanging over it. Daryl left the tent hurriedly, and rushed over to where the raised voices echoed from again. Daryl made it back to the main area of the camp, seeing everyone paired off with their families enjoying their first meal of the day. His eyes darted around until he found the source of yelling, over where his brother stood.

The one opposing him, also yelling, was you. Daryl wasn't sure if he was seeing this right, through half asleep eyes still. He shifted closer to the argument, hoping to settle the disagreement so the group could continue a peaceful morning.

"What's goin' on??" Daryl's voice first thing after he'd slept made it come off with more of a raspy, low tone, than usual. The difference in his voice made your eyes shoot over to his figure, eyeing his tensed shoulders in his half-sleepy state. Even when he was stood there innocently, half asleep, you thought he looked cute.

"Nothin' brother, just makin' conversation with Bambi, here."

"Much less conversation as it was a bigoted conversation.." You mumbled, trying to hide your words, but Daryl heard what you said.

"A what? What do ya mean?" Daryl stepped between the two of you, pulling you a distance apart before asking again, "Tell me what he said."

You huffed out a breath of air, frustrated that you'd honestly been pulled away before you got violent with the older dixon brother.

Though, it didn't mean you weren't ready to throw a right hook when needed.

"Merle suggested that it would be ideal for him to take over as leader of the group, since he thinks Shane is too distracted with his own problems to be in charge. Then, he proceeded to suggest a very misogynistic plan to split up our work, which I'd rather not repeat."

The words you spoke flooded Daryl's mind, growing annoyed at his brother for mouthing off and saying something he should have just kept to his damn self.

Here he was, fixing something his brother started, again.

Your arms crossed against your chest with another huff of air, eyeing merle down profoundly as you kept Daryl out of your line of vision to avoid being distracted by him in the moment.

You didn't know what it was about daryl that seemed much different than the other men at the camp, but something had been pulling your thoughts off track to think about him instead.

"Merle, we ain't been here a whole day yet, and you're messin' shit up for us already! Can't ya keep your damn remarks to yourself? We just got here, what makes ya think they want you in charge?"

"Nah, man. I knew it when I stepped in this camp yesterday that it needed a real leader, not some willy nilly police officer who's more focused on bangin' his side piece than he is the rest of us!"

"Hey! You don't know shit about Shane.." Andrea butted in, starting to get annoyed at Merle's disrespect on Shane's name.

Truth be told he wasn't your favorite person, nor was he Daryl's, by what he observed yesterday. But he was technically authority, a sheriff's deputy before the fall, and knew how to handle things in a somewhat orderly fashion. Right now, he was the best your group had, and you'd gone along this far with it, so why stop now?

"I'm just tellin' it like I see it, blondie. Don't shoot the messenger." Merle's hands raised in a mocking surrender, turning his back away from you, with Daryl turned the same way.

This was an opportunity to show Merle who he was messing with. When he said something disrespectful, you weren't going to let it slide. The palms of your hands were slick with sweat, hands clenched at your sides. You took one look at his smug face, and that was it. Before you knew it, your feet were bringing you closer to merle, one of your hands raising slightly, your hand still clenched in a fist.

As you approached swiftly, it felt as if there was nothing holding you back when it came to Merle. The only thing you could focus on was the feeling of your fist pummeling into his face with a hard whack.

"Next time, just shut up." Your arm swung towards Merle's nose, the force of your punch knocking him over, toppling over onto Morales as they both fell.

Before Daryl knew what was happening, he saw your fist fly by his face, watching his brother fall backwards. Morales was the unlucky man that took the impact of the fall, landing on his back with merle's body on top of him.

Some of the members of camp who witnessed you swing a punch onto one of the new guy's faces yelled out in surprise, others with laughter. Seeing the looks on people's faces made Daryl realize that nothing violent like this had happened here before, the action of yours impacting some of the people more than others.

"What the hell- Hey!" Morales yelled out, stuck under the now unconscious man on top of him.

Daryl began panting, his heart speeding up as frustration grew and overtook his mind as he attempted to grasp onto what had just occurred. He tried to make his understanding of the situation clearer, stepping towards where his brother had landed.

Morales finally rolled merle onto the ground, his face splattered with some blood from the punch being planted onto his face.

"Shit, what the hell did you do that for?!" Daryl yelled gruffly, anger trying to take over control of his actions in the moment. Though, he knew he couldn't, on account of staying in the camp. He breathed through his nose, trying to calmly speak to you about the incident, rather than let himself get angry over it.

Maybe you had a reason to do what you did, one he didn't understand yet.

"Look Daryl, he wouldn't have stopped if I didn't do something. He would've just gone on and worn himself out. I apologize on account of he's your brother and all.. but trust me when I say he probably deserved that punch."

"The hell you know about my brother!? Not a damn thing! He ain't nobody's problem but mine! I would'a handled him!" Out of all the situations Daryl's gotten Merle out of, he didn't quite know how else he would've handled it any different.

"Right, how? By doing.. the exact same thing as me?" You waited for Daryl to answer, but only shook his head in response as you continued, "Listen, I know exactly the kind of guy Merle is, whether you want to believe it about your brother or not. He just wants to assert his dominance over us, in such an alpha-male way. I'm not going to be the one in the group that lets his shit slide, alright? Nothing personal. But if you're gonna need a knock on your ass too, get right in line."

All while you were talking, Daryl was picking up his brother, slinging him over his shoulders, listening to you intently go on about merle.

You were right of course, in all the ways Daryl knew were, but didn't quite understand enough.

Why did his brother have to go and get himself into situations like these? Ones where he literally ends up unconscious?

"Yeah, whatever." The tone of Daryl's voice suggested frustration with not just his brother, but also you in that moment. He didn't have any other emotion to express rather than anger about the whole thing, but didn't think it was the time for an outburst.

"Y/n, why'd you even let these guys into our camp if you were just gonna throw punches when they got out of line?" T-dog questioned you, somewhat perplexed at the timeline of your actions.

"Well, I know how to handle guys like Merle, clearly. I don't think there's any problem with that, is there?"

T-dog only scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh yeah? That if the next punch you throw gets you knocked on your ass? 'Cause I know ol' Merle here won't be as friendly." T-dog pointed to the man over Daryl's shoulders, standing nearby as he watched the conversation trail on.

"Well, I'll deal with that if I ever comes to it. For now, I think we're good. right, Daryl?" You turned to him, seeing a nod from his head.

"Hey, maybe you should take him somewhere he doesn't disrupt the peace in camp again, cool?" Glenn called out to Daryl, sat a few feet away from where he watched the whole thing just play out.

"Yeah, got it. Enjoy your food. Sorry 'bout him." Daryl strained as the weight of his brother dragged next to him. Jacqui walked over where Daryl was to join him in carrying the other side of merle's body.

They had made their way to the opposite side of the camp, placing Merle, still knocked out cold, against a tree before Daryl sat for the first time since rising from bed.

"Thanks, appreciate it." The corner of Daryl's mouth jutted upwards slightly, slightly content with the look of his brother's knocked out state.

"No problem, honey." Jacqui's hand patted Daryl's shoulder kindly as she continued, "We've been dealing with Ed and his loud mouth, but it's nothin' compared to your brother. Maybe he just needs some time to cool off and focus on helpin' our group out. Then it wouldn't give him a chance to get punched like he did although.."

Jacqui trailed off as she broke out in a small fit of laughter, knowing how in the right you were with your actions. Daryl let himself laugh out loud a bit as well, starting to realize his brother might have deserved that punch.

"Yeah. my brother can be like that. What would ya suggest he do to help out? I'm sure he could do somethin' useful."

"Well, I know you're going out hunting today, but he could join our group for a run into the city. We're gonna leave later in the day to scavenge supplies. It's a simple run, and Glenn knows his way around Atlanta pretty well. He could probably use the extra muscle to help bring all the supplies back. I'm sure your brother has tons of that."

"Yeah, sounds like somethin' he'd wanna do. I'll let Glenn know, thanks. Could ya do me a favor and stay here with him, while I grab some food? Need some sustenance before a hunt."

"Oh, sure, honey. Go on. I'll stay here. You just get yourself some food, okay?" Jacqui nodded to Daryl, as he walked back over to the campfire, spotting glenn in the same seat.

"Hey, Glenn, any chance you could let Merle join y'all for the run to Atlanta? Jacqui told me about it and she said it'd be a good idea for him to get started with helpin' out the camp." The smell of hot food distracted Daryl slightly as he started putting some onto his plate.

"Yeah, uh, sounds good. We could use the muscle. If he's conscious anytime soon, I'll let him know." Glenn told him, nodding in thanks and confirmation.

Daryl turned to find a place to sit and eat his food, noticing you sat on the ground with your legs crossed, nursing your reddish knuckles from the punch. He decided to sit beside you on the log, turning your head up at him with a quizzical look.

"You're sitting next to me after I just knocked your brother out with one punch? I've never met someone as confusing as you, Dixon."

"Shut up. Are ya alright? I don't see no blood on your hand, so it can't be that bad. Does it hurt?" Daryl shoveled some food into his mouth as he waited innocently for your response. Everyone else around the fire had trailed out, leaving only the two of you sat by the campfire.

You pivoted towards Daryl more, so your body was facing him.

"Is this your way of saying that I was justified in punching Merle? Cause if so..."

"Nah. Now answer me, I asked ya first."

"No, it doesn't hurt, as bad as i thought it would." You laughed slightly at the irony of the situation.

"Ya really gave him one hell of a hit. Don't think I've ever seen him get knocked out from just one punch before. Remind me not to get on your bad side."

"Nah, I don't think you will." you admitted, nudging his leg with your elbow as you chuckled.

Daryl must've been feeling more indifferent about his brother every moment he was around you, because the thought of you actually punching his brother out made him laugh now, a small smile breaking out onto his face.

Some part of him wished you didn't see him laugh, but you did anyways. and he was fine with that too.

Just as Daryl finished every last piece of food on his plate, his eyes narrowed, noticing T-dog sat beside Jacqui now, over by where Merle laid up against the tree.

"Look, as much as you can knock my brother's teeth out on command, he can get real violent, real fast."

Your eyes bore into him for a moment, before you laughed a bit at the suggestion of Merle even getting as close to laying a hand on you.

"Daryl, you know, I am capable of handling myself," You spoke, the tone of your voice sounding to Daryl like you were sure of yourself in that moment, "Or are you scared he might actually hurt me?"

"I- Look. I'm tryin' to warn ya," Daryl was worried his brother might hurt you if he felt inclined enough, "Just don't piss him off before he leaves for the run, alright?" Daryl stood in front of you now, whereas you still sat on the floor with a rag up to your fist.

"I guess I can manage that. Thank god he's getting out of the camp already, I think my head would fall off if he was just... here all day after I knocked him out..." your hand raised up to him, a sign to him that asked him to pull you from the ground.

His work weathered hand reached out to grasp around your somewhat smaller one, the warmth of his palm covering your hand as he pulled you from the dirt covered campground.

Once you stood beside him, your bodies bumped into one another as you caught your balance, realizing you stood way too close to Daryl now. A stuttered 's-sorry, shit. sorry..' leaves your lips as you step back from Daryl's personal space. An awkward laugh chokes itself from the back of your throat, as you began to avidly brush the wood chips off of your jacket and pants.

Being this close to you made Daryl's heart run a hundred miles per hour. He'd been close enough to you that all he could inhale was the smell on you, something sweet, like vanilla, but he couldn't quite put his thumb on it.

Daryl chuckled again, a genuine one that came out louder than he thought it would, clearing his throat to try and play it off. Truth was, Daryl felt a rush of heat in his cheeks, and didn't want to draw any attention to it.

Dipping his head, he stepped further back from you, hearing a slight sigh escape your mouth as you became hyper aware of how many people could be watching the two of you. Daryl cleared his throat again, as he also realized this, before he spoke.

"Well, Y/n, hope ya have a good day. I gotta head out, goin' huntin'. talk to ya later?" Relief washed over you, your shoulders un-tensing and pulling another laugh from your chest.

"Yeah, you have a good one.. too, Daryl." That bright smile of yours beamed up at him again, shoving your hands down as deep into your pockets as you could to combat the embarrassment you'd still felt from being a step too close to the man.

I knew he was one of the good guys.

The awkwardness was eating you alive inside and you wished for the moment to come where you would watch daryl walk away from you, those broad shoulders and bulky arms getting smaller with the distance, so that big breath of air you inhaled as soon as he came around could finally be exhaled from your chest.

All Daryl could mutter after that was 'seeya' as he turned to walk away, his boots crunching leaves under his feet.

It seemed, the both of you let out a breath of air neither of you knew the other was holding; it only took the comfortability of a distance between you both for Daryl to bring himself back to reality.

Before he began to return to his tent, he felt a hand grasp his shoulder slightly. Turning around, he saw glenn had grabbed his attention.

"Hey, just wanted to let you know that Merle agreed to the run, and we're gonna head out in one of the trucks pretty soon, so if you wanna talk to him before we go, you should."

Daryl thought for a moment, and considered just for a slight second to speak with his brother. After all, it could be the last time he sees him. it only took a second in this world for something to go wrong, one slight smidge in their plan, and someone would get bit or ripped into by one of those geeks. He didn't wish that on his brother, never could, but Daryl didn't know if he wanted to delay his hunt any more.

No, he wanted to put some distance between him and his older brother.

Daryl squinted his eyes at Glenn before he answered, "Nah. Just keep him alive."

"I'll try my best. Keep yourself alive." Knowing Daryl was going on his hunt, nodding with confirmation of the archer's request as he walked off.

The men parted ways, Daryl making his way back to the tent he'd woke up in just about an hour ago. Maybe it had been a little more or less than that, considering he'd lost track of time after you bumped into him and stayed in what was a very close vicinity to him, enough for him to have been overtaken in your scent.

Stood in the middle of his tent now, Daryl rubbed his eyes profusely to try and clear his mind, in order to focus on his task at hand: a hunt for squirrel.

Though before he collected his belongings for the hunt, he sat down and wrote another paragraph under the first one he'd written earlier.

-Everyone's puttin' up with Merle and his attitude, barely. He thinks he should lead, mind ya, we just got to the camp. Doesn’t know what's good for him, if he ever did. Been tryin to hunt and bring back meat for the group. They deserve it. So i’ll do somethin' worthwhile for 'em. Think Merle is gonna go scavenge with a few others in the city. He told me to stay at the camp, like he doesn't know i'm better at handling the city. Might just hunt to pass time ‘fore he gets back. Been alone most days at the camp anyway. But I don't wanna be alone forever. Jus' gonna stay out here till tomorrow. I'll get more squirrel that way, too.

Tossing the journal in his pack once more, Daryl collected some other items he'd need for his hunt: an extra shirt, arrows, his larger knife, this one unlike the one sheathed at his waist, with a larger blade for his catches. Daryl also packed the rest of his food leftover from the other day, what he didn't have the stomach to scarf down that night he saved, so he could make himself dinner over the campfire later tonight.

Other than what he'd already previously had ready, Daryl grabbed his bow and headed out on a mission to hunt some squirrel.

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[iantimony]

shabbosposting take 2

one day late, bonus edition: 2022 recap + 2023 goals

listening: I made a playlist of hebrew/yiddish metal and prog so that's been a highlight recently, I really like orphaned land so far

edit: i also have free bird stuck in my head bc we did fake karaoke in my friend's basement on new years eve and my bf put it on and now It Will Not Leave

reading: nothing to be honest ... oops ...

watching: finished Bocchi the rock, extremely charming, sparked joy. I've been rewatching hbomberguy video essays because they are reliable and good to have on in the background

playing: a little more hadesgame, Thinking about disco elysium and w101 but I haven't actually done it

making: I did do some embroidery! unfortunately I was. Very optimistic about how much I would get done over break. I brought it home with me with the intention that I could mail it from here but I am going to definitely have to bring it back with me lol

BONUS: what delights have I experienced?

walking around: kinda minor still, mostly just walking the dog

fellowship: part of why I am Very tired is because I have completely filled my schedule with seeing friends :") so I have really had no time to myself at all which is kinda overwhelming. but it's been really good to see everybody! I just wish I had a little more time to fit everything in and not feel so crammed

deliciousness: did a christmas day brunch at ceruleanvulpine's, super delicious spread with eggs, french toast, bagels, sausage, little cookies...dinner at the bf's place after, lamb and kebab and pesto pasta and just kind of a fun mishmash of different style foods...indian food at a friend's place new years eve...and then new years day brunch yesterday with cold cuts and I made my favorite orzo salad. I made myself a BANGIN sandwich today with the leftovers it was great

goofing, transcendence, amelioration, enthrallment, wildcard n/a

---

general reflection

2022 was kind of a weird and bad year! I spent most of the first half of 2022 dealing with the fallout of Dead Parent Zone, got a bad enough grade in a class that for the first time ever I had to retake it, and grappling with being so far from home for school while also dealing with all that shit. then I took on way too many obligations for the fall semester and shot my mental health in the foot a bit as a result.

there were some good things too, though - I was nervous about how a long-distance relationship would go but it's honestly going so, so well and he's been a real source of joy for me this past year. I did pass my classes even though it was a struggle so I don't have to retake anything again, and I already planned to do less next semester. despite it all I did finish a little art, and I got back into life drawing, and had a lot of good moments with friends. in general I think graduate school has been a good choice for me so far, and as much as I bitch and moan about indiana it's like, Fine,

but actually the people are really good, I have a great support network, and ultimately I think it'll continue to be good. it's really made me appreciate the east coast LOL

2023

as ceruleanvulpine said in their resolutionpost, I wanna make more weird art! in general I want to create more and fill the enthrallment, amelioration, and transcendence delight categories more often. I want to finish this embroidery project (ideally soon), the knitted tank top I did that just needs the straps, scarf for my SO...I'd love to start writing again and play more horn but we'll see

I also wanna listen to more weird music, and invest in actually owning some files, especially for some of the lesser-known bands and through bandcamp and stuff

this past year I definitely fell back into some of my more unhealthy coping mechanisms just to deal with the day-to-day (specifically extreme dissociation), I really want to kind of dial those back again, focus more on existing in Reality and more in each moment, which hopefully will also help with some of the skin picking and other anxious habits that resurfaced. maybe more yoga, maybe re-establishing a meditation process, idk yet but I'll work towards it

I would love to think more about my fashion and how I present myself too, and work on making and tailoring more of my clothing in general

I've been pretty good about being active so I'd like to keep that up, I still can't do a pull-up but maybe this is the year! (lol) I should also start doing some minor exercises for my shitty arthritis toes to keep those okay

a lot of last year was kind of a wash regarding research so I'm really looking forward to refocusing on that and really getting things moving.

finally! I want to get back to tabletop! I miss doing it so much! it fell by the wayside for me because of how busy and overwhelmed I was, especially this past fall semester, but I want to start running and playing games with my pals again.

maybe Too Many things listed here, a little ambitious, but maybe that way I'll be able to hit at least one or two of them :b here's to 2023 and making it better than 2022!

[matt-lifesage]

Matt’s 2022 Visual Novel Tier List

We're counting down/ranking all the visual novel's I read in 2022!

C-Tier:

Melty Blood

TATARI is a fantastic concept, and Sion’s a really fun new character to throw in with the Tsukihime cast, but the actual storytelling was more often than not really really boring. The comedy route was nice, but most of the game’s a slog to get through since all the different paths are very samey.

It didn’t help that I knew the gist of the story from reading the manga adaptation several years back. After rereading the manga again after going through the game, it’s a very solid adaptation and my preferred version of the story (though, I don’t think Act 2’s adaptation of the comedy route works nearly as well).

B-Tier:

Kagetsu Tohya

I ended up enjoying this more than I expected, though I'll admit that I don’t remember too much of the main story outside of the major beats with Len, who’s great. Type-Moon would execute this premise much stronger with Hollow Ataraxia a couple years later, but I don’t think you can write this game off because of that.

The Ten Nights of Dreams stories were the highlight for me. With two or so exceptions, they’re fantastic side stories, easily my favorite part of the experience.

First Snow

A nice little lesbian college romance. It’s free so it’s easy to recommend. Short, not very complicated, and as a standalone prequel/demo for the devs' upcoming game, it does a good job. I’m looking forward to Twofold.

A-Tier:

Tsukihime [reread]

I reread the Near Side routes back in 2021 before Remake dropped, then early this year I finished the Far Side. I really fell in love with it going through the second time, especially Kohaku’s route.

(now please localize the remake, Aniplex. In a perfect world you’d translate that AND the original, but give me the new one at least it looks so so so good i really wanna read it)

Higurashi Question Arcs

Fantastic horror, I can’t recommend it enough. Chapter 1 is free so go download it. It’s so worth getting into this eight-game series disguised as one or two games depending on who you ask (just save yourself some time, skip the character arc, and just switch to the original sprites right away).

It might have landed itself higher on the list if my experience reading the first two chapters hadn’t been plagued by half-remembered spoilers from watching the anime over a decade ago. It proved that barely-remembered spoilers can be worse than well-remembered spoilers because a whole backburner of my brain was stuck trying to figure out how that corrupted data fit into what I was reading instead of appreciating the storytelling. Kinda frustrating, but not the game’s fault. Thankfully it wasn’t an issue Chapter 3 onward (what a great chapter omg).

Queen Beast

Queen Beast! Queen Beast! Please read it! It’s so fun and charming and good. It’s under five hours, you can easily read it in one or two sittings. And It’s impossibly free-to-play. Just a delightful fantasy adventure about a young man rescuing his sister from a mysterious knight riding a dragon known for abducting women with big boobies. Some of the most fun I had with a VN all year. I’m probably going to reread it soon, honestly.

I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for anything Envelope does in the future.

Did I mention it’s free and I'm very annoyed I can’t find any way to give the folks who made it some money? Very rude of them to not let me praise their incredible work with cash. But whatevs, maybe next time.

S-Tier:

So I read too many great VN’s this year, so the top tier is PACKED. The ranking for everything (with the exception of first place) shifts based on my mood, so this is ordered by my current feeling/the order I felt like talking about them. Consider it a four-way tie for second place.

Higurashi Answer Arcs

You wanna cry? You wanna cry a whole lot? Do I have the visual novel for you! Again! 'cause the second half is even better.

If Higurashi’s first half is a fantastic horror series, its Answer Arcs continues that while becoming an undisputed masterpiece. The way the story explodes from a small town potentially supernatural horror story to a (spoilers!) complex 1980’s political conspiracy thriller without ever losing its focus on the characters or its heart is applause-worthy.

Please Be Happy

And the award for biggest surprise of the year goes to PBH! It was a solid B-tier, maybe even A, until one of the routes it splits off into caught me in an emotional headlock it still refuses to release me from. A very solid slice-of-life comfy urban fantasy romance that ended up meaning a whole lot more to me than I could have expected.

Full Metal Daemon Muramasa

Motherfuckinggoddamnfuckyeah Full Metal Daemon Muramasa fuck yeah let’s fucking go hell yeah fuck yeah.

Welp, if that wasn't one of the best things I’ve had the honor of reading, I don’t know what is. Fuuuuck!

I went into this one blind. I didn’t even know the premise. I wanted to read some grimdark outside of my at the time comfort zone and it paid off. I’m so glad I gave this one a chance.

Witch on the Holy Night

I genuinely cannot believe this was as good as I’d hyped myself for six years into hoping it was. Easily my personal go-to recommendation for anyone wanting to get into Type-Moon. Some of the most impressive spectacle and presentation I’ve ever seen in a visual novel (and that says a lot considering it's the same year I read FMDM). Arguably some of Nasu’s best character work, the relationship between the three main characters and the supporting cast is masterful. It even has a surprising amount of optional bonus content that stands very well alongside the phenomenal main story. Hopefully, it starts a trend of Type-Moon’s backlog being released in English.

And the uncontested best visual novel I read in 2022 is…

Umineko Answer Arcs

I read this back in April, and I knew as soon as I finished that it would be the best thing I read all year. No contest. And that opinion wasn’t shaken once.

An incredible loving dissection of the mystery genre. The word that kept coming to mind while I was reading it was “confidence.” I can’t think of another story so brazen. I can only begin to imagine how nerve-wracking it was writing a mystery this large a scale, one that gleefully points out the rules and means to criticize itself, commenting on the genre, challenging the characters and audience to find fault with it, the balance between setting up the reveals while hiding them in plain sight... Reading Umineko is watching a writer full-speed sprint across a tightrope, and Ryukishi07 pulls it off with absurd grace.

Do yourself a favor, love yourself, and get into When They Cry.

[safer---inthe-forest]

Newest Chapter Look. Should have a read fellow fans c;

We all arrived at Nate's house together in his truck. We had gone back in Maddy's car to pick up each of our clothes and then Nate had picked us up from Maddy's but around the corner because her Mum would have killed her if she'd known we would be staying at Nate's. I hadn't been to Nate's since I was a kid like, kid kid and it was only like once or twice because our parents were friends. His Mum was out of town visiting her sister and his brother had finally moved out so we had the place to ourselves for as long as we wanted.

"Holy fuck your house is big" I said.

"Yeah, I guess" said Nate, helping Maddy out the car.

We walked inside and we all gazed up at the ceiling and around at the rooms apart from Maddy.

Lexi mouthed the word "Wow" to me.

"So you guys want a drink?" said Nate, walking us into the kitchen which was also perfect.

Each of them said yes, expect for me. I wanted too, but I wasn't sure if it would break my sobriety. It had been almost a year and I was so proud of myself, not to put up an ego or anything but I hadn't been this sober in... I don't even know. Fuck it.

"I'll have one" I said.

They all turned their heads towards me.

"Rue..." said Jules.

"You don't have to drink because we're drinking Rue, I mean, I have some non-alcoholic wine if you want that" smiled Nate.

"That's a good idea Rue, have that" Maddy said, jumping up onto a kitchen seat.

"Look, if I'm going to drink a gross drink, I mose well get drunk off it" I said with a small laugh.

Nate laughed back.

"I think it's a bad idea Rue" said Jules looking concerned as she grabbed my hand which caught me by surprise.

"Please, it's almost been a year. I know we don't talk that much but I don't want to see you like that again" she whispered in my ear.

"It's fine Jules, thanks" I said as I stared up into her eyes.

"Let's do this" said Nate opening a bottle of Vodka which was Maddy's favorite.

-

It wasn't long until we were all smashed and sitting in the lounge-room with music pumping in the background. I actually found Nate to be pretty funny when he wasn't being an asshole to everyone I knew. I started to see the good qualities of him as a person and why Maddy started to like him in the first place.

"Oh my god, I have an idea!" said Jules after dancing with Maddy and walking over to the group of us who were on the ground.

"What is it Jules?" I asked.

Because I was drunk, I could actually talk to her. It was nice, I'd missed her so much.

"Remember the game me, you and Elliot used to play?" she asked giggling.

"Okay, stop, who the fuck is this Elliot guy and why have I not met him yet" asked Maddy who sat down in Nate's lap.

"Don't worry about him" I said taking a sip of my drink.

Holy fuck, I am starting to feel really drunk now. The room is spinning.

I started to remember why I used to do drugs instead of alcohol. Alcohol just burned my stomach and made me feel sick while also the side effects of it were just an overall bad mix with me.

"No no, I wanna know too! He like saved your life right?" said Lexi plopping onto the ground next to Maddy and Nate.

"Oh my god..." I said under my breath.

I wasn't ready to have this conversation in this state.

"Well is he like hot?" asked Maddy.

Nate looked at Maddy.

"Babe, it's girl talk, you decided to have us over, deal with it" she laughed.

"Babe huh!" laughed Jules.

"We see how it is, babe" laughed Lexi.

"So are we back together Babe?" Nate said finally joining in as we all laughed.

"Okay, hold that thought. Elliot please!" said Maddy, pointing her finger at me and Jules.

Finally I realized I couldn't avoid it.

Sigh

"He's a guy I did drugs with okay, he was our friend and we hung out....." I said and as I went to continue...

"And I kinda kissed him a couple of times" said Jules.

Everyone paused and looked at Jules.

"See, Rue questioned that but like still, wow" said Maddy.

"Jules..." I said quietly.

"I'm sorry Rue, we were in a weird place and it just happened"

You could tell she instantly regretted saying it.

"Wait, this happened when we were together?!" I said getting up "I can't believe this, what the fuck, so I was right, that's why you dobbed on me. What so you can accept him as an addict and not me?"

"Rue, calm down" said Lexi who had come over to me.

"No. Fuck you Jules, this is bullshit. Elliot's an addict too" I said walking back and forth while starting to cry which made Jules cry.

"Is this what girls parties are like?" Nate said to Maddy quietly.

Maddy shrugged "There's always some drama, especially if we're drunk"

"Truth or Dare Jules" I said angrily.

"Oh my god! Let's play truth or dare!" said Maddy clapping her hands together "Rue Rue, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth"

"Who was your first love" Maddy giggled.

"I don't have one" I said, quickly staring at Jules then looking away.

She looked down and it was my turn to ask someone.

"Maddy, Truth or Dare"

"Ummmmm Dare" she giggled.

"I dare you, to kiss Nate" I laughed.

God, my emotions turned around quickly.

"Oh my god!!!" laughed Lexi.

I then felt a hand touch mine, I looked over to see Jules staring at me "I'm sorry" and then she leaned in and kissed me too. Because Lexi was focused with Maddy and Nate and Maddy and Nate had their eyes shut, no one saw.

"Lexi, Truth or Dare"

"Uh Truth" she giggled.

"Does no one choses dare?" said Nate after sipping his drink.

I knew each of us wouldn't remember parts of tonight so since I'd been sober so long, I felt like going all out.

"How do you really feel about Me and Cassie?" asked Maddy after she took a sip of her drink while her arm was around Nate.

"I'm totally on your side" she laughed.

"If you weren't, I'd be surprised" said Maddy with that smile she does.

"Rue, Truth or Dare"

"Since Nate thinks no one chooses Dare, Dare"

"I dare you to make out with Jules" she giggled.

"Ohhhhh" said Nate who seemed overly excited but so did Maddy.

"Okay. Sure. Fine"

"Make up and make out bitches" said Maddy.

We turned to each other. We'd already kissed but why was it so hard to do with everyone watching. Was it that or was it I was still mad at her?

"Go Go Go!" said Maddy standing to her feet.

"Come onnnnnn" said Nate which he got a slap on the chest for.

And then it was magic. The familiar feeling of her lips on mine. The feeling in my chest.

"You'll regret that Lex" I lied but I made everyone laugh.

"Truth or Dare, Nate" he looked at me in fright.

"Dare" he said looking at Maddy.

I knew exactly what to say.

"I dare you to take Maddy upstairs, into your bedroom and you two decide from there" I said with a cheeky smile.

"Oh my god, Rue" Maddy laughed.

I did what I thought he wanted, the sexual tension between them was so strong, the whole room could feel it. Eventually something would happen between tonight or sometime soon anyway.

"As you wish" he turned to Maddy with his hand out "Madame"

They went upstairs while Lexi, Jules and I stayed downstairs and it wasn't long until we heard them fucking.

"Did I just get them back together?" I said sarcastically.

"No, you just started World War III, Thankyou for that. God, Cassie's going to flip her shit" said Lexi lying down on the floor.

Jules and I kept slyly looking at each other. We turned the music up and all started to dance so there wasn't an awkward feeling of hearing them.

An hour had gone by and they hadn't come back downstairs so we all assumed they were asleep. We found our way to the guest room and slept in the same bed, Jules cuddled up to me and we hugged all night. Then all I had to wait for was morning light. What would happen between us.

[night-raven-miscellany]

i fear im a lil late for lewis day but LEWIS DAYYY HAPPY BDAY SILLY GUYY !! I COME BEARING SILLY BDAY ASK GAME EMOJIS >:D

can i pls order

🏠 , 🏝️ , ���️ , 🌹 , ☀️

for the birthday boyyyyy !!ヾ(≧▽≦*)o

(✨don't worry about it bestie! I literally didn't post the stuff for it until like. Halfway thru the day yesterday bc I was so busy so... Not as much bday time as I would have liked BUT!!! you win some you lose some.)

"Eh, Rusul, right? You're back."

"Well yea I just 'ad to take a short break. I've got more questions for ya so strap in, bud."

🏠

"So for starters, what's your 'ometown like?"

"Oh! Well it's this little (well, not little little but like. Big little) town called Tepartie (Teh-par-tee-aye) on the eastern coast of the Shaftlands. We're primarily known for three things: Tea, hats, and a HUUUUUGE festival we have annually to kinda showcase the different tea blends people have sold that year - like one giant tea party! It's a total blast... I'd love to invite people to go with me and James at some point when it pops up again."

"Sounds like a fun time t'me! 'f ya ever wind up going, make sure to 'it me up about it."

"Sure thing! I like inviting my cute lil underclassmen to experience the world with me, so you got it!"

"cute lil... You're a year older than me. What."

"Eh, don't think about it too hard, yeah? Anyways let's keep going, I'm sure you've got more questions."

🏝️

"Aight. If you were stuck on a deserted island, which of the students 'ere would ya take with ya?"

"hmm... Well as much as it pains me to say it, prolly the Tyrant himself... I could see him being resourceful and knowledgeable enough to help us survive. Granted this is all provided he and I are both willing to cooperate AND that the goal isn't to leave the island, but eh... I think it'd work. Maybe..."

"why would'ja take a guy who ya hate?"

"again, he'd probably just be a good bet for survival... At least he looks and acts like it. Could be super different in real life but eh. It's whatever, I guess."

🗓️

"Ok next question... A simple one, really: what'd'ya wanna do in the next year?"

"Simple indeed, my feathered friend. For me? I wanna boost my ratings, put myself out there for more people. That, and maybe get a good prank or two in on the Tyrant... Least I could do as his least favorite card soldier, y'know?"

"psh- 'f it's pranks ya want, I'm your guy! Can't really help with that first one all'at much, though... But I'll gladly 'elp ya with causin problems, fufufufu."

"Yeahhh, but id rather you not get dragged into collar shenanigans, y'know? Those things are a real drag to wear around."

"Eh. I've got my ways."

"what's that supposed to mean?"

"Moving on...

🌹

What's your fave kinda flower? Any meanin behind it?"

"I really like Irises, even if they don't really match my vibe. They're a flower that reminds me a lot of my bestie, so like. How could I not like it?! I guess I'm a big fan of Poinsettias, too. Nice and vibrant and festive. That's me all over!"

"Nice, concise, and to the point. I like that. Ok last question:

☀️

For the last one, just tell me about your typical mornin routine."

"ah, ok! Well... Usually when I first get up, I'm kinda a mess all over (not that I'm not already, hehehe), so first thing I try to do is just straighten up my hair so it falls in a less chaotic kinda way. My roommate tends to wake up early to get things done, so he's usually already up and about by the time I'm getting started, and he usually likes to make or bring breakfast for us from whatever's in the kitchen that morning. While I'm getting my stuff together, I'll eat, and then I make sure I've got all my stuff for my classes. Then it's just a matter of actually getting there on time."

"What keeps ya from doin that?"

"Being on time? Well. I'm just not a fan of having to rush too much. If I'm rushing or hurrying along, then there's usually a reason for it, and it usually isn't good either."

"Ah. Guess that makes sense.

Well, these answers 'ave been awfully 'elpful, but for now I gotta skedaddle back with 'em... 'ope ya 'ad a good birthday, 'atterson!"

[rain-fall-23]

Not your job anymore…

I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately. I want to talk to you so bad but I don’t think I can anymore cause it’s no longer your jobs to care. It’s no longer your job to listen to me talk about my favorite books or shows or the things going on in my life. You quit that job not even a 2 week notice but that’s okay. Not really but if I keep telling myself that then eventually it has to be right? Even though its not your job anymore and you will probably never see this (and this is probably stupid) here are something’s I’ve been wanting to text you

You graduated last week and even tho I wasn’t there I want you to know I am still proud of you. I know how hard you worked and I know you are going to do great things in life. I hope you’re doing good and I hope you’re happy.

I finally quit that job I hated. After 5 years with the company I just couldn’t do it anymore. That manager took away headphone and I know that’s such a dumb reason to quit but after the break up music was the only thing keeping me going. Obviously it wasn’t the only reason I quit but I could have continued to handle the double standards and management not listening and everything else as long as I had music but not without it. It’s better off this way, I still don’t know what I’m doing but it’s gonna be okay.

I haven’t been sleeping. I’m physically and emotionally exhausted but I can’t get my mind to shut off. I knew 2 years ago i would be fucked if we ever broke up not just because of the hurt of all of it but because even then I couldn’t sleep with out you on FaceTime and now my sleep schedule is so fucked and that’s my fault i should have known better then to let it get that bad but there’s nothing i can really do about that other then try and fix my sleep schedule. It probably wont happen tho.

You would be happy about this one, C and I stoped talking as much. There’s no reason for why other then we no longer work together. I know you probably wanted some big fight or something because you never really liked her but yeah. It’s weird tho because I thought she was my best friend and I thought it would always be that way but I guess not. She did come over today it was really awkward I was really anxious the whole time and everything felt off. Oh and get this her and her husband are expecting their first baby! I’m happy for her and I know she will make a good mom.

There’s so much more I wanna tell you but I guess none of that really matters, I hope your well I miss talking to you.

Next month would have been 3 years together.. anyways I’m okay I have to be. (I know this is stupid but it kinda but not really makes me feel better)

[atomic-thomas]

(Fake ASMR Commission) Your Girlfriend Talks About Bears

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

"Hey babe. I know this is kinda random, but... Have I ever told you what my favorite animal is?"

...

"I figured I didn't. Well, here's the answer."

"Bears"

...

"Yep. That's right. Nature's old reliable. A basic, balanced & well-built creature that thrives in a variety of environments. Bears are this fascinating mix of several different things."

"They're omnivores so they'll eat just about anything. They have a thick layer of fur, fat & muscle that make them very durable & strong. And their behavior is somehow both predictable & unpredictable at the same time. Bears can certainly attack humans, but sometimes they won't. Often times, a bear's behavior depends on your own. Although identifying the species of bear can help narrow down the level of predictability."

...

"Well, let's start with the black bear for example. I'd say this is probably the most common & recognizable species of bear. They can be found just about anywhere. They're pretty small & not all that strong so surviving attacks from one usually isn't very difficult. They're typically docile & fear humans so being loud & aggressive is usually enough to scare one off. And depending on the black bear, you might not even need to do that. Sometimes, they'll invade neighborhoods & cause trouble by knocking over trash bins so they can take from them. Generally speaking, the black bear is the one people have the most experience with."

...

"Ahhh, Grizzly Bears. This one is my personal favorite. Another one of the most recognizable bear species. Much bigger, bulkier, stronger & seen less often than black bears. Grizzly Bears are found in the Northwestern parts of North America. If you live down South or in the East, you probably aren't gonna see any Grizzlies. Unless they decide to travel far from their primary habitats for some reason."

...

"I wouldn't put it past Grizzlies to venture out & populate new land. I've heard of Jaguars being sighted in Southern Arizona near the border of Mexico before. And Jaguars certainly aren't native to that state."

"Anyway, unlike black bears, Grizzlies don't fear humans. You want to stay low & quiet in front of a Grizzly. All being loud & proud will do is get you killed. If you try to stand up tall & the Grizzly responds by standing taller than a basketball rig, you're gonna look really stupid before the bear proceeds to ruin your hopes & dreams."

"But despite how dangerous they are, they're such majestic creatures. There's nothing more beautiful than imagining a Grizzly Bear standing on the edge of a cliff with a scenic view of nature to accompany it. Gorgeous!"

...

"Yeah, I've talked enough about Grizzlies. I wanna move on to Polar Bears now. And lemme tell you... They are a cold customer."

...

"Yes, that pun was intentional. Anyway, Polar Bears are strictly carnivorous & you'll only be able to find them in the high north & deep south of the world. No survival tactics will save you from a Polar Bear if it decides that you're it's next meal. There's an old saying I've heard regarding bears. If it's black, fight back. If it's brown, stay down. If it's white..."

...

"Yeah. Goodnight. You pretty much need a weapon or bear spray to deal with one. Ideally, you want to avoid venturing into Polar Bear territory entirely. Once you see a Polar Bear, it already knows you're there. They have a super keen sense of smell."

...

"Oooh, the Kodiak Bear. This one is especially fascinating. There's only one place on Earth where they're found. The Kodiak Archipelago & it's surrounding islands. So they're a pretty exclusive species. Kodiak Bears are even bigger, more durable & stronger than Grizzlies. Yet despite this, they're actually peaceful. If my sources are correct, there's only been two known human deaths caused by Kodiak Bears in the past century. Talk about gentle giants."

...

"I'm not sure what those people did to provoke Kodiak Bears. But given the species' passivity, they probably deserved it."

...

"Sloth Bears, huh? Don't let the name fool you. Sloth Bears are among the most dangerous. They're generally found in the middle-eastern parts of the world. They're typically hostile meaning it's never safe to be near one. Their claws are incredibly sharp. And due to their habitat, they even duke it out with Tigers on a regular basis. They're pretty evenly matched so it's rivalry with blood on both sides."

...

"Oh yeah. I almost forgot about Sun Bears. They're native to the tropical forests of southeast Asia. And visually speaking, they're quite an unorthodox looking bear. Unfortunately, there seems to be some conflicting information about their behavior online. I've seen mentions of them being shy & reclusive. And I've seen mentions of them being aggressive without reason. What a strange bear."

...

"Ah, of course. The Panda Bear. Found in the mountains of China. A beautiful, scenic habitat for such a well-known bear species. They're usually only aggressive when threatened or irritated. They may look cute & cuddly, but they at least exude reasonable behavior. It's certainly more reasonable than only eating bamboo all the time."

...

"The thing with pandas is that they're biologically designed to eat meat... But they just don't. Bamboo doesn't give them nearly enough energy in normal portions so they need to eat a ton of it to sustain themselves."

...

"Yeah, they're not the brightest creatures out there. We spend millions of dollars just to keep them alive. If it weren't for us, I wouldn't be surprised if they went extinct by now."

...

"Well, I've talked about bears for long enough. I could go on for hours listing off all the different bear species, where they live & how they act... But there's just so many. There's probably some that I haven't even learned about yet."

...

"Oh really. You're a bear? What kind?"

...

"A teddy bear. Heh... You're definitely my teddy bear alright."

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

THE END

[pleb-the-original]

Day 16: The Known Ones (I've been on a bit of a creative binge so I was able to redirect my juices to another entry. I knew immediately who to write about since this guy was always my favorite of the Eden demon designs being the first one and the one most evocative of the concept. I did create some stuff on the fly but he was always meant to be a fighter. The best part is that I even had time to draw him. Important thing to note is that he can actually switch which side of his body the head is at.

Really? You want to interview me? Well, okay. Name’s Osciphela but most people just call me Ossy. I’m an Oscaecilia ochrocephala Eden demon. Yeah, they haven’t come with a street name for my kind yet. Molded by the Lord Taxternal himself. But again, why would you want to interview me? I’m just shopping. Wait, are you certified to talk about that? Huh, you actually managed to get a certification of approval. It’d take a lot of memory dredging for me to even find the last time I’ve seen one of these. So anyways, what do you wanna know about the Ring? How am I affiliated? Buddy, I’ve been the champion for 67 years. My faces have glued to that wall of fame. How’d I discover it? Well I don’t know how similar my story is, but one time I was doing my normal browsing here in the Dark Market when I noticed a little imp trying to steal my goods. So I tackled that bastard and we landed in between these stalls. Then after brushing myself off, the imp grew 20 extra feet! It turned into this hulking monstrosity that still had all the stuff I got, taunting me to grab it. Things got kinda hazy after that since all I saw was red but next thing I knew I had my stuff back and there was a crater in the ground. That’s when the monster congratulated me and introduced himself. His name was Cross and he was a major player in the Court of Wrath. Apparently he decided to start up a fighting ring just for the hell of it and wanted good contenders for his starting lineup. I still don’t know why he singled me out. I only have Wrath as a secondary sin, but he saw something I didn’t in that haze of anger. Turns out I managed to organically obtain an inner wrath spirit, which is apparently more of an older generation ability. So I’ve been headlining ever since. I’ve taken down oni, dragons, there was even that one time in the challenge round that I actually wrested myself off a kelpie. Oh no, the Ring is open for anyone who finds it and feels they got a good chance against any of us. Heck, if you managed to get in with Cross I feel you might have a chance in there too. That’s ok, considering who you’re working for I think you’d rather wrestle with a theorem than an opponent. It was nice talking to you anyways. Here, have some tickets. Maybe you could come by and watch. Next week, I’m gonna be going up against a yeti! Well, see you later.

(Report: Ossy was considerably cordial which did not align with my expectations. The Ring also proves to be a phenomena with a greater level of reach than I predicted as well. I believed it was merely centered in the Court of Wrath’s inner circle. I am in definite need to schedule an interview with this Cross character. Would it be possible to arrange that? We could even make it an event and use the tickets I was given. We could use the break. But I feel this testimony will be a worthwhile entry for the Catalog.

حريق -

)

[silvermare]

ok so melons like HOT and melons don't like soggy roots

so for the prevention of soggy roots, you wanna make sure the soil is well drained. things that help the soil drain:

-compost -manure (for the record my dad has told me fresh manure isn't actually great for gardens but aged manure is good... something about acidity or maybe bacteria or something I think? idk) -lawn clippings -garden refuse -dead (shredded best) leaves - MY FAVORITE: expanded clay pellets (also known as LECA) -sometimes sand, but most recent information I have says it's tricky and probably not for beginners and not for adding directly to soil with a high clay content - MY OTHER FAVORITE that is not well-suited for indoor gardening, earthworms! These lil critters will eat your garbage and poop out straight nutrients, AND they'll aerate your soil while they're at it! They're amazing and I would love to have an earthworm farm some day I was specifically word vomiting about expanded clay pellets to my friend. Cons: expensive Pros: reusable for many years to come until they break down (can be broken down by blunt force but otherwise quite sturdy), do not affect your nutrient levels (neutral), act a bit like sponges in that they suck up water when they're wetted (presuming they are not already at full moisture capacity) but when they are wet and the soil around them starts to dry out, the water transfers back to the soil. Also they are literally just expanded clay, which is to say really hard dirt, so they're not going to attract insects or anything.

So, assuming you're in NA or at least in this hemisphere, now is a good time to dig up a plot of garden that you want to plant melons in next year, mix in whatever additives you can, redistribute the soil with all the bits as blended as possible.

At this point, you have the option to plant some soybeans on top of your newly mixed soil, so long as it's not already winter where you are. This is something my dad actually discovered this past year - some soybeans spilled in a field he was helping harvest the year before last and sprouted, then were killed by the first frost. The following year, the crops where the soybeans had sprouted and died were significantly more lush than the crops surrounding it. Soybeans are a nitrogen fixer plant - meaning that simply growing them improves the nitrogen content in the soil. Nitrogen is excellent for stalks and leaves, though not as useful for roots.

For the fruits themselves, calcium and magnesium are the key nutrients, to the best of my knowledge. I like CalMag from FoxFarm, personally. You don't want to start adding CalMag until *after* the plant is established, though. Let the plants hit plant puberty before you start on the HRT (joke) ANYWAY.

Either you've planted soybeans, seen them sprout, and let them die, OR you've skipped that step entirely, which is valid. At this point, you have yet another option! Covering the ground for the winter. A cheap option is to just use cardboard to protect the soil. An expensive option is mulch. I don't really know if one of these is better than the other, but I do know that covering your new bed can protect it from critters eagerly looking for compost, and also traps heat to help the organic material below to decompose a bit easier/faster, meaning the nutrients in the organic material will be available more quickly in the spring.

If you are able to introduce earthworms, awesome, but I don't know jack about that. I grew up on a farm so like worms were just kinda already there.

As for the melons themselves, I recommend looking for varieties that do well in your zone, start them indoors unless you live in a rainforest or something, plant them when the ground is at LEAST 65F (and after the last frost of the winter, I personally would plan to plant 1-2 weeks after the internet says the last frost is likely to be, just to be safe).

I have no idea how to affect the quality or taste of the melons, for the record. I just know that melons don't like soggy feetsies.

Also pH balance is a thing, but tbh I just use what I have and so far no problems, google says melons like their pH between 6 and 6.5, whatever that means. I'm happy to troubleshoot melons in the future, but this is pretty much all I have off the top of my head

i just word vomited about improving soil quality for growing melons to a friend that does some casual gardening

i really thought i knew just a normal amount about gardening, but maybe i know a smidge more than that

[hitnran]

OBSESSIVE EX (gender neutral! reader)

how they deal with you having an obsessive ex

includes: ran, rindou

CW: obsessive behavior, cursing, stalking (ran), phone harassment (rindou), the haitani brothers lowkey kinda scary here (not to the reader) 💀 but i’m just trying to make it fit within their character

— RAN HAITANI

Getting into a relationship with someone like Ran, half of the charismatic brother duo that ruled Roppongi, almost means guaranteed safety wherever you go. His title itself is one that is feared when murmured. Whenever you two leave, he always has an eye and a hand on you. Ran knows well that even if he is feared, he can also be challenged and the last thing he wants is for you to get involved — you would make an easy target for his enemies.

You two were out together on a stroll around the city. Although there was nothing neither of you needed, Ran’s favorite thing is showing you off. Sometimes you start to feel similar to his younger brother, thinking that you’re just a shadow and only known as ‘Ran’s partner.’ But Ran’s intentions were opposite. He wanted everyone to know that it was him that belonged to you and it is him that people would have to deal with if you were ever tested.

As you two are walking, Ran noticed your eyes consistently checking itself to the side. He took note of that and eventually brushed it off since you stopped. But then he noticed that you were being especially keen and scanning the whole area.

“Are you okay, love?” Ran slightly hunches down, getting your attention as your face turns his way. He lightly smiles at you. “Did you see something you liked?”

You swallowed down hard. You could’ve sworn you saw a familiar face, but after trying to scan the area numerous times for the past few minutes, you thought it was just you being paranoid. The last thing you wanted was to worry Ran and cause a scene.

“I’m okay,” You shook your head, returning a light smile. You grabbed on his arm, this time a little tighter. “Let’s turn into this corner.”

Ran knows when you’re lying. He knew something made you uncomfortable, but he wasn’t going to force you to tell him. Instead, he’ll make it his own problem too and deal with it himself.

This area was his territory and everyone knew it. It was almost as if Roppongi, a city known for liveliness, calmed down ever so slightly if one or both of the brothers were out. Everyone’s gaze wound be kept low and their conversations would go mute as they walk by.

At that moment, Ran could feel a pair of eyes staring your way. He won’t make it obvious though.

“Love,” Ran called out to you. You looked up his direction and he placed a hand against your lower back. “Rindou’s gonna throw a fit if I don’t bring back food for him. How about you go into the restaurant and order first while I call him and ask what he wants?”

You felt at ease hearing that you two were finally going to be in somewhere indoors, but it made you nervous that he would be separated from you for just a little while.

“Don’t wanna bring something back he won’t like and have him complain,” Ran lightly laughed, trying to ease your clear discomfort. He placed a hand over your head. Taking out his phone to add to his act. “I’ll be quick.”

After some hesitation, you gave in. It was a public space after all, so it shouldn’t have been anything to worry too much about. He watched as you entered the place before turning around, sending chills to the person who had been following you two around this whole time.

“Would be a shame if I left them alone for too long, wouldn’t it?” Ran gave off a sinister grin, slowly walking towards the person. “Wouldn’t want anyone to take them away…especially someone like you.”

Ran knew who this person was. He was an obsessive ex of yours that just would not leave you alone and accept the separation despite it being years passed. He gulped hard, nervously stepping back, not thinking that he would get caught.

“You were so bold to even follow us in the first place, why so shy now?” Ran smirked, hiking up the sleeves of his sweatshirt. “This is the first time you’ve heard of me or something? I should introduce myself to you well and hard then.”

Almost ten minutes had passed since you’ve been waiting for Ran. You sat patiently and waited. Your best guess as to what’s taking him so long revolves around Rindou. Maybe he was complaining about how he wanted food from a different place or being picky about menu opinions. Just as you were about to raise yourself from your seat to check up on Ran, you saw him enter.

“Did I make you wait too long?” Ran appeared, seating himself in front of you. The worse case scenario you had in mind was that he got into a fight, but in front of you, he looked just as how you last saw him. “You know how Rindou is.”

Your chest became relaxed and you gave a small smile, shaking your head, “What did he want from here?”

“I didn’t even listen to what he said,” Ran teased, opening up his menu and leaning back against the chair. You felt his legs sandwich your calves from beneath the table. “He can order it himself. All my money is going to you today.”

And that was how Ran liked it. Although Ran wanted everyone to know that he belonged to you, he knew how important it was for others to know that you belonged to him too. The image of the face of your ex is burned so clearly into his brain — face all bloodied up, mauled almost, as he failed to even whisper for forgiveness.

“I think there’s only one way I’m gonna let you outta here alive,” Ran kicked his body down with force, hearing something shift in his jaw. He couldn’t give half a damn about it. “Do you know what that is?”

Your ex was visibly beaten and weak now, barely able to even blink or properly form a sentence. Though, with his adam’s apple slightly moving from fear, Ran took it as a response.

Grabbing him by his hair upward, Ran bent down, looking straight at him, “You’re gonna leave them alone and never show your goddamn face again. If it wasn’t fucked already before, it sure is now. I promise you I’ll know if you’re even barely visible or a mile away, I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

Ran thought it was so disgusting how someone like you could ever have your time wasted on someone low like this ex of yours. Even if Ran saw him and his brother above everyone else, he always put you above him.

“Maybe even after this, I’ll send one of my men to go and beat the shit out of you every day so you could suffer for as long as you’ve tried to bother Y/N.”

— RINDOU HAITANI

Rindou can’t even remember what it took for you two to even reach this state of your guys relationship. He convinced himself that it was Ran, his older brother who wouldn’t shut up about how he was going to take you if Rindou didn’t make a move.

It genuinely surprises himself even whenever he looks your way, observing every detail and soaking in the idea that you are someone he can call his.

You two were watching a movie, or rather, supposed to. Rindou was too focused on side-eyeing you every now and then. You caught him a few times, but he would brush it off with comments like “this movie is boring” or “I’m just checking to see if you fell asleep.”

He would snap himself out of a trance after hearing your phone ring beside you. You eyed it once, looking at the caller ID and ignoring it. It wasn’t enough to cause Rindou to worry - it’s not his problem if you just didn’t wanna answer a call, it was your guys’ time anyway.

But then it rang once more again. Your ringtone dragged itself out halfway through before Rindou slightly raised his hand from your hip, pointing to the phone on the side of the couch.

“You not gonna answer that?” He asked.

You shook your head, eyes focused on the TV, “It’s fine. It’s an unknown caller ID.”

Rindou shrugged, ignoring it once again, but after a few more calls and your phone receiving back to back text messages, it was starting to irk him. He was close to just grabbing your phone and answering the call himself, but you were quick to act before him, just shutting it off.

“It must be spam or something,” You sighed, sitting back down.

“Yeah, well whatever it is, good thing you shut that damn thing off. That shit was annoying,” Rindou sighed, curling his arms around you again. “Let’s change the movie too or something. This one is boring.”

One thing about dating Rindou is that he seems uninterested in absolutely everything he does. Although you avoid thinking like that when it comes to your relationship with him, you always remind yourself that Rindou is someone who deeply cares for you. He shows it very differently compared to others, but you know.

He can recall a memory from a few weeks ago where you kept getting calls in the middle of your guys’ date. It annoyed him, but not as much as it annoyed you. You’ve pressed the red decline button at least five times now, stressing over it and spilling out everything about your previous ex.

At the end of your rant, Rindou grabbed your phone, picking up the call and saying words as simple as “leave them alone.” It was so simple, but for the next few weeks, it was silent. You finally thought you were free of harassment thanks to your boyfriend, but recently, they’ve been coming back as unknown caller IDs and more frequent than before.

Halfway through the movie, Rindou felt your body become more loose and relaxed beneath him. Your breath became slower and more steady. You had fallen asleep. He thought it was ironic to have someone as angelic as you in the arms of someone like him - a gang member always involving himself in trouble, even just for fun.

He stared at your phone just a reach away and then back at you. The last thing Rindou wanted was for you to be uncomfortable, or really, anything that isn’t where you aren’t happy.

When you woke up, the TV was shut off and you felt a blanket drape over your body. You realized you had fallen asleep from earlier, but you were expecting to find your boyfriend with you as well. That was when the door swung open and you were greeted with Rindou.

“Rindou?” You slowly let out, still adjusting from waking up. “I didn’t know you left.”

He raised a bag up midway in the air, it’s a bag from a bakery you often bought from, “You kept murmuring about it in your sleep. Didn’t want you to wake up all grumpy.”

“I don’t wake up grumpy!” You protested, watching as he took his seat next to you and unpacking all of your favorites.

“Yeah, okay,” Rindou joked. He listened to you puffing out before wrapping yourself around his arm.

“Thank you though,” You murmured out of embarrassment - maybe he was half right.

“It’s nothing,” He replied, softening his face into a grin. “Must’ve been hungry though if it got you talking in your sleep and drooling on my arm.”

You didn’t even know about half of the things he does for you, but he didn’t mind it, because if you were happy, then that was all that mattered.

It made Rindou feel guilty to turn on your phone and look through it. It wasn’t something that he ever felt the need to do - he trusted you and it felt wrong if you weren’t aware that he was using it. Though, at this time, he felt like it was for the better.

While you were silently sleeping, he browsed through your texts. It’s that same person - your ex back again to bother you. Rindou scoffed, making sure it wasn’t loud enough to wake you up, but he was angry. He clicked his tongue whilst composing a message.

Rindou knew you would never be so stupid as to meet up with someone like this, especially not after already experiencing it once. It was a good thing that it was just Rindou posing as you though. How delighted your ex felt to have finally received a response to you - ‘Let’s meet up here.’

Rindou thought it was so pathetic. This guy had no idea what he looked like, let alone that you even had a boyfriend. So when Rindou’s immediate reaction upon seeing him was to throw a punch, he was shocked.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Your ex cried out, trying his best to dodge his attacks but failing in between his words and attempts.

“Me?!” Rindou snapped, pushing him to the ground and twisting his arms. “Speak for yourself.”

The man beneath him screamed in pain, “I-I’ll call the cops on you and have you arrested!”

“Yeah? You think they’ll give me less time if I tell them I was just trying to teach a creep a lesson?” Rindou pulled back on his arms a little harder, tendons and muscles stretching themselves out of place.

“T-The hell are you talking about?!” He stuttered out.

“Don’t bitch around. Might end yourself up in there if you keep this act of yours up - I’ve been once before,” Rindou smirked, pulling back more and more on his arms. “It was fine for me. My big bro and I even got some respect while in there, so what’s gonna happen when they hear about your name from me? You’re fresh meat to them.”

“W-Who even are you?!”

Rindou scoffed, “The same guy who warned you once to leave Y/N alone. I should’ve honestly went to find you myself personally and beat the shit out of you, but I hate wasting my time.”

Your boyfriend let the man go. If his arms weren’t all bent out of place and dislocated, he’d be crawling away by now. It was a sight that Rindou would laugh at. Upon seeing that his phone had fallen out of his pocket, the same phone used to consistently harass you, Rindou stomped down hard, breaking it into bits and pieces.

“Don’t waste my time again. Next time you do, call the cops, I promise you I won’t care if they catch me killing you,” Rindou turned his back around.

[bibbykins]

jungkook.... whining... while oc rides his dick.... brain is shortcircuiting rn

I... I have no words for how this came out of me at the speed it did. This is kinda funny to put out when the next parts are gonna be pretty sad (not too sad ofc) but lmao nonetheless

So, Beg (M)

Words: 1.2k

Note: This is a drabble for The Household's Bunny Series

Pairing: Soft yandere! Jungkook x Chubby! Camgirl! Reader

Warnings: 18+, dom/sub dynamics, riding, whining, name-calling, flustered jk, cream pie, unprotected sex, degradation, praise, brat! reader, finger sucking

Jungkook knew many things about himself, arguably he knew even more about you. The most basic being you were a sub and he was a hard dom. There had never been any question about how well puppy dog eyes fit on your face as you begged for sweet release and the way a sadistic smile would curve onto his features as he ripped your request to shreds. He was cruel, dastardly, and evil. He was a cry baby brat's worst nightmare, your worst nightmare, and if you didn't know that by now, after this little show, you would be learning that lesson days after it ends.

"Fuck." He grit out as he threw his head back.

If only he could focus on how sorry you would be among the base need to empty himself within you as you swirled your hips slowly.

You clicked your tongue, "Kook, that's a bad word." You stated matter-of-factly, "I told you to say nice words if you want to be rewarded." You clenched around him but ceased movement when he tried to push his hips up, a difficult task considering how his limbs were tied to his bedposts as you had been countless times before.

He let out a breathy laugh, "You're just so soft and tight, bunny." He resisted the urge to tell you all about how screwed you were. He did agree to let you take control, figuring you would hardly know what to do. Had he known Taehyung had given you tips beforehand, he would've never agreed to this torture, "C'mon, baby, be nice to me." He did his best not to make it sound like a command but the pressure in his dick as it pulsed inside you did him no favors.

You rolled your eyes at his poor attempt to get mercy. Flattery was the oldest trick in the book, and one you had mastered, so he would have to try much harder. You looked down at the idol before you and fought the urge to sigh dreamily, "You're so pretty, Koo." You mused, hands rubbing over his defined abs and slowly making your way up his chest, "I never knew you would look this cute all needy and desperate." You could see his face flush even more as you rolled your hips against him slowly. Letting out a shaky breath you continued, "Don't you think you're a cutie?"

His eyes rolled back as you leaned down, breasts pressing against him, while your mouth hovered over his, "Baby." He tried to warn you but only received a light kiss.

"Say you're a cutie." You ordered, "And maybe I'll move some more, hm?"

Jungkook was no stranger to praise, and he knew he was attractive. His physical appearance had rarely been an issue to him, but with the way you looked down on him, he couldn't help but hesitate, "That's ridiculous-"

"Bad." You giggled against his ear before your lips found purchase on his neck, sucking harshly and enjoying the groan you ripped from him, "Tell me you're a cutie."

Jungkook found himself weak when it came to your affection and had no choice but to surrender, at least a little.

He sighed, "I'm a cutie, now just-" The words died on his tongue as you sat up and pulled yourself from him before sinking back down. He swore nirvana was on the horizon as you swiveled your hips.

"So hard for me." You gasped out, nails pressing into his stomach. Fuck, he loved when you marked him up, "Feels good." You moaned with a small giggle.

He nodded, his release gaining on him after what felt like hours of this torment, "It does, so sweet and tight-"

You couldn't fight your smile much longer as you stopped moving again. The disgruntled noise that left Jungkook’s lips only drew out your laughter, "So beg for it." You challenged, leaning down to look him in the eyes, "Beg me to ride you till you cum." The flare of dormant dominance in his eyes made you clench around him. You were sure if you hadn't reinforced the silk ties, he would've broken out ages ago.

"Bunny." He grit out, definitely warning you but the brokenness of his tone while your walls fluttered around his cock made it significantly less intimidating.

Unable to hold back much more, you captured his lips in a messy kiss. Your hands cupped his face as his tongue tangled with yours, "Beg, and I'll ride you till we both cum." You offered and he groaned, "Misbehave, and I ride you till I cum and have you use your hand to finish." You pouted, bouncing a little, chipping away at his sanity.

"You can't be serious-" He groaned when a hand of yours reached down to rub your clit in slow circles, but he could feel you clench around him in pleasure.

You grabbed his face with one hand, fingers slightly squishing into his cheek. Your grip was much more gentle than his, but it surprised him nonetheless, "Now, now, be good." You trailed your fingers that had previously been on your clit to his mouth, "Think about it." You whispered as he took your fingers in his mouth, licking messily to taste you as much as he could, "You wanna cum inside me? Fill me up nice and full? Make me your pretty little bitch?" The profanity only made his eyes roll back as he lathed his tongue over your digits and nodded. You ripped your fingers from his mouth and a whine bubbled in his throat, making you smile that beautiful smile he loved so dearly, "So beg me, sweetheart."

He was losing patience and control, "Please, bunny, ride me." He muttered.

"What was that, pet?" You provoked a glare from him with a sly smile.

"I need to fill you up, my pretty bunny." He rasped as you began moving slowly, "Please, I need you." The whine in his voice pushed your hips at a quicker pace that made him throw his head back against the pillow and moan.

"Sound so pretty for me." You cooed with a shaky voice as you found your high approaching way quicker than you expected, your sex feeling the effects of teasing Jungkook as long as you did, "I'm not gonna last long." There was a breathless chuckle in your voice that made his heart melt.

"Cum for me, baby." He groaned, "Fuck, I want you to cum nice and pretty for me and I'll fill you up." He wanted so badly to thrust his hips up and make you fall apart but as your nails dug into his skin while you cried out his name, he couldn't help the gratification of having the girl he admired ride him so desperately.

Seeing this needy and sweet Jungkook was more than enough to send you over the edge as you called his name with a scream while you fell apart. It didn't take long for him to follow you into the depths of desire.

Minutes later, you've untied him and collapsed on top of him with heaving breaths, "You know when I catch my breath, you're gonna get it, right?" He breathed and you looked up at him tiredly with a pout.

"Do you know how hard it was trying to control you?" You accused, "Cut me some slack."

He chuckled and it was one of your favorite songs, "Imagine how I feel with how much of a brat you are."

You gasped in fake offense and went to smack his chest but he grabbed your hand and used the leverage to flip you both over and capture you in a deep kiss. His stamina was really no joke.

Tip Jar

[murswrites]

Dealer O’ Mine⎯ Eddie Munson Drabble

Pairings: Eddie Munson x Reader Fandom: Stranger Things MASTERLIST Warnings: Drug use/mentions (devils lettuce), cursing, banter

A/N So I finally caved and rewatched Stranger Things for the... 4th time?? And I actually like it now! Kinda embarrassed it took me this long to get into it.

Eddie “Freakshow” Munson. Eddie Munson, he was known for many things (being a pariah at Hawkins High was quite high on that list), worshiping satan, running a cult, dealing drugs, flunking a grand total of 2 times, and being in a failing band. (but according to Eddie, they were gonna make it big... one day)

To you, Eddie was just... Eddie. Your dealer and classmate. You may be as many years younger than him that he’s failed his senior year of high school, but you were far more mature. That could easily be proven when you ask literally any of his bandmates.

Who else is only paying $10 for five ounces of weed? As far as you were aware, even the pretty girls still paid $15 or more. And… you weren’t even one of the “pretty” girls. (you weren’t even a girl as far as you were concerned.) You were just you. Y/N. Or as Eddie liked to call you “My Favorite”.

That stupid nickname shouldn’t have made you get all hot whenever he’d stare you right in the eyes. His big brown eyes were like Milk Duds, only these were Milk Duds you wanted to stare at forever.

But Eddie always had this tendency… to open his mouth and say the most absurd shit ever.

—

“Did you know that Benjamin Franklin wasn’t actually as smart as they say?”

You stared at Eddie, wondering if he was already high. “I’m sorry. What?” You couldn’t help but indulge in his stupidity.

Eddie nodded slowly, licking the paper of the joint he was rolling. “Yep, apparently he was an idiot with a capital i.” He laughs to himself as you furrow your brows. At this point, you just wanted him to finish fucking around with your joints and sell the shit to you already. “I’m rolling these for you since you’re the worst at rolling.”

“I am not! I just have big fingers, okay!?” You argued to which Eddie gave you an unimpressed look.

“My hands are way bigger than yours and I roll just fine. You’re just bad at it, admit it!”

You sputtered out an embarrassed breath, “Pfft, no they are not.” Next thing you know, you two are comparing your hands on his bed. “See! My fingers are like. The same size.”

Eddie stared at your hand with a worried expression, “How the hell are your hands so big, you’re like 12.”

“I’m 18 you jackass.” He raised his eyebrows, disbelief obvious on his face. “Don’t be rude, I’ll go to Rick.”

“Who’s going to sell to you like I do? You’re practically robbing me.”

You sighed, knowing he was right. “I guess I lucked out didn’t I?”

He smiled widely, presenting the finished joint. “Voila!” He hands it to you as you pat yourself down for a lighter, “That’s French.”

As you lit the joint you gave him another funny look, “I know that, you idiot.” You puffed the joint to get it going and once it was lit, you inhaled deeply. “Do you smoke with all of your clients, Munson?”

“Oh, not at all. Some of them are real weirdos. Creeps.” He took the joint carefully and you watched as he took in a huge breath. The end of the joint turned yellow hot. The cloud of smoke he released was thick and white.

“Jesus man, don’t kill it!” You snatched it back and leaned away from him on the bed.

“I rolled it. I can do whatever I damn well please–shitty roller.”

You flipped him the bird and laid on your back. “Is this that new stuff?”

Eddie was leaning on his elbow, “Yup, I’ve gotten excellent reviews. Though a lot of people did say it made them wanna fuck. So… there’s that.” You lifted your head and he burst out laughing at seeing your expression. “I’m fucking with you!” You passed him the joint begrudgingly.

You liked Eddie but he could be such an ass.

“Dealer O’ Mine, say anything like that again and I will go get robbed by a different freak.”

Eddie dropped his hand over his head, “Whatever will I do without my favorite!?” You kicked him in the stomach and he doubled over. “Violent.”

[my-tin-can-mans]

She Knows Part 2, (Wolffe x Reader)

OH BOY. First I'm sorry this took me so long I've been busy with college. But! this is the longest fic or anything really I've written so wow. Hopefully you enjoy.

Warnings: angst, mentions of Alcohol, mentions of cheating slight smut (minors do not interact or read).

Note: italics are flashbacks

“So, what do you usually do during leave?” the question threw you a little of guard. You’d been stationed with the 501st for four months now, four months since you’d broke it off with Wolffe after… everything. You had been the head medic in the 104th battalion, but quickly put in a request for a transfer after the humiliation Wolffe had put you through. The only position available was with the 501st, working under their head medic, Kix. It was a demotion sure, but honestly it took a lot of stress of your shoulders and well, anything to get away from the situation you were in.

Working with Kix almost 24/7 forced you two to grow close and form a close relationship. It was more of a brotherly/sisterly love than anything else, though others saw how well you two had worked together and insisted you would make a good couple, you both were comfortable where you were, which you were grateful for, it was nice to have a friend as kind and understanding as Kix.

Tomorrow the whole battalion would be stationed on Coruscant, the general had some jedi duties to attends to and the war was at a standstill for the moment, giving the men time to relax instead of being thrown under another general for a while.

You had been checking bacta supplies when Kix happened to spring this question on you. Freezing your hand in motion as you had begun to type up an order to restock while planet side. You’d never actually had a leave without Wolffe. Most of the time on leave was spent in that dark corner of 79’s, the other half in a hotel bed.

“Mesh’la, come on, up. I promised the men we’d meet them tonight for a round.”

“But I don’t wanna go Wolffe can’t we just stay here? The sheets are so soft and I don’t feel like wearing clothes.” You’d whined.

“I already told them we would be there, now come up before I drag you out of bed.”

“you wouldn’t,” you peeked your head out from under the covers, narrowing you eyes at him, he stood at the foot of the bed, wearing his blacks sans shirt. He himself had just untangled from you and the sheets. How he had the willpower to do so you had no clue. He dawned his famous predatory smirk on his face

“Are you questioning my word Mesh’la, because you know I always keep my word.” He took a step forward, his thighs now touching the mattress.

“of course not Wolffe,” you gave him a sweet smile, “but I bet I could change your mind.”

“oh?” he raised an eyebrow. “do tell.” He placed his hand on either side of your feet, leaning over the bed

“why don’t you come up here and find out.”

With one swift move Wolffe was on top of you now and you brought your hands to his face pulling him in and kissing him, it was rough and passionate, you really didn’t want to leave and you wanted him to know that, hoping he would see how desperate you were and decide to stay. But after a few moments he pulled back, looking down at you with that damn smirk again, “that was quite convincing.”

Before you could retort anything Wolffe had left from his position on top of you, yanking you up to your feet in the process, “but unfortunately like a said before, I am a man of my word and I already gave it to my brothers, sorry mesh’la but you’ll have to show me your negotiating skills another time, I promise ill make up for it.”

“To be honest Kix I’ve never really done much with my leave time, ya know? I just kinda destress and go out every once in a while.”

“Oh? Well do you have any plans for our first night off then? Me and a couple of the boys are gonna be at 79’s if you’d like to join.”

The mention of 79’s made your heart skip a beat. You hadn’t been back there since you’d found out about Wolffe. “I don’t know Kix,” you sighed, 79’s was a clone bar, and also a favorite hangout spot for the man you had been trying to forget about.

“oh come on, you think Jesse’s a horrible flirt now, just wait till you see him drunk, you’ll be laughing so hard your stomach will be sore in the morning.”

You snorted a laugh in response, Jesse and you were also pretty close, but he was notorious for always trying out stupid pick-up lines on you, he took every opportunity he could to flirt with you, even when he had gotten injured and you were stitching him up, “you look so pretty when your concentrated.” He had said.

But the issue at hand still itched in the back of your mind, what if Wolffe was there? Going back to your holopad, typing up the order you were previously working on to make yourself seem less concerned about your next question you asked him, “the 104th isn’t on leave right now are they?”

“no I don’t think so, why?” Kix had since turned around focusing on organizing medical supplies to help you order.

“Nothing, just, ya know making sure.” You’d told Kix about what happened between you and Wolffe. Just about every clone knew you two were dating, Wolffe always had to make it known you were his. So Obviously everyone was curious as to what had happened.

He turned and looked at you, realizing what you meant, “Oh Kriff, this is your first leave without him isn’t it?”

You nodded, too afraid, after months of finally getting yourself together you didn’t want to revert back to breaking down again.

“Hey listen, if you don’t want to be there I understand. But maybe it would help ya know? We’ll all be wasted you’ll totally forget about him I promise we’ll have a good time.”

It was very convincing, you’d seen the 501stparty and 79’s before, they went hard, unlike Wolffe who was usually more private and reserved. That didn’t mean you two still didn’t have fun in your own way on leave.

Much to your dismay you’d put on a dress and Wolffe had dragged you to 79’s anyways. The second you’d stepped into the place the music and dark lighting consumed you. It was loud tonight. The 501st was celebrating a successful occupy over a separatist world and you could tell. The blue armor was spread throughout the crowd, some at the bar hitting on the women already occupying it, and some on the dance floor.

You wished Wolffe danced more with you, you loved to dance but he only ever accompanied you once, and that was after a drinking competition with Thorne who was hard to beat. He didn’t even remember it in the morning.

Without a second glance to all the men, Wolffe grabbed your wrist and led you back to the booth he always sat at. Instead of the usual commanders, Sinker and Boost sat there awaiting their commanders arrival after being promised a drink with him. You slid into the booth and Wolffe sat right up against you.

He was broad so he took up most of the space, he always presented himself in such a way that he was always there, chest puffed out, shoulders broadened and head held high. When he got situated he spread his legs, taking up more space and knocked his with yours. The two of you practically sat in each other’s lap with how close you were to each other. he placed his hand on your thigh, resting just below the sundress you and reluctantly put on earlier.

It was a last resort to get him to stay in with you. It was his favorite. The first time he saw you in it he’d practically kneeled before you, although you were sure he was just trying to get a peak underneath.

Four shots were already at the table when you two had arrived and Sinker, who was sitting in front of you, had passed one your way while Wolffe grabbed his own downing it without even flinching.

As the night drove on, the men began to become tipsy and Wolffe’s hand grew higher and higher. It was when Boost was at the climax of telling you a story from before you had signed on with them that Wolffe finally breeched your center, rubbing his index finger over the already wet spot in your panties.

You jumped, not expecting him to be so bold as to touch you in front of his men. You turned to look at him but he was looking straight on at Boost, absolutely engrossed in the story he was telling. Without making eye contact he leaned over, giving you a small peck on your temple, while at the same time, he pushed you underwear over to the side and slipped a finger into you.

His face was flushed, from the alcohol or the devious act he was performing you couldn’t tell. It was probably a mix of both. Wolffe rarely showed PDA in public especially in front of him men. So you were practically in shock with what was happening right now.

You went to grab a sip of your drink while he slowly pumped his finger a few times before deciding to add another. You let out a chocking noise.

“Hey you okay?” Sinker seemed concerned at your reaction.

“Yeah, yeah just fine, drink must’ve gone down the wrong piper there” you tried to play it off.

He bought it just fine, resuming the conversation that had started up after Boost’s story. When you turned to look at Wolffe again he was wearing that shit eating grin he often dawned and maker you wanted to wipe it clean off.

When Sinker and Boost were distracted enough, Wolffe leaned into you, “come on now mesh’la, I did say I'd make it up to you, and as I recall we’ve already proved I’m a man of my words.”

“Well I guess a few drinks wouldn’t hurt.” You thought back to all the times you’d seen blue armor on the dance floor and envied the fact you hadn’t been there as well, “but I better get a couple of dances out of you guys”

Kix chuckled, “I can promise you, if you stop by for long enough those men will be fighting over who gets to dance with you next.”

You bellowed out a laugh at that. The thought of Jesse, tup and the rest fighting over you was quite the scenario. “Just comm me what time you boys are gonna be there at.”

He nodded his head in agreement, both of you chatting lightly about other topics as you finished the order.

****************************************************

The ship had landed a few hours ago, longing for a good night’s sleep you had left the barracks for the stay, packing up your necessities and checking into a hotel a few blocks out of the main traffic for some peace and quiet.

As you were getting ready for your night at 79’s Kix had sent you a comm message, letting you know they were on their way and would be arriving in 10 minutes. All you had left to do was dress yourself. You rummaged through the bag of clothes you had. It wasn’t much, mostly GAR issued scrubs and a few dresses. You heart stopped when you saw the dress though. The one that was always Wolffe’s favorite. You picked it out, holding it up so you could see the whole thing.

Kriff. This dress brought back so many memories. It almost hurt to look at it. if you were being completely honest with yourself though, you did look damn good in it. screw it you thought. Time to make better memories in it.

After you slipped the dress on you hailed an air taxi to 79’s once inside you scanned the bar, looking for the men who were going to take up your evening. You spotted them at the bar ordering drinks and from the looks of it Jesse was already on his shit and flirting with the bartender.

You walked up to them and their heads turned. Jesse let out a whistle, “Damn, look at you! If I didn’t know any better I'd say you were trying to entice me.”

Kix shook his head at that. Putting his face into his palm. Tup who happened to be standing beside Jesse elbowed him to which Jesse frowned at. “Could you not flirt with my favorite medic?” he turned to you, “you look nice by the way, but not in a creepy I want to get with you way like he meant.”

You let out a giggle. You were already having a great time and you hadn’t even been in the building for five minutes. You took a seat at the bar between Kix and Jesse, Tup to the other side of him.

As the night ticked by you happened to get pretty tipsy, never getting truly drunk for fear you couldn’t make it back to your hotel safely. The men held their alcohol well though and although they were drinking twice as much, they were probably the same level intoxicated as you were. You all stayed at the bar, cracking jokes and telling insane stories, often Jesse would flirt with you or the bartender but it wasn’t too much and you both welcomed the light heartedness attention he gave.

An hour in you heard a voice behind you, “Hope I didn’t miss too much.” You swiveled in the bar seat, turning around to be face to face with the captain of the 501st.

“Captain!” Kix exclaimed, “what took you so long?”

“Sorry boys had a few reports I needed to fill out before the night ended.”

“Well, were glad you here now.” You said.

You got up to give the captain a hug. Something you defiantly wouldn’t do sober, but the alcohol had given you a little confidence. Rex looked surprised by the affection but embraced you anyways. He leaned down and you put your chin over his shoulder patting him on the back staying like that for a second.

It was then that you wished you hadn’t hugged Rex, hadn’t drank as much to give you a confidence boost, and hadn’t stepped a foot in this maker forsaken bar again.

He sat there, in the seat he always sat in when he came here. Only this time he wasn’t with any of his troopers or the other commanders. This time he was with another girl. She was a purple Twi'lek and she was drop dead gorgeous. And the dress she was wearing, or lack thereof because of how tiny it was , made you look like you had just picked yours straight out of the garbage. And you couldn’t help but wonder.

Was that her?

“Kriff Wolffe, what the actual Kriff!” you screamed, you didn’t care about the other guests in the hotel, you were so mad you were practically seeing stars.

“I'm sorry mesh’la I'm sorry I'm so so sorry.”

“No. No! don’t you dare call me that right now. I can’t – I don’t even have words for you right now.”

“please, please let me explain,”

You whipped you head around to him, seeing a whole new layer of red. “Explain? What is there to explain Wolffe. You cheated on me then proceeded to not tell me while apparently everyone else knew and I found out through one of your brothers! Isn’t that enough of an explanation.”

You sat down on the bed, head in hands. He kneeled down in front of your feet. Placing his hands atop of your knees. “I'm sorry.” He whispered. You slapped his hands off you, the thought of him touching you after another woman practically revolted you.

“you already said that.”

“I know, and I mean it I am, it was a mistake, I- if I could take it back I would, Maker I- I hate myself for letting it happen.”

“you should hate yourself.”

“I do, I do. Please, tell me what I can do to make this better.”

For a man who was supposed to be well tactical he kept making all the wrong moves.

“Wolffe there is no making this better. What’s done is done and now it's time to move on.” you finally made your decision, after debating back and forth in the air cab on how to react.

“Yes of course let’s move on, it was in the past but I love you Mesh’la I want you that’s all.”

Kriff that’s not what you meant. “No Wolffe, I mean I’m moving on. from you. I- I can’t continue to be with someone who has done what you’ve done. It's- it's not fair to me.”

By this point tears were strolling down your face. You turned your head to wipe them, not wanting him to see how much he had broke you. “no, no please I- I love you please we can fix this we can work this out please just stay I- I need you.”

“I love you too Wolffe, but there is no fixing this. I loved you so much that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, I gave you everything thing, I gave you all of me and you took that and you stomped on it, you might as well of placed my heart in a dumpster and set it on fire.”

He put his head in your lap. A single tear rolling down his face. “please, please don’t go, I'm so sorry.”

“I know Wolffe. But I can’t accept your apology.”

Your head was pounding. He wasn’t supposed to be on Coruscant right now. Kix had said so himself. You pulled back from Rex. He placed his hands on your shoulders his face blocking the view of him. He smiled warmly but his expression quickly changed when he saw yours.

“you look like you’ve seen a ghost” he joked.

But you facial expression didn’t lighten, in fact it only got worse. With every waking second, every harsh beat of whatever hit song was playing over the speakers you drew yourself inwards more and more.

“hey hey what wrong?” Kix had left his seat at the bar quickly coming to your side. Him and Rex both dawned a look of concern.

“You said he wouldn’t be here.” You turned to Kix, channeling you emotions onto him.

He looked confused at first, but the realization hit him and he turned his head to look over Rex’s shoulder. Rex followed his line of vision and they both saw him. Sitting there in the booth, while the woman clung to him, practically in his lap.

She was kissing his neck, which honestly surprised you, Wolffe was never one for public displays of affection. Or maybe that was just with you. Because he seemed to be enjoying this.

Rex turned around to face you again, a look of panic and empathy on his face, “Kriff I'm so sorry I- he was on a solo mission with General Koon and they’re stationed here for the night so I told him I’d be here. I'm so sorry, it was an honest mistake.”

It wasn’t the first time you’d heard that from a man in this room.

You felt like the whole room was spinning, be that the alcohol or the nervousness and upset that came with seeing him again you weren’t sure. All the men you had come here with were suddenly surrounding you with sympathetic looks and it felt like someone had placed a spotlight on you and you just wanted it to go away.

This night was meant to help you forget him, be happy and have fun with your new assigned battalion. Kriff was the so much to ask for!

“hey hey come on now,” Jesse finally broke the silence, “forget about him! If I remember correctly I promised you a dance earlier?”

This made you finally break out of your trance. You needed a distraction, and had been waiting for someone to dance with all night.

“actually I would love to Jesse.”

“right this way then”

He held out his hand for you and took you to the dance floor. The song that was playing was loud and upbeat, you and Jesse moved together to the beat, it was fun and you really enjoyed it, when the beat of the song dropped everyone on the dance floor was jumping to it, you and Jesse did the same

When the song stopped, you were practically out of breath, you let out a laugh of relief, actually feeling a little better. You looked up are Jesse and he was smiling at you.

“Feeling better, huh?” he asked.

“A little, thank you.”

A few second later another song had come on. This time it was more slow, the partners on the dance floor started to grab each other.

Jesse grabbed your waist. “Come on huh? let’s give that son of a blaster something to look at, plus this might be the only time I get to be this close to you, despite my attempts” he smirked at you.

You nodded your head, letting out a giggle at his lame excuse to flirt with you again. You wrapped your arms around his neck and he pulled you in closer, your chest practically touching his. And finally you both started to sway to the beat.

A few seconds in Jesse started rubbing his thumbs on your hips, trying to calm your nerves, and it worked. Caught up in the music you started to lightly grind your hips into his, although it was soft guarded by his armor, he still took notice to it. smirking at you and grinding in time with you. His hands started to rise, growing closer and closer to under your breasts, but never reaching, knowing he would be crossing a line, and although Jesse was a flirt, his last intention was to make anyone uncomfortable.

He nuzzled his head into the crook of your neck. You could feel his breathe on your skin, and his nose rubbing up and down. He placed a soft his on your shoulder and the next thing you knew you were being turned around. His hand were back on your waits, but his cheat was now pressed up against your back. He gave you a harsh grind into your ass and you gasped. His arms now wrapping around you, pulling you impossibly tight into him. His head resumed its spot into your neck.

“is this okay,” he whispered into your ear.

“yeah.” You breathed. He kissed you neck this time. but it was just one short one, it was slow, and hot, you closed your eyes. he placed them all the way up your neck, all the way up to your jaw. All the way close to your mouth, and he whispered again, is this okay.

You nodded your head, eyes still closed and you turned you head towards him a little encouraging him. And his lips met yours.

You hadn’t kissed very many people. Wolffe giving you the majority of your experience. and although they were clones, they felt completely different. When Wolffe used to kiss you he practically stole your breath, he put everything he had into kissing you, and it was almost always hot and it made your insides flip, no matter how many times he kissed you, you always felt dizzy and perfectly happy, like his kissed could cure any problemed you had. To say Jesse was a bad kisser would be a lie, it was a good kiss, but it almost made you feel the opposite, all you could think about was Wolffe.

And when the song ended and you opened your eyes you were facing him again. Him. And he was sitting there with his lounge practically down the woman’s throat. And it hurt, hurt to know that he didn’t even acknowledge you. Hadn’t even cared that the person he once begged to stay with was with someone else now. Even though you weren’t actually. It hurt that he used to kiss you like that and now he was kissing someone else like that.

you weren’t sure if it was the beginning of the next song, or if your head was going fuzzy, but all you could hear was ringing in your ears. Jesse had unwrapped his hands from around you and the moment he did you sprang towards the doors of 79’s.

you heard the faint sounds of Jesse, rex and Kix calling out for you but you couldn’t be bothered to hear what any of them had to say. You left the building and walked a few blocks. Finally coming across an empty alley. You pressed you back against the cool metal of the building you were beside and let out a breathe. The air was cool and crisp against your skin, but it felt good.

After all the time you spent forgetting about him you were practically back at square one. And it pissed you off. How dare he have this effect on you.

You let out a sigh, gathering your emotions. And when you finally felt calm enough you went to comm Kix, letting him know you’d be going back to your hotel for the rest of the night, but you were interrupted.

“Mesh’la.”

ending notes: soooo, im not sure if im gonna do another part on this or not, i have some ideas for other fics but im kinda cramped on time at the moment so we shall see.

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