#i was bored and decided to write a book recommendations post

[stellayuta]

Love on The Grid - Formula 1 AU! Yuta Okkotsu - Pt 5 (FINALE)

Your likes, comments and reblogs really encourage me to write more! So do interact with this post and let me know your thoughts 💙

PART 1 ||| PART 2 ||| PART 3 ||| PART 4 ||| PART 5

synopsis: One-night stands were nothing but a necessary painkiller for your inability to cross paths with true love. Your most recent find at a Vegas Club was no different. He was boring, obedient, SLOW! You leave him high and hanging hoping you'd never see him again until you find yourself gawking at a supersized billboard of him on a Vegas highway with the title 'LEGEND RETURNS TO VEGAS'.

content: 18+ only. Formula one driver! Yuta x f! reader, all sorts of sexy stuff (fingering, oral, orgasm denial), swearing, angsty elements, cheating and discussion of mental health <3 WARNING! Always use protection!

word count: 10k

a/n: part 5 and the final part! For the purpose of this story, Last race of the season takes place in Japan, not Abu Dhabi.

"Y/N..." A voice tries to break your rigid concentration. "Listen, Y/N..."

"What!" you snap finally, turning to face your anxious coworker. You look away from your monitor to find one of the timid interns holding her laptop shakily, mortified at your outburst. You clear your throat and quickly readjust your computer glasses.

"I'm sorry about that, I was just going through some of the client meeting notes." You clarify, pointing at your screen. "What's wrong?"

"No, I just wanted to make sure the tickets were booked right. I've never traveled out of the county. And this is such a big deal as an intern, I-I want to make sure I do everything right!" she blurts out, making you give her a small, nostalgic smile. You remember when you were an intern - tiny, timid, clueless. When you moved out of your small town, you left behind all the things that restricted or haunted you. Now your new job is flashier than ever, in the heart of a metropolitan city, buzzing with people and possibilities and with a promotion on the horizon. It had been a year, and you don't even remember Megumi's face anymore. You had no hard feelings and not even a single second of your time left to give to him anymore.

It was hard at first of course, but encouragement and support from your friends and a lot of self-work soon helped you find balance and self-satisfaction in life. You were at your healthiest at this point. Away from turmoil and away from self-doubt.

"Y/N, did you listen?" the intern looked at you nervously, derailing your train of thought yet again.

"Come again, sorry."

"The other Manager has recommended your name to accompany me at the Tech Summit, with two other interns. He said you'll be able to manage us properly. They've already booked your tickets."

You almost choke on the coffee you're sipping.

"What? Who the hell gave them-" you begin to roar but then looking at the poor girl cower in fear, you sit back down.

"No, no. I'm not mad at you."

You were mad because this was the weekend of the last race. The decider match.

Of course, it had been a year, you had metamorphosized, moved on. But you never forgot the race that got you on the edge of your seat back in Vegas. And neither did you forget the man who drove you crazy with lust. Not even for a single day. His business card was still hidden underneath your phone cover, creaseless. You had never dared to look at his number.

Now, you cheered him on as a fan. Following his races, rooting for him. Every now and then, your heart would ache - but you were happy for him. The only connection you had with him was through your device screen.

After a disappointing end to his last season, you had a lot of guilt. He clearly looked a bit weary, insomnia ridden for sure. Not willing to talk during interviews, keeping a low profile. He had gathered a lot of negative press because of this, people on social media sending him death threats, cyber bullying him, picking apart anything he said or did. It broke you to see him that way and there were many times you wanted to reach out - comfort him. But you knew it wasn't right.

You weren't ready then and he definitely didn't need a reminder that you happened to him. And now, it's too late for any of that.

Yuta maintained his aggressive, dominant racing style that he cultivated over the last year compared to the calm, calculative run he had during the years prior. It was a shock to the grid, but newer fans were very fond of the new beast that the track had birthed. He spoke less, remained polite and stayed out of trouble - focusing everything on winning races.

Fan interaction was the least of his concerns right now because Geto's team, Red Bull - had come up with massive and effective updates making the fight for the title a challenging yet thrilling one. They wanted to continue their laurels from last year and secure Geto his second win. They were closely tailed by Gojo and Geto's teammate, Mahito.

Geto and Yuta were currently tied in the standings. The final match was to take place on Sunday. The decider. Yuta and Geto's home race. And you would now miss it because that stupid manager can't be bothered to move his ass.

"I have plans. I can't make it." you flatly tell the intern who merely frowns. She was probably prepared to get a rejection from me because she is ready with her rebuttal. "The manager said you had committed a few weekends this summer. He just picked this one based on that."

"I'll talk to him." you reply, shaking your head and pinching your throbbing temple. With great responsibilities, come great migraines.

"Where is the summit anyway?" you ask, already typing out a message for her manager.

"Oh, It's in Japan. I'm quite excited, it's a beautiful country."

Japan?

You backspace the entire message.

"Never mind, I'm coming." You leave your laptop open as the split window flashes with a formula one ad - "Decider Race in Suzuka, Japan. Join the Fun, December this Year!"

"Let me meet up with your supervisors and talk more."

*****

The immigration at Japan's Nagoya International Airport, with three kids tailing you, hiding behind you like puppies is a bit of hassle with the language barrier and everything, but you persist regardless.

It's rather comfortably cool but not bitingly cold, even for December, owing to Suzuka's more southern location - compared to Tokyo. There is no sign of snowfall as you witnessed from the airplane while it descended. It would be good conditions for the race - a bit dry perhaps. And of course, the summit, the main attraction!

The interns, though a bit overwhelmed by the new environment, are starting to show signs of excitement as well. Their initial shyness is giving way to curiosity, their eyes wide with wonder at the sights and sounds of the bustling airport. You smile, knowing that this experience will be a memorable adventure for them too.

You are finally able to catch a shuttle to the hotel you're staying at - a five star one (courtesy of your company) and are finally able to relax, staring out the foggy window at the organized and clean Japanese streets, and the people, dressed in plain, formal clothes walking to work perhaps. You almost get lost in the mundanity of it all until the interns alert you that the hotel is here.

You all get down with all your luggage and gawk at the premier hotel building with its cream granite exterior, European design and tall pillars. It looked a bit out of place in the minimalistic spread of Suzuka. There is already a line at the receptionist's desk when you near it, making you sigh.

"Ah foo-" you turn to face your interns. "Can one of you hold the place while I sit somewhere?" The interns hesitantly, but definitively shake their head to say No. Kids, they grow up fast.

You stand in line for what feels like an hour but is only a few minutes until you hear an entourage approach you with their shiny, expensive luggage and matching clothes.

"We have VIP access, let us cut." one of them, a suited and no-nonsense woman tells you. You raise a brow at her, staring at her chapping red lips and burgundy jacket.

"Like hell. Cut after us, we're going first." You tell them flatly.

"Listen, we don't have time for this so please just comply..." the woman tries to negotiate but you don't want to budge.

"I don't have time either." you raise your hand.

"Let me handle this..." A man steps in front of the woman, towering over both of you. He is completely covered head to toe in a red beanie, red track suit and dark glasses with a black face-mask. Before he can say anything though, he simply looks at you and your interns.

"Y/N?" He removes his glasses to show a pair of cerulean eyes that you immediately match with a snowy head and a flashy personality in your brain.

"No way..." you clasp at your mouth. "Gojo Satoru?" you exclaim, confusing the parade of staff, probably Ferrari staff behind him.

"Next!" the receptionist bellows before you two can talk further and you make haste, finishing up the formalities, grabbing the keycard and returning to talk to Gojo, followed by your heard of puppies who look at Gojo skeptically. Of course they would, if a flashy, red man showed up.

"I'm- Where the hell have you been? You just disappeared!" He says and you open your mouth to defend yourself but he clearly has more to say.

"Yuta was distraught! What the hell happened between the two of you anyway! He won't talk to Geto, well they are kind of on weird terms now anyway. But he won't even talk to me!"

Hearing Yuta's name makes you immediately divert your eyes.

"H-How has he been?" you ask, softly.

"Well he was in a mood last season. We were all afraid he'd run us over with his Merc." Gojo admits, recalling some eerie memory of Yuta. "Well, specifically he was angry. But wouldn't talk about it. He got reprimanded by the management of course and started to focus his anger on the races instead." He tells you.

"I mean, he was always a beast on the track, a once in a generation talent. But now, he's simply incomparable. The only races he lost out on this season were ones where he pushed the car so hard, the engine or the mechanism went off."

Internally, you are happy that Yuta seems to be doing well. But somewhere, you feel a pang of discomfort. This isn't the Yuta you know. Or any of his peers know.

"Give me your number by the way..." Gojo asks, excitedly, removing his phone, also bright red. Human Ferrari he is, for sure.

"What for?"

"To leak on the internet..."

"Gojo..."

"What to hang out of course. And I have something to send to you." He says, forcing you to divulge your number which you do, with a grimace. What could go wrong anyway.

"Oh, and I don't know if you're still on talking terms with Yuta but, he's on floor 5 of this hotel, meet him if you want-" Gojo tells you and your heart skips a beat. You sneak a glance at your keycard and feel your throat go dry. You are on floor 5 as well. Before you can say anything else though, the Ferraris are on their way.

"Make sure you are free tomorrow! It's race day!" He says, without turning as their entourage enters the glass elevators.

"How do you know him, Y/N, he was quite hot..." One of the interns tugs at your elbow.

"Was he a former sweetheart?" The other intern grins at you.

"Hell no!" you snap. "That's a professional formula one racer. Watch ESPN a bit more, kids." you say, pulling them along with you to floor 5. You hope and pray with all your might that you don't run into Yuta at any point. Only when you send them off to their suites and enter your own, you finally take a huge breath of relief.

You thought you were over Yuta as well. That you could look at him and interact with him as fan. Maybe that was the case, given you'd never see run into him again. You cover your reddening face with your hands as you slump down to the ground and go into memory mode. It all comes back to you all of a sudden. His height, his dark hair, his large, innocent eyes, his firm, toned body and careful hands. His calming voice and his cozy demeanor. The more you think about him, the soggier your panties feel. You cannot afford to get out of this hotel room and run into him. You have no idea what you will do to him if you see him. Plus, what if he has a girlfriend now? Control yourself, Y/N. Show maturity.

You suck in a harsh breath and get off the carpeted floor, instead removing your laptop from your bag and checking emails to distract yourself. An ad keeps popping up in the corner of your screen though - about the Decider Race in Suzuka. And after all your attempts to ignore it, you finally click on it, annoyed.

You go through the seats and the prices. Even the cheapest, general admission ticket you can find sells for a fortune, making you gasp at the numbers. Great. This gives you a solid reason to NOT go. Now you can use it as an excuse to convince your brain that you are not losing out on an opportunity.

You shut the tab and continue looking at your agenda for tomorrow, smiling and humming to yourself in relief. That is until you hear your phone buzz to life, beside your laptop.

You check it to see a few messages from an unknown number.

"Helloooo!!!"

"Gojo here. Satoru Gojo. Handsomest driver on the grid. Ferrari's muse and face."

"You are already 20 seconds late at replying. Be quicker!"

You cringe at the string of messages and send him a thumbs up emoji as a reply, snickering menacingly when he sends another string of complaints. You wonder if Gojo too has a queue of women waiting for him to notice them. In that case, has he been influencing Yuta too?

You shut the thought down immediately. You're a fan. You remind yourself.

"Look what I got for you. Thank me later."

*Attached File*

Did he send you a trojan virus? nope. It's worse.

You open up the PDF file to find a ticket of some sort. Only it's the paddock VIP ticket for the race tomorrow. You'll be in Ferrari's stands.

You type out a long, long, long message. One full of swears and reprimands. But you backspace all of it and instead hit the call button.

"Ah, hi. Did you see-"

"WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS GOJO SATORU!" you shriek into the phone receiver earning a yelp from Gojo.

"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, Y/N. You can't say no."

"But-"

"I've already paid."

"....."

"Oh, come on. Cheer for me. Come. You'll have fun!"

You are too angry to answer, and you simply cut the call. After your five minutes of anger subsides, anxiety takes its place. So, this is it. You get to see Yuta demolish the track live. Maybe this will be the last time ever. Maybe it's a good thing.

You decide to not think too much about it and just sleep on it instead. And sleep comes fairly easy, after your day-long air travel and the nervousness that maybe Yuta is hugging his blankets with his muscular arms, right next door. You picture those arms around your waist for a second and reminisce his deep blue eyes as you fall asleep, a bit bothered and surely wet.

*****

The next morning, you wake up before the sun even has a chance to show its face. You take a cold shower and prepare everything for the day to come. The Tech Summit will be a crucial stage to showcase your company and you, and your interns have to do a good job. As soon as the clock strikes 7, you go knocking on their doors to wake them up by force.

"Rise and shine, children! We've got some serious networking ahead of us!" you announce with infectious enthusiasm. Suddenly, the volume of your voice strikes you, and a wave of panic sweeps over you at the thought of waking Yuta. The mere idea of him hearing your voice and peeking out from one of the doors sends a shiver down your spine. With your heart racing, you quickly inform the interns that you're heading to the reception area. Without missing a beat, you make your escape, your high heels tapping a rhythm masked by the plush carpet that blankets the entire floor, each step a silent testament to your urgency.

The ground floor lobby of the hotel in the morning is a serene yet bustling oasis of activity. Sunlight streams in through the large, floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a warm, golden glow across the polished marble floors. The air is filled with a subtle blend of fresh coffee and the delicious aroma of breakfast from the lavish dining court, north of the lobby. Plush, modern sofas and armchairs are arranged in cozy clusters, inviting guests to sit and relax.You were too busy with Gojo to notice any of this, last evening. 

As you walk around amongst the many hotel guests who are going about their way, enthralled, you take a seat in one of the sofas. You even see familiar colors, worn by some of the people in groups. You see the full teals of Aston Martin, the pinks of Alpine, the orange of McLaren. Looks like the entire grid is housed in this hotel. You gulp as you try to keep an eye out for any sight of black and subtle teal of Mercedes. 

Instead, you feel a shifting of feet beside you and find a group of dark blue and red clad people looking rather grave and sitting on adjacent sofas, in a close huddle. It doesn’t take too long to recognize long, sleek hair half tied up and half down. His snake-like eyes scan the huddle, as if he’s commanding them. You don’t forget the aura of Geto Suguru. A pale guy, with wild matted and blue hair sits beside him, with a manic expression on his face, like he’s his lap dog. This must be Mahito. They seem to be having some sort of serious conversation with their team. You can’t help but listen in, keeping your eyes on the ground. 

“So what are we going to do about Strategy A?” one of the Red Bull engineers asks Geto, in a low voice, looking around to see if any of the teams are paying attention.

“Act normal, Garner.” Geto tells him, smiling sweetly but darkly. “Don’t act suspicious and no one will notice.”

“We are to proceed with Strategy B. We don’t attack the rest of the grid today. We will only focus on the Mercedes duo.” Geto states.

“That was the plan all along.” The Red Bull staff interjects. “What are you saying?”

“Well your plan was for me to defend against Okkotsu and Mahito to defend against Merc number 2, Inumaki.” Geto begins as the team leans in closer to pay attention. Mahito seems strangely excited to get a mention from Geto.

“My plan is that we leave Inumaki alone. He’s of no consequence to us. He’ll be too busy defending against the Ferraris.” Geto continues and your brows furrow. What is he on to?

“I am sitting on the pole. And Okkotsu is second. The best way to go about it is to get Mahito to play on the offensive. Okkotsu gets rash and risky when faced with competition or close tailers. It is likely Mahito and Okkotsu will take each other out.”

Your eyes widen as you hear this. 

“And Inumaki has the slower car. Ferrari’s engineers wouldn’t anticipate number 2 and 3 being knocked out. They are more prepared for a podium finish, not the top finish. This will ensure that Red Bull will go home with the Driver’s Championship trophy.” Geto concludes his idea and the Red Bull team immediately begin discussing its feasibility. From the sound of it, most of them seem on board. Mahito seems to be the most excited, willing to give anything for Geto to get his second title.

The absurdity of the ongoing discussion is enough for you to look up and find yourself directly looking into Geto Suguru’s skeptical eyes. Your nostrils flare and a sweat breaks out atop your forehead at the thought of being caught. He narrows his eyes at you but dismisses you as a fan. He doesn’t recognize you. 

Thank GOODNESS.

You smile at him and quickly move away from their group of sofas. As fast as you can. So they are going to use Yuta’s driving style against him today. Which is fine. They are willing to crash into him to take him out as well. This is all a pre-planned, premeditated attempt to injure, or…you gulp… murder.

You lean against one of the reception desks to gather yourself for a minute. The lobby’s morning hustle now feels like a surreal backdrop to the chilling plot you’ve just overheard. The hum of conversations, the clinking of breakfast dishes, and the soft footsteps of guests blend into a muted buzz as your mind races. You need to warn Yuta, but how? 

Your interns show up soon, their bright, eager faces a stark contrast to the dark conversation you just overheard. They’re ready to go for the summit, unaware of the dangerous game being plotted in the corner of the lobby. As they approach, you take a deep breath, plaster on a smile, and try to push the sinister revelations to the back of your mind. You don’t see the Mercedes team anywhere in the lobby anyway, so you take your leave for the moment, feeling a tightness in your chest.

While the task at hand is crucial, you are more than confident that you can handle it flawlessly. The Tech Summit is being held at one of the corporate headquarters in the city area, a sleek skyscraper with reflective glass windows that glisten in the morning sun. As you step into the spacious lobby, you are greeted by an impressive display of innovation: booths showcasing various avenues in computing. Executives in sharp suits mingle with tech enthusiasts, the air buzzing with excitement and possibility.

Once you are in, you send off your beaming and well-prepared interns to talk to some big shots, their enthusiasm palpable as they approach various booths and networking clusters. You retire to a quiet corner, checking your phone and brainstorming for your next move. It's only a few hours until the race in Suzuka, Japan, a pivotal event in the Formula One calendar. The summit’s focus on the intersection of technology and sports is evident, with several companies proudly displaying their investments in Formula One.

Tech giants are pouring millions into F1, not just for branding but for the practical applications of cutting-edge technology in car performance, data analytics, and real-time communication systems. The fusion of high-speed racing and high-tech innovation is a perfect synergy, driving advancements that benefit both the automotive and tech industries.

However, the tension from earlier this morning lingers. Despite the engaging presentations and lively discussions around you, the clandestine conversation you overheard refuses to leave your mind. The race in Suzuka today is more than just a sporting event—it’s a battleground where the stakes are life and death, a thought that chills you as you consider Geto’s ruthless strategy.

You open your phone to find a few messages from Gojo and it makes a bulb go off in your head.

“Come to the hotel lobby at around 4PM. I’ll send someone to pick you up. I’m at the track right now.” He has texted. You read the message and pull out Yuta’s card from your phone cover. You don’t waste time and call him right away. A woman receives your call on the other end.

“Hello! Is Yuta free?” you ask, desperately but you can tell from the woman’s silence that it is not the case.

“He won’t be free until after the race. I’m sorry.”

‘I-it’s fine.” you laugh nervously, keeping the phone.

That idea was a bust.

Before you can think more, you are pulled in by one of your interns to help you out with a heated discussion they are having with a company representative on use cases of Artificial Intelligence. The rest of the morning and afternoon goes this way, with your hands full of discussions and debates with Men in Tech, mistaking you for one of the interns until you sigh and show them your badge of ‘Director of Software Engineering’, before obliterating them during the ‘discussions’ with a curt smile.

You don’t think about the race until after you have exited the premises of the Summit along with your pumped up interns who are waxing lyrical about you. They won’t stop talking even on the cab ride back home.

“That was amazing Y/N. You saved our necks.”

“Just be confident and patient till they give you a moment to strike.” you tell them wearily. 

Probably a strategy Mahito will be using today. 

“Do we go out today for drinks? How about it?” The interns begin discussing among themselves while I tune them out, shaking my leg in agitation.

“Y/N, want to join us?” one of them asks you eagerly and politely reject their invitation.

“I have plans today.”

“What plans?” The male intern asks, curious. The other two also lean in to listen.

“I am going to watch a Formula One Race, it’s in Suzuka.” You tell them and their eyes go all sparkly before they begin smirking at you.

“It’s the hot driver guy isn’t it. He invited you? That’s awesome Y/N! Looks like he’s interested!” This makes you scoff. “He’s just a friend. He’s not the one I have eyes for anyway.”

“Oooo, so there is someone you have eyes for!” they chime together. “Who is it?” 

An image instantly pops into your head. One of him hovering over you as you moaned out his name. You smile to yourself and dismiss the interns’ questions, making all of them pout.

As you enter the hotel lobby, a stark contrast from its earlier bustling atmosphere greets you. The lively chatter and movement have dissipated, leaving behind an eerie quiet that amplifies the grandeur of the space. The reception area, usually a hub of activity, is now manned by a solitary staff member who nods politely as you pass.

Heading towards the elevator, a wave of unease washes over you, chilling your hands. Should you attempt to find Yuta by knocking on every door on the fifth floor? No, that would likely result in being ejected from the hotel.

Entering your room with a frustrated grunt, you slam the door shut behind you. Another cold shower helps clear your mind, though your appetite remains nonexistent. Stomach growling, you mechanically brush your teeth and change out of your morning pant suit into a comfortable ensemble: a red sweater, blue jeans, and sneakers. The choice of red is a nod to Ferrari, aligning with your plans for the day.

Feeling more at ease in casual attire, you pause to gather your thoughts. It’s 3:45 PM. You should head out now. You grab your phone, keys and wallets and walk out of the suite, impatiently trotting towards the elevator. You turn the corner just in time to see it close. Maybe you are hallucinating but you barely spot a glint of black and teal behind the doors as they swiftly close.

You stop dead in your tracks for merely a moment before you sprint towards the elevator. But that one is gone now. You press the down button for the second one and tap your foot on the ground, waiting for it to arrive desperately. 

When it takes you down to the ground floor, you come out, wildly looking around to see the familiar colors again. When you finally see them, your words all drown in your feelings as you see the black and teal clad man get into the back of a car, giving the driver a quick nod and a short smile. 

It was from fairly far away that you saw him, but you were certain. It was Yuta.

You have to hold yourself upright as you nearly begin hyperventilating and the receptionist has to come and check on you.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m fine.” you assure him, as he makes you sit on one of the sofas. You watch intently through the glass windows as Yuta’s car zooms past. That was your chance! If only you had come out two minutes earlier and weren’t drifting away in your fantasies.

You had to focus now. You can’t afford to have your legs turn to jelly or your head spin out of control anymore.

When the person meant to pick you up arrived, donning a red jacket and black pants, you were completely calm and composed — now willing to think clearly about what to do next.

The drive to the Suzuka Circuit is rather short for obvious reasons. The hotel had been picked to be accessible from the circuit. The car your driver has brought along isn’t a Ferrari, unfortunately.

Arriving at Suzuka Circuit as the evening settles in, the atmosphere is electric with anticipation. The sprawling complex is illuminated by bright floodlights, casting long shadows across the paddock and grandstands. The air buzzes with the hum of engines from nearby practice sessions and the excited chatter of fans who have gathered from around the world to witness the fight for domination between Red Bull and Mercedes.

The paddock itself is a hive of activity. Teams in their distinctive colors, now suited up in their race-suits, bustle about, mechanics fine-tuning the cars under the watchful eyes of engineers. Media personnel dart between interviews, capturing the pre-race fervor and probing for insights. Paparazzi lurk at every corner, their cameras flashing intermittently as they seek shots of drivers and celebrities who have shown up to support the drivers/take pictures for social media.You stare at the whole spread, starry eyed and very much in awe. It feels surreal as the world around you moves at 2x speed.

The cars themselves are a spectacle to behold. The sleek, aerodynamic designs gleam under the lights, adorned with sponsor logos and intricate details. Each team’s car reflects their engineering prowess and commitment to performance excellence, poised to navigate the demanding twists and turns of Suzuka Circuit. You want to go ahead and take a closer look but the Ferrari guy who is guiding you around stops you from doing so until later.

“You can see Ferrari’s car later.” he tells you reassuringly but you frown at him.

You spot Mercedes, clad in their silvery-black-teal livery, standing out with their meticulous preparations, but you maintain a straight face. Red Bull, in their vibrant blue and red, exude confidence and determination as you narrow your eyes at them. 

You are finally taken to Ferrari’s section — an attractive mix of red and gold flying in the stands and the air. The fans add to the vibrant tapestry of the evening. Dressed in team colors, they wave flags and banners, eagerly awaiting autographs and selfies with their favorite drivers. The scent of food from vendors mixes with the exhaust fumes, creating a unique blend that signifies race day excitement.

“Oh, look. There’s Mr. Gojo!” your guide cheers excitedly pointing to a separated section where two shiny, red cars sit in all their glory, surrounded by an army of mechanics and staff, also dressed in red. Seated in one of Ferrari's cars, a familiar figure catches your eye. He sits in the cockpit, helmet off, his tousled white hair catching the light as he adjusts his gloves with practiced ease. Spotting you amidst the crowd, Gojo flashes a brilliant smile and waves enthusiastically from the cockpit.

“Excited?” He tries to yell out over the crowd as you near him and his team. You nod and smile at his engineers before cornering him. 

“Did you see Yuta?” you ask Gojo.

“Busy day man. Haven’t really kept an eye out for him. Why won’t you go talk to him? Mercedes is right over there!” He says, pointing a gloved finger at the black and teal team.

“Won’t allow her… strategic secrets can’t be spilled.” Your guide tells you and Gojo, who seems to be unaware.

“Gojo, there’s something I need to tell you…” you begin, your unwavering eyes grabbing Gojo’s full attention as he puts on a serious face.

“What’s wrong?”

“I-It’s about Geto Suguru.”

“Suguru?” Gojo asks, his voice softening by a note. “What’s up with him?”

“Their team. They’re planning a dangerous strategy.” you say, only to get a few stares from the engineering team over at Ferrari. Gojo narrows his eyes at you, the cerulean blue piercing through you.

“And how do you know about this strategy?”

“I overheard. They’re going to make Yuta crash out.”

“Y/N.” Gojo calls out your name, and for the first time in his life, he sounds serious as hell. “Are you accusing Suguru of conspiracy? You know it’s illegal and could cost him his license.”

“But that’s what I heard!” you try to reason but Gojo doesn’t want to hear any of it.

“Suguru has known us since we were young. He would not do such a thing. And I suggest you don’t say this to anyone, not without evidence. Especially to Yuta, he won’t take kindly to it.” Gojo warns you. You hesitate on your spot before your Ferrari guide has to pull you away from the cars.

“Okay, that’s about it.” He says, dragging you away. “We can’t meddle with his concentration right before the race. Talk with him later, Miss Y/N.”

“B-but, I wasn’t done.” you complain, feeling a sting of pain in your elbow where the man grips you. “Hey, let me go!” 

“Listen! I just don’t want you confusing our drivers!” He finally snaps, spitting out at you.

“Their mental state is important! You can’t just say these things to them and bother them right before a crucial race!” he roars as I cringe in the slight flame of fear I feel inside him.

Everyone is way too busy in their chatter and taking photos of cars and drivers to notice what’s happening so you will have to struggle out of this on your own. 

You try to break free from his grip but in vain. 

“Let them get onto the track. I’ll let you go then.” He tells you, calmly.

“Are you holding me hostage right now? I said I understand, let me go!” you yelp, going for another twist of your arm to break free but the man has an iron grip. You begin panicking again now until you see another arm appear from the corner of your eye and hold on to the guide’s arm. 

The arm, covered in silvery black, padded material of a race suit. When you look at his face, your breath nearly stops. He doesn’t make eye contact with you, he barely seems to have noticed you. His penetrating gaze is fixed on your guide and he has him trapped in place.

“What’s the problem here?” He asks, in a rough low voice.

“N-Nothing, I was just escorting her away. Nothing wrong here, Mr. Okkotsu.” the guide stutters away, intimidated by Yuta.

Yuta looks the same, yet noticeably different at the same time. His once doe-like, innocent eyes now are half-lidded and uninterested, hiding secrets and carrying unknown burdens. He barely wants to smile, his lips stuck in a straight, firm line unwilling to curve. His jaw seems a bit more defined now, seemingly as he appears to look slightly manlier, and a lot more unapproachable. He has noticeable purple shadows under his eyes now and an eerily heavy aura.

“Do you not know how to behave with a woman? Leave her at once.” He says, grimly. When the guide finally lets me go and scurries away, Yuta finally looks at me, “Please, take—” but before he can finish his sentences, his lips freeze and his pupils dilate. You yourself let out a small gasp before his name exits your mouth in the sweetest voice possible. “Yuta…”

Yuta stands still for a while, his gaze not moving from you. You see his lips quiver and the muscles in his jaw ripple as he wordlessly takes his leave, moving quickly through the people, running away from you.

Not wanting to let him go to the race like that, you follow him. You follow him into a unisex restroom, closing and locking the door behind you as you find him fidgeting with the tap and the paper towels, unwilling to look at you or the mirror. The dim, dirty lights of the place only highlight his somber features as you frown at him.

You stand next to him until he is forced to acknowledge your presence. 

“H-how have you been, Y/N?” he asks, in a shaky voice.

Good? Better? I haven’t moved on from you? What do you tell him?

The stench and claustrophobia of this restroom doesn’t help the situation at all.

“I’ve been doing better, Yuta. How have you been?” you ask, tenderly. He still won’t look at you.

“I’ve been the same really. Just working hard. Racing. Boring stuff. Haha.” He laughs nervously, licking his lips, keeping his eyes down. 

“Yuta, if you don’t want to see me right now or talk to me. Tell me.” You say, with concern. “I don’t want to spoil your mood before the race.” 

“Not at all. A racer can’t let things like this affect him.” He laughs nervously yet again. “How come you’re here? Gojo invite you or something?”

“He did. That’s besides the point.” You say, getting back to business. “I wanted to meet you to tell you something.”

“Why? Do you want to get laid again? Did Megumi cheat on you again?” He interrupts. “We have all the time after the race, why don’t you excuse me now.” He furrows his brows.

“No, that’s not—”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say it like that.” He confesses. “But, Y/N. I don’t know if I can actually handle seeing your face right now. Because you haunt my waking hours and my nightmares every single day.” He continues.

“I never stopped thinking about how you left me that day. I was begging you to stop. You don’t love me, right? Heck, I haven’t even been able to look at a woman after that. Then let me suffer in peace.” Hearing all of that breaks your heart but you have no right to console him.  

“Is there anything left to say Y/N? Do you want to tell me how much you don’t love me?” he asks bitterly now, finally looking into your eyes. Dark blue, not somber anymore but teary. Vulnerable. Evidently, very much in love with you, after all those months apart.

“Well then, the race is going to start soon, I should —”

Before he can finish though, you grab his suit and pull him down to kiss him. Euphoria spreads through your mind and body, a soothing calm coating your entire being as you feel his lips mingle with yours. He doesn’t resist — he too is a victim of his own yearning. 

The two of you grab a hold of each other's hair and deepen the kiss. You entirely mess up his perfectly combed hair until it falls to the front of his forehead, brushing against yours. The two of you don’t even surface for a breath of air and keep kissing until it’s physically impossible and you have to separate — your face red, and your lips swollen. Both of you panting.

You swipe your thumb on his plump bottom lip, staring at it as you speak to him. 

“Did you get your answer now?”

Yuta seems to be in a daze though, completely bowled over by your bold attempt.

“Listen carefully, Yuta.” you tell him. “The raging maniac I’ve been seeing on the track this past year. That’s not you. You have to play it smart and smooth today, do you understand?”

“Y/N…” he chants, running a hand through your hair and pinching your cheek. “If I don’t drive dominantly, I won’t win.”

“Okkotsu Yuta, if you have ever loved me, promise me you will not drive rashly today.” you tell him clearly, with an air of finality in your voice and he stares at you.

“I’ll do what’s best at that moment, Y/N. Don’t worry about it.”

“No! You have to promise me!” 

“Okay, okay!” he says, giving up, separating from you and opening up the restroom door. “Race starts in a few. I’m going for real now.”

“Please, Yuta. Be careful.” you repeat, tearing up now. “There’s so much I want to say to you later.”

“I’ll see you later with the trophy in hand, that’s a promise.” Yuta states. And for the first time in what seems like an eternity, he brings out the smile he always flashed earlier. Your Yuta’s heart-warming, genuine smile.

The two of you leave the restroom at last and he would not let you go back to the Ferrari zone. Instead, making you sit with his black and silver army of curious Mercedes folk. They all look at you like you’re some kind of shiny toy and it makes you blush and hide behind Yuta.

“Take care of her. Don’t scare her, I will know.” Yuta warns them, taking your hand and leading you to one of the fancy pavilions reserved for staff and their guests. They hand you a pair of headphones and make you sit with some of the women who happen to be the WAGs of the crew and the drivers. You have the pleasure of joining Inumaki’s hot as hell girlfriend who is wearing a silken top and an elegant black skirt along with a heart-winning smile. And there you are with your Ferrari sweater.

[Music recommendation, damn even the color of the audio track goes with the story:]

Yuta runs off quickly after that to hop into his car and have a final conversation with his engineers before he and his teammate Inumaki are called off to join the starting order for the formation lap. From your vantage point, you watch as the sleek, powerful machines take their positions. The sight of Yuta in his Mercedes, with his intense focus and determination, fills you with a mixture of pride and anxiety. 

As the formation lap begins, the cars glide gracefully around the track, their engines producing a symphony of power. The tension builds with every passing moment, the crowd’s anticipation reaching a fever pitch. You grip the edge of your seat, your heart racing in sync with the machines on the track. After a few minutes, the cars begin lining up in order again and the crowd goes silent — with Geto and Yuta making up the front line and an eager Mahito right on Yuta’s tail.

The race is about to begin, and you can only hope that Yuta will deliver on his promise. You press your palms together in anticipation and pray for Yuta to be safe.

They show the faces of all twenty drivers in a promotional video running over on the giant screens. You spot Yuta just as they announce the beginning of the race.

The five red lights come to life one by one with a beep and at the next beat of your heart, they go off, the car engines revving to life and the crowd going ballistic with cheer as Geto crosses Yuta and Yuta rapidly shifts to the side, going tire to tire with Geto’s Red Bull, sliding past him by a minimal margin and taking lead of the race as the fans erupt into cheer. You find yourself standing up and pumping your fists in the air. 

The cars follow the leading duo, creeping along behind them in quick succession.

“That's Good there Yuta. Keep pushing." You here a robotic voice in your ears. Probably Yuta's engineer.

“Copy that." You hear Yuta's voice and blush. Inumaki’s girlfriend eyeing you and grinning.

As the first lap comes to an end and continues into the second lap, there's a buzz of conversation going on in the room. The engineers and staff moving around, barking at each other and some glued to the gigantic screens.

“The car's doing well. Good job guys." Yuta sends out a message.

You overhear two of the engineers discussing among themselves that Yuta was being chattier and nicer than usual today and you smirk internally.

As the second lap progresses through the team witnesses a strange change in positions. Geto slows down ever so slightly to let Mahito’s car pass. There is a bit of commotion going on inside the room, curious discussions about Red Bull’s strategy taking place but you are aware what's going to happen as Mahito's slithering car inches closer to Yuta and activates its DRS.

“No!" You yell out and the entire room turns to look at you.

“Yuta! He needs to get out of the way! He-" 

But before the engineers can register what you're saying or what's happening on the track you see Mahito’s car touch Yuta's from the behind, Yuta intercepting this and narrowly avoiding being tossed in the air. He does get pushed off the track though and into the grass until he gains control and slowly makes his way back onto the track. Now in 7th place.

You are the only one who breathes a sigh of relief because you're the only one who is aware of what went down behind the scenes. There is an uproar in the room now, a lot of them cursing out Mahito and Red Bull to no end. 

One of them finds the time to connect with Yuta on the Radio and ask if he's fine.

“Yeah, I'm alright guys." He reassures everyone. “Pushed far behind though. That seemed pretty deliberate. Put that up for review please." His voice breaks through the radio.

The crowd collectively gasps as they now see Geto swap places with Mahito and regain his position as the leader.

“Yuta. We can salvage this. Stick to the first strategy. Try to be aggressive.” The engineer instructs Yuta.

"Copy, that. At least until I gain P3" Yuta replies, making the engineers exchange  panicked glances.

You see Yuta in action on the big screen and now understand what people have been saying about his feral driving. You witness as he pushes the car to its absolute limit, overtaking two cars — an Aston Martin and Itadori’s Ferrari in one go at one of the fast corners, leaving them startled in his dirty air. He's now racing at P4, after Inumaki lets him pass as per team orders.

“Oh my god, he's up with Gojo now." Inumaki's girlfriend squeaks, holding your hand with an iron grip,making you break out into a sweat two.

Gojo’s Ferrari and Yuta’s Merc go head on, battling each other, getting into each other's way. Gojo is as unpredictable as Yuta is ferocious.

The two of them swap positions a good four times until Yuta is able to zoom past him in a dramatic show, in one of the wider corners, right into the straights.

He's now P3. And the only competition he has in front of him are the red bulls.

“You're in podium position right now. Second place is ensured. Don't do anything stupid." The engineer warns Yuta.

The room doesn't hear back from Yuta for a while until all of you witness his aggressive drive turn to a more smooth one for the first time in over a year.

"Copy that. I've a promise to keep.”

The crowd, the crew, the engineers, the photographers, the journalists, the WAGs and you. All of you watch as time stills, Yuta moving like a stream of water, smooth and direct, inching close to Mahito's car. 

They enter the DRS zone and the Mercedes’ flap flips open to let in the air stream. 

Yuta slips to the side staying just a tad bit behind Mahito whose intent now seems to push Yuta off the track for good if he attacks. 

Mahito who was expecting and anticipating Yuta to fault, for him to aggressively move past keeps waiting as they keep driving on the straight with DRS on.

It isn't until Mahito keeps straight, too drowned in his confusion to notice Yuta speed up right as they turned into a corner. 

Without warning, right as the DRS zone ends Yuta hits the throttle and speeds out of Mahito's reach, making the crowd go crazy.

In that moment, everyone on the track and in the stands is rooting for Yuta. They are waiting with bated breathes as the last lap approaches and Yuta's car creeps closer to Geto’s Red Bull.

The engineers have nothing to say now, they too, watch on in awe.

Your hands clasp over your mouth, as you watch without blinking as they enter the last corners.

Call it luck.

Talent and hard work can take you very far. But the harder you work, the better your luck is. And in those final seconds, Yuta happened to have newer, more seasoned tyres compared to Geto's more worn ones owing to an earlier pit stop. Maybe your prayers worked.

And that was it for Red Bull.

Yuta pushes the car and rockets out of the corner, zooming towards the finish line as the checkered flag waves the declaration of victory for him. Leaving the red bull, the ferraris, everyone who ever doubted him in the dust of the track.

He pumps his fists out of the cockpit, screaming profanity into the radio.

“FUCKKK YESSSS!!!!" 

“LET'S GO BABY!!! LET'S FUCKING GOOO AAAAHHHH!!!" 

He pulls his car aside while the others pass and returns to the track to do some celebratory donuts with his car, the steam from his tyres enveloping the car.

It's like a festival in Mercedes' operations room. Everyone is hugging each, patting each others’ back, crying. Inumaki's girlfriend is mumbling to herself, still holding your hand.

And you?

You are in utter shock. Absolutely unable to form sentences.

One of the engineers has to shake you awake.

“Okkotsu has done it! He's done it! Not just that, Inumaki came in third! We've won both titles! Mercedes has done it!" 

"H-huh?” You choke out, tearing up.

"Don't you want to see him? He's coming in right now!” the team exclaims, crowding at the door, aching to get out and meet their winner.

Out in the paddock, the teams have arrived to welcome their hard-fought warriors. The various colors stand together in unison waiting beside the tracks, separated from the drivers by the chain fence.

You see a line of women waiting by, standing out from the teams thanks to their eye-catching, elegant attires. They looked like supermodels — tall, magazine cover beauties. They must be the WAGs. 

You suddenly feel very conscious about your sweater and jeans. Just a year ago, you too had the most exquisite outfit possible, completely ruined by Yuta on his Lambo.

The drivers show up one by one as the paddock welcomes them. There is an impressive cheer for the arrival of Gojo Satoru, P4. He winks at the WAGs as they appear totally distracted from their own racer boyfriends but he doesn't stay for long.

He meets up midway with a dejected looking Geto and takes him away to some place you can't quite see.

Looks like they want to have a talk.

If the cheer for Gojo was something, it's nothing compared to the deafening roar championship winner, Yuta receives as soon as his Mercedes pulls in.

He jumps out of the car, removes his gloves, helmet and fireproof and comes running straight towards your lot, jumping onto them as they screech, hoisting him up in the air and ferally rubbing his hair.

“Well done, boy!" 

“Well done!" They chant.

When they finally let go and you're able to see Yuta. You don't see any sign of the depressed ghost of a man you saw earlier. This was the Yuta you knew and loved. Happy, shining bright, eyes full of life.

He wipes the sweat of his forehead as he approaches you and grabs you by the waist to pick you up and twirl you around.

He presses his sweaty nose to yours, his dark eyes twinkling.

“We did it, baby. I kept my promise." He laughs between words. 

"Now then,” he smiles at me giddily, walking away from the team with me still in his arms.

"What did you want to say to me earlier?”

You wrap your arms around his shoulders.

“Telling you just how much I love you will take more than a few minutes, Yuta." You kiss his nose.

“More than a few hot nights." You kiss his forehead.

“And more than a lifetime." You say, finally leaving a kiss on his lips.

“I love you, Okkotsu Yuta." 

You press your foreheads together, as a quick paparazzo clicks a picture of the two of you.

{{fin.}}

a/n: thank you everyone for reading! I was able to power through the chapters and put everything out quickly. Hope you guys enjoyed the tale of Racer Yuta!

----> BONUS<----

You hold the headboard of your bed for support as you grin down at a very engaged Yuta, lost in your juicy womanhood, holding onto your thighs for dear life as you sit on his face. His enthusiasm as he suckles and bites your sensitive zones drives you crazy and you come all over his face for what seems the tenth time in the past three days. He just refuses to let you go whenever he visits you in your city. You have to nearly always put in an extra sick day to cater to his and your needs. The two of you look out onto a bustling city from your high-rise condo. You wonder how many people know that a world-class, champion racing driver is eating your brains out right above their heads. The thought makes you giggle shamelessly.

"Yuta, stop, already." you urge him, laughing between words, pulling at his hair to get him to stop.

"Nope, I can't." he admits, looking up at you, with lust filled eyes. "I only get so many days with you. Need to make the most of this time."

You roll your eyes at him, getting off of him, making him whine loudly.

"Patience, lover-boy." you tease him, turning around to sit on his abs. His abdominal muscles are so well defined that even merely sitting on them sends chills up your wussy.

"Time to give my mini some love." you say, smiling at the bulge forming in Yuta's sweatpants. You uncover it to see his valiant dick stand tall, after being ignored by both you and Yuta for so long.

"It got prettier from last time." you pout at it, examining it as you stroke it with love. It pulls out the prettiest groans out of Yuta.

"Y/N, you saw it yesterday." he complains. "When you said you wanted to bounce on it."

"Well, Yuta. You can't just eat me out for all of eternity. Your dick has needs." you shut him up and take him in your mouth, savoring its thickness. It's just like the first time you ever took him in your mouth. You run and tongue up and down his length as Yuta grabs a hold of your ass, holding on till he's moaning.

You lick at his slit, playing around with the pre-cum he's leaking. His cock is so violent, it beats around inside of your mouth, and you silence it by pushing it to the back of your throat, where it sits snugly.

Your nose pushes into Yuta's balls as you let your throat do the rest of the work and soon enough, Yuta is coming inside your mouth with a monstrous groan, leaving you with plenty of fluid to play around with.

When you finally pull off, mouth full of cum, you see that there is still some life in his dick. You turn out to face him and now sit on his dick, grinding back and forth till he becomes hard again.

Your cheeks stay swollen with loads of his cum and Yuta stares at your face in disbelief.

"You really my cum don't you?"

and you nod fervently.

"Swallow it."

You shake your head.

"God, Y/N.." he closes his eyes, leaning back and letting you ride him, feeling his dick prod at your insides, its outline clearly showing through your abdomen.

"Ah..." he moans out, finding a rhythm he likes and the two of you roll your hips together. You want to moan out so bad but your cum sits in your mouth, marinating. You want to make a mess out of it on Yuta's abs and lick it all off.

How you've waited so long to do so many things to Yuta.

Only, your moment gets interrupted by a rogue phone call. From your phone.

"Buh, ish ma day ff!" you say, your mouth full and unable to speak coherently.

Yuta picks up the call and sticks it between his shoulder and an ear, while grabbing and controlling your hips with both his hands. His messy black hair falls on his sweaty forehead and his lashes brush his cheeks as he talks to the caller in his fucked out voice.

"Who's this?"

"Y/N, oh, she's busy."

"Are we fucking? Seriously, Satoru? Nunya business!"

Gojo Satoru!? The shock at his question makes you accidentally swallow the cum and you almost cry out.

"Uh-huh. Cool, bye." Yuta says, eyeing your reaction and closing his eyes.

"Oh no, I swallowed it!" you complain to Yuta and he's barely listening, chasing his orgasm. Soon enough, the grip on your waist tightens and he's coming inside of you this time. His neck stretching back and his adam's apple bobbing in his wide throat.

When he finally regains his composure, he looks back at you to reply.

"You swallowed. Finally! Good job!"

"Yuta!" you pout.

"Aw, baby..." Yuta teases you. "There's always room to do more." he sees, pinching your perky nipples.

"Your interns ask about you, Gojo told me. He takes them to races, VIP passes whenever he's free. He's made them into Ferrari fans, alas." Yuta tells you.

"Ahem. They were promoted to full time employees after the feedback from the Summit." you correct him. "Plus, they know I'm fucking you every chance I get. That's what I'm up to." you say, sliding off his dick and falling into his arms, allowing him to continue playing with your tender breasts.

"You're all packed up for this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, right? We leave in two days." Yuta reminds you, biting your lower lip and bursting into a smile.

"Of course, I'm looking forward to it." you tell him. The two of you stare at each other, drowning in each other's passion until you realize something.

"Oops almost forgot. I love you, Yuta."

Yuta blushes pink when he hears it. "You say that every ten minutes."

"Isn't that what I told you..." you remind him.

"I'm saying it every day." You place a tender kiss on his lips.

"Forever."

[moralesmilesanhour]

Ooo hi, can you write something with gamer/streamer Miles G? Maybe he and the reader just chill and play games talking about life or whatever.

streamer miles!

Ok this went in a sliiightly different direction but the general premise is the same i hope that's ok lmao (also lowkey trying a new writing style/approach)

A/N: comment which animal crossing villager you think miles would like if u want 🫶🏾

You only really see a fraction of a person online. 

The messy, disagreeable thoughts that don’t fit into a neat little post, every time you’ve ever tripped over something and ate shit, all of your worst outfits - none of it exists if you don’t make it known. If you decide you’ve never stumbled over your own feet a day in your life, then it’s so. No one’s gonna claw their way through your screen and check.

For example, you had never seen Miles Morales smile with his teeth before until you clicked on his livestream, and none of his viewers would ever be able to guess.

He was laughing at some joke being made in the chat. 

“Y’all are terrible,” he said, wiping a tear from his eye.

Miles’ stream had been recommended to you by the ever-mysterious, totally-not-creepy algorithm ‘based on your location’, and the thumbnail with his dimples on full display piqued your curiosity.

He’d been passing by once when you accidentally dropped your books and folders while rushing to class. He knelt down and picked them up without a word, dropping them into your hands in a much neater stack than they had originally been in, from largest to smallest. 

Your eyes met for less than two seconds, but you could’ve sworn that there was a softness to them that couldn’t be caught from a distance. 

“Thanks!” you called out as the late bell rang. He only nodded before turning away, not bothering to walk any faster.

You never spoke to him again, having no idea what you’d even say. He rarely spoke outside of class, but you had assumed that based on the way he skulked down the hallway and the permanent ‘I’m bored’ look on his face, that he’d be playing something a little more…serious? ‘God of War’ maybe, or ‘Last of Us’. Or some sports-related game that you couldn’t understand.

Certainly not ‘Animal Crossing’.

Tentatively, your fingers hovered over the keyboard as the stream of comments began to slow, and you wondered if he’d be more likely to see it if you commented this instant.

–Who’s ur favorite villager?

There, nice and simple. Inoffensive.

Miles squinted his eyes at what was presumably a second monitor.

“Who’s my favorite villager?” His brows furrowed in confusion for a moment before he put two and two together. “Oh! You mean the li’l animals and shit. Um, the blue penguin? Ace? I like him.”

You sat back and watched him play for another fifteen minutes, most of which were spent figuring out what direction a couch sitting inside his virtual home should face. His voice was low and almost raspy, but…muted. As if someone had turned the volume down on it like you would the radio. He was fortunate to own a decent microphone.

–You got your own PC? 

It seems you got lucky a second time, and Miles paused to read your comment aloud once again.

“Yyup,” he answered proudly. “Put it together myself. I’ll do a tour one day. My setup is wavy, you’ll see!”

He continued going back and forth with the comments in chat, occasionally thanking some for making small donations. The fact of him making anything at all just from playing a video game was impressive. 

Miles remarked on the ‘classical style’ of one of the buildings on his island, and you snorted. Nerd.

–bro thinks he’s an architect

This made him giggle. A light, breathy sound that you would hardly expect to come out of him.

“You’re a hater, man. Watch me get hired as soon as I’m outta college and build yo’ next apartment building.”

You looked down at your phone and realized it was nearly one in the morning. With a yawn, you said your goodbyes in the comments and left the stream.

-

The cafeteria was full by the time you got downstairs, leaving not a single space on the white benches save for two completely empty ones near the back. 

Well, not completely empty.

As you weaved in between students carrying trays of slop with milk cartons, a familiar pair of cornrows came into view.

It’s now or never.

Timidly, you slid onto the bench right beside Miles. Focused on his meal and the tattered sketchbook he carried around, he looked up at you with just his eyes.

“Hey,” you tried to greet him casually with an awkward smile. “I saw you ye–I mean, I…I saw you. In general.”

His blinked slowly. “We all go to the same school.”

You cleared your throat.

“...Right. We-uh, met in the hallway.”

“You dropped all your books on the floor.”

“Yeah!” you replied a little too loudly. “I just, um, wanted to say hi.”

“...hi.”

There was a stretch of silence as you sifted through a list of topics to rescue the conversation, and a lightbulb went off.

“Do you have any hobbies? Other than drawing, I mean.”

Miles gave up on sketching and answered, “Video games.”

“Which ones you been playing recently?”

“Uh, Mortal Kombat, 2K,” he counted on his fingers, “and Animal Crossing, just to see what it was about–”

“Oh, you’re really good at that one!”

You both froze. Uh-oh.

“And how exactly do you know that?”

“I-I mean, you just…look…like the type?” 

You started frantically chipping away at the remaining nail polish on your fingers. Not even you could believe that one.

A tiny grin played on his lips. 

“Sure, let’s go with that.”

Soon the bell rang, saving you from making any further incriminating comments.

“See you in class?”

“Yeah, see you in class,” Miles replied, before tilting his head. “Or wherever I see you.”

[natt-writes]

~5 Writing tips that actually help~

(These tips are meant for fiction books, especially fantasy. so if you’re writing nonfiction a decent amount of these won’t apply to you. Sorry!)

Find your writing voice.

one of the biggest issues I find in things written by beginners is a lack of emotional connection with the narration. Sure the story can be great, but without personality, without looks into the characters minds, without little quips here and there, it really isn’t all that interesting. Something that really helped me to realize this was a book called the tragical tale of birdie bloom. It’s a kids book but it honestly has such a good narrator (and storyline tbh) that you can look past the little kiddy-ness. I recommend you check the book out if you’re looking for some inspiration. I will be making a post about how to develop your writing and character voices soon so if you want some extra help with that, stay tuned!

2. Get to know your characters.

I know that you all probably already know this, but characters are one of, if not the most important part of a book. Readers don’t want to read about a flat, boring character who just feels like a vessel for the horrifying amount of trauma you add to your story. They want to read about people that feel real, people with flaws and feelings and hobbies and backstories. When I wanted to develop my characters I started going through the drafts, the plot outlines, everything and seeing what the characters did, said, felt. Then I took their basic backstory and started lining things up. Like if a character decided to get into a fight with another character, I would see what had happened to them that might have caused this. Maybe they had been abused as a child and thought that any disagreement meant they had to fight for their life. Maybe this person reminded them of a former enemy. After you start to figure out what connects the characters to the big plot points, you can then start to develop subtle things. You could start writing something, realize this situation would have triggered a character, and then drop subtle hints towards them feeling uncomfortable. Go nuts with it, after all you can never over-analyze a character.

3. Describe things uniquely.

Descriptions are what help us to understand what’s going on in a scene. They can tell us about the tasty drink a character is enjoying, the slick dress that someone is wearing or the way a characters muscles tense when a certain someone enters the room. But sometimes descriptions a fall a bit flat and that can ruin the experience for the reader. Something I always try to remember is to try and come up with new words describe something, for example; “her eyes were a beautiful shade of brown.” Is a very basic and over used description, instead you could try; “her eyes sparkled as she sat across from me, gleaming a rich chocolate shade as the light from the candles reflected off of them”. This is a much stronger sentence as it gives both environment hits and a description of the eyes, all while staying away from overused terms. I often see this theme in stories written by beginners, things being described in a very straight forward manner. And of course this is ok once in a while, especially if this isn’t a very important topic, but it still sounds better when you branch away from that basic sentence structure. I always like to use descriptive sentences to push things forward. Here is another example; “she was wearing a fluffy green dress with lots of lace. She walked over to the door and opened it.” Vs “the lacy trim of her green dress dragged on the floor as she walked towards the door. She smiled wide as she held it open, inviting her guests into the building.” Making strong sentences is very important, so please toy around with different words, structures, etc, until the sentence fits the type of book you’re trying to write.

4. Make trauma realistic.

Yes, even if you’re writing a fantasy book, characters experiences have to be realistic. Something that always gets on my nerves is when writers come up with a good idea for some trauma, so they just give to a character, even when it doesn’t suit them at all. if you are going to give a character trauma you need to explain it, set it up so it actually fits into their character arc, then have the character actually be affected by it. They can’t just randomly be like “I got shot by a dude.” And that’s it if there is no way that character could have gotten shot given their life experiences. Also if you want a character to be relatively unaffected after an extremely traumatic event you have to plan it out so that they have a specific and consistent trauma response that makes them not react shortly after an event like that. Characters are supposed to be like people, and no two people react to trauma the same way, so you do have some leeway if necessary, but people also don’t just stay the same after something horrible happens, they are affected by it and that has to be accurately portrayed. This does get easier the more you get to know the characters though, as soon you will know how they react to things and how to plan trauma that suits them.

5. Make a plot outline.

I cannot stress this enough, make a plot outline. Making a plot outline literally saved my book, and they are really easy to make! I recommend you download a spreadsheet app like XL spreadsheets or Apple numbers but you could even use google docs if you want. You want to put in all the chapters and then give each chapter at least six spots to write scenes. Add a spot for adding the main event of the chapter/a summery of what you have to write. This will help you to understand what you have to write for that chapter and how it fits into the next chapter. After that you start to fill all the scene boxes in with your plot information. Having a plot outline is great as it can be super vague and messy, but still hold all your ideas. It also helps to prevent unnecessary rewrites later, as you can just edit the plot outline before you start writing the first draft. You can even make a plot outline after you’ve started writing your book. That’s what I did and I promise, it still is very helpful. (Example of a plot outline below.)

[mzannthropy]

Anne of the Island Chapter 11

Whew, LMM really threw everything into this chapter, the good the bad and the ugly. (This got long.)

So we're back in Avonlea and it's summer and Anne is reunited with her bestie Diana. RIP residents of Avonlea I never heard of or cared about much. I wonder if Uncle Abe foresaw his own death?

Congrats to Billy Andrews and Nettie Blewett. I also want to know (quoting Davy's favourite phrase here lol) whether he proposed to her himself or sent Jane again. Methinks he did it himself, if only bc I like to think that Jane refused to be his proxy again. We don't know anything about Nettie (at least I don't remember her from previous books) but I imagine her to be the bossy type, a formidable woman, you know, I think that would go well with his personality. Though why the hell am I investing this much time into a storyline that gets fewer sentences that I'm writing here, I cannot answer.

Now, Jane. I made a post on Jane in AOTI in 2023, not linking it here now bc it contains spoilers for later chapters. So, Jane resigned from Avonlea school and is going West. For illustration, this is what "West" means in Canada (PEI is so tiny!):

“Can’t get a beau in Avonlea, that’s what,” said Mrs. Rachel Lynde scornfully. “Says she thinks she’ll have better health out West. I never heard her health was poor before.”

Well, Jane did mention headaches in her letter to Anne but if it's true that her reason for going West is to find a man (and I think it likely is, though I also suspect that Jane wishes to get away from her mother, who is not a nice person) then--so fucking what? In this culture, there seems to be no worse fate for a woman than that of remaining a spinster. I get the impression that even an abusive husband is better than none. Then why blame a girl who is actively working on avoiding this fate? "What else would take her out West to some forsaken place whose only recommendation is that men are plenty and women scarce?" That's kinda the point, Rachel. Jane probably realised she's not getting attention at home, so she decided to go somewhere where she will get it, if only bc there aren't many women. Mrs Lynde is being unfair and judgemental here. Jane is going West to teach, not to have fun. Half a fucking continent away, where she doesn't know a soul, to a completely different environment, and different customs too, I imagine their ways will be very different from the ways of PEI. And she's going on her own. Jane is one truly brave young woman. In this instalment, LMM has gone out of her way to describe Jane as plain and boring. I think this is why she did it, bc there was to be a twist. And I like that Anne defends her friend. It also just occurred to me now that the proposal by proxy might have been a catalyst for Jane. Someone like her brother, who can't even talk to the girl he wants to marry, still manages to bag himself a wife, while she can't even get a man to look twice at her. That's gotta hurt. So she took her life into her own hands, instead of crying into her pillow at night. Good for you, Jane!

Next, Ruby. You know I've always thought that LMM chose to kill her off bc she was so wild about boys. Maybe she wanted to depict someone dying from tuberculosis, bc that's what used to happen in her times, and it had to be someone close to Anne. It couldn't be Diana, of course, so it had to be either Jane or Ruby. Ruby was probably the better choice for that. I mean, idk, I don't care for her much. She's crazy about boys and gets hysterical, that's all there is to her, but also she was an opportunity for LMM to write someone so vivid fighting against inevitable death.

Next, Aunt Atossa. One of the book's pointless plots. There already was a similar character in AOA and it wasn't as out of place. LMM should have written a separate short story for her. (There are actually 2 spinoff short stories for AOTI.) The only good thing is that Diana on their way there admired the sunset. We don't see her do that a lot.

Last, Anne wants to write a short story. Fantastic, tell me more!

[girlygraphics]

it is currently 14:21, as i write the (revamped) intro to my blog. A blog that has been long abandoned, other than the occasional likes and reblogs to let others know I'm still #alive. But i also write this as a stressed yr13 alevel students. First exam in 25 days (akschoully ☝️🤓 24 days, 17 hours, 34 minutes and 46, no 45, no 44 seconds left but hey! who's counting??) but weirdly, instead of loading up my psychology flashcards, i decided to restart this page. Procrastinated both things but yall can clearly see where my priorities lie.

it would be very rude, audacious even, if i made an intro without introducing myself. So greetings all, (an: even since seeing @hrrtshape blog, i just LOVE how she writes & want to reward her a golden trophy for inspiring me to pick up such a philosophoful writing style; it reminds me of the good ol' days when i use to read books with sophisticated literature for fun....when i actually had time to waste, now every second feels like it needs to be dedicated to at least one of my subjects), i go by ???......i'm still tryna find out a name for my alter ego. Its not really a act-different alter ego, its more of an alter-ego where i can act like my most authentic self (with a sprinkle of whatever internet media that helped raised me *cough, cough* pinterest, fluttershy games, coryxkenshin and so much more). An alter-ego where i can express my interests freely without worrying about "what if someone perceives me".

*rolls up long ahh bedazzled scroll* what??? can't a girlie be extra in this lifetime??!! anywho, my interests are indie horror games—only when im watching gameplays—, indulging in nolstalgic media, pinterest, reading and writing, video editing, utilising my creatvity in the form of art, making pinterest boards, listening to music while on pinterest. gaming, shifting and law of assumption.

if i could describe myself in 3 words it would definitely be whimsy, bubbly and weird. i'm weird, weird as in glmm with a side of cookies dipped in lukewarm milk before bedtime typa weird. WEIRDO??? now, that's where i draw the line.

So now to conclude this intro and finally start on my pile of undone assignments (i had 2 weeks to do my easter holiday homework and all i got done was REVISION, absolutely bonkers if i say so myself) . I am 7teen, blk shifter and this is my cutesy lil blog where i rant about my drs, shifting, interests, etc and i hope yall enjoy my posts ( ੭ ˘ ³˘)੭‎°｡⋆♡‧₊˚ (also fyi, im a CHRONIC kaomoji user so if yall see me spam tf outta kaomojis in my posts, dont say i didnt warn ya!)

now back to the drafts this post goes until i can finally figure out a cute theme, alterego name + username (something that has people thinking "gawsh darn it" *snaps fingers cartoonishly* "why didn't i think of that")

*taps into mic* testing, testing, 1,2,3, is this mic on?? choosing a name for an alterego-not-so-alterego can be one of the hardest things ever, after alevel chemistry. You want a name that screams the vibe you are going for but at the same time, you don't want it to be a name associated with bad memories + leaving a bitter taste in ur mouth (now i see why choosing baby names are so hard, i apologise to all the parentals out there!). A name that will have people playing (insert favourite song) theme song in their heads whenever they hear it. As for my username, i settled with @girlygraphics. Why?? because i was on pinterest and one of my recommended searches was "girlygraphics". It was like a pink led lightbulb went off and i thought to myself "i love this way this rolls off my tongue". I'm betting £100 that i wont get bored of this username and change it before the end of this month (heh, this is like a HUUUGE loophole because this month ends in 10 days). And for the theme, we are hopping in a time machine & tapping into the minds of 2k21 submakers (with a dash of @foxxiee theme because their whimsyness is #UNMATCHED!!)

as "slow down - chase atlantic" plays in my head, i hover my mouse on the post now button (obvsiously after switching the settings from "save as draft" -> "post now) and ready to indulge to this whimsical metaverse of shiftblr.

𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋𝐘𝐆𝐑♡𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐒 𝐌𝐘𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐂𝐄

boundaries! . solar system . a brat's brain . 75 day hard challenge . vaunts from a pretty princess . other/misc . shifting storytime's b4 slumber

post ib: @hrrtshape , & 2k21 submaker luvcore aesthetic

divider creds: @strangergraphics @sweet2000s

[linksthoughtbrambles]

Some book recs

In the wake of some stuff that's crossed my dash recently, here's a post of professionally-published non-fanfiction books I remember quite fondly. I'll do a post on books I didn't like later. This post got long.

Highly Recommended (means nothing more than I loved reading them myself, and genres vary):

The Coldfire Trilogy by C.S. Friedman (includes Black Sun Rising, When True Night Falls, and Crown of Shadows) - My favorite fantasy work of all time. Spectacular characters, world-building, and plot. The editing could have been better, but I'll accept a few grammatical errors for a story of this quality.

House of Leaves - PURE TERROR and lots of codes hidden in the book. There's no other book like it. This one is high on my list for a reason.

The Last Unicorn - The language in this is absolutely gorgeous. Poetic. It's also down-to-earth in many ways and goes out of its way to world-build unexpectedly. It's also scary, and the characters are excellent.

Ethan Frome - Okay, Edith Wharton, just rip my heart out and stomp on it a thousand times and pour pickle juice and donut-sugar on it to make sure it hurts enough. Holy shit. You people who like to make your blorbos in huge emotional pain? Yeah, this book.

A Canticle for Leibowitz - A truly extraordinary book about a post-nuclear-apocalyptic world. Written almost like a series of short stories taking you further and further into the future. I have seen Sci-fi shows and movies copy this book shamelessly (including Fallout and Star Trek DS9).

Moby Dick - This book is fricking hilarious. I don't know who started saying it was a boring guide to life on a whaling boat, but whoever they were didn't share my sense of humor. Obviously, nasty stuff happens in it, too.

Things Fall Apart - This book was so striking and heartbreaking pieces of it break into my consciousness in random moments.

Hickory Dickory Dock (by Agatha Christie) - I recommend all her Poirot mysteries, but this one I found particularly riveting.

The Scarlet Letter - Wow. I have no other words. Painful in the best way.

More Than Human - (By Theodore Sturgeon, if the title's not distinctive enough). A very short but freaky book about a group of people who can't function well alone at all, but as a group their individual superhuman abilities turn them into a SUPERsuperhuman. Really interesting read.

Lord of the Flies - Truly horrifying and realistic-feeling glimpse of unregulated animalistic behavior.

Song of Solomon - Heartbreaking yet in a down-to-earth "of course" way. I felt like I was reading about real people living in my neighborhood.

Dragon's Blood (and the rest of the trilogy that follows it - by Jane Yolen in case there are multiple works with this title) - A really good story about a boy both coming of age and coming out of slavery.

Pride and Prejudice - This was a major inspiration for me deciding to go ahead and try writing Link's Thought Brambles the way I did. It's almost entirely dialogue. It works anyway. Also, the PLOT!!

Dragonsong (by Anne McCaffrey) - While in a sci-fi setting in that it's on another planet and includes tiny, adorable dragons, it's mostly a story about an abused teen who escapes and comes of age on her own.

Macbeth - A couple of awful people slowly getting what they deserve. It's freaky, too.

The Lord of the Rings - This one so goes without saying, I almost forgot to include it!

It - (Yes, the one by Stephen King). This is one of very few books that have ever actually scared me. It has one scene in it that is deeply disturbing in another way, and I make no excuses for that.

I'm sure there are lots more, but I'll just make another post as they come to me.

I have unhinged personal ramblings, too, but I'll save those for another post.

[sourdoughsourness]

Assignment - Shigaraki x cheerleader!reader

A.N.: I've had this idea in my head for two years now and finally got around to writing it! This is heavily based on the book Nevermore by Kelly Creagh. I read it eight years ago and this scene has lived rent free in my head ever since. I highly recommend reading it if this is at all appealing to you, it's written much better too. I've also never posted on here before so I'm so sorry if the spacing or anything is off.

I haven't decided yet if I want to turn this into a full fic or leave it as a one shot (or 2-3 parts because let me tell you, there's more than one scene from this book I can't get out of my head) If I did continue I'd probably base it off the book for the first bit then branch off into its own plot. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! I'm very rusty at writing but I tried!

~~~~~~

Class was so boring. It was no different from any other day really. This class was always boring. As much as you tried you couldn't bring yourself to care about the material. Your teacher had insisted since the beginning of the year that this class was important, but he was just another old man obsessed with the past. If it was a history class you'd understand more, but you couldn't find a reason to care about dusty old books despite them being praised as 'classics'. You shuddered just thinking about what he'd have you guys read next.

The clock ticked painfully slowly. You knew time always seemed to go slower when you watched it so you forced yourself to look away. Twenty more minutes. You could handle that. Just 4 sets of 5 minutes. That didn't sound too bad. 

Mr. Swanson's voice droned on. It was barely background noise to your boredom. Seventeen minutes until lunch. You wanted to be with your friends and boyfriend doing literally anything but this. Mina hadn't finished spilling tea earlier and you were desperate to hear the rest. 

Your thoughts were cut short when you heard the words 'group project'. All your senses came back as you focused on those two words which were pretty much the last things you wanted to hear. No no no no no! None of your friends were in this class! You knew basically anyone would want to work with you, but you work with any of them? Your classmates were about as lame as your dusty old teacher.

"I'm sure you've all heard plenty about this project from the seniors," Mr. Swanson's voice rang out. The whole class groaned. Everyone knew what was coming next but you still tried to deny it. Please no, anything but this, you practically begged the universe. 

"The Swanson Project," he declared. Everything came screeching to a halt. Suddenly reading a dusty old book didn't sound too bad. Everyone knew about the Swanson Project. It was basically the most infamous assignment in the whole school. You couldn't imagine a single person enjoying it. Then again there was probably some freak out there who was looking forward to it, after all, Mr. Swanson existed didn't he?

The project would already be bad enough, but you knew it was a partner project and whether partners were assigned or not you were pretty much fucked. Not a single friend, or even friendly acquaintance, was in the room. It was just your luck. All your friends had plenty of classes together but somehow you ended up with the unluckiest schedule possible. 

Mr. Swanson went around his desk gathering a monster of a syllabus which did not ease your worries at all. You knew this project was huge, but just coming to terms with the sheer amount of time you'd be spending with all these nobodies made you want to bash your head into your desk. You could practically hear your friends laughing already. 

"Now, just in case you aren't aware of what the Swanson Project is, let me explain." Your teacher announced walking back to the front of the class. "This project will consist of both a presentation and a 10 page paper. It must be detailed. You and your partner will choose any famous author. In the spirit of Halloween, the author needs to be dead. No current authors please. You will need to work closely on this project with a partner and it will be completed outside of class." 

Your annoyance was palpable and you were convinced anyone within a 5 mile radius could feel it. Not only did you have to work with some extra - as your boyfriend would call it - but it had to be outside of school? If you didn't need the stupid credit you'd be tempted to drop this class.

You couldn't imagine sitting down and reading through all those papers. Mr. Swanson would love it, you bet. He'd probably enjoy every second. 

Taking the time to finally scan the room and actually see who was around you, you spotted Tenya Iida. He was an obnoxious rule follower, but you knew how smart he was and he seemed like your best shot. Maybe you could slink your way over there, the seat next to him was vacant after all. 

Just as you were ready to get up and head over, Mr. Swanson's voice brought you to a screeching halt. "All partners were selected at random. I will read your names off a list then you will have the last ten minutes of class to brainstorm." 

Random? He chose the pairings randomly?? Now you really wanted to bash your head into the desk. God, why'd you have to take this stupid class anyway. Math and Science you could deal with. They made sense to you. Analyzing the colour of a light in an old novel didn't. Maybe you'd get lucky? That seemed unlikely, you frowned. 

"Tenya Iida and Hanta Sero," Your teacher's voice called out. Well fuck, there goes your luck. You knew you sounded ungrateful but god, group projects sucked. 

Mr. Swanson called out more names causing the students around you to start moving around. Was no one going to protest? Everyone was just accepting how unfair the system was?

"(Y/N) and Tomura Shigaraki."

What?

No.

No no no. No way.

No fucking way. 

This had to be a cruel joke. 

You turned your head slowly to look at your new partner. God even just thinking that screamed all sorts of wrong. Why did it have to be him? You didn't know what you did to deserve this cruelty but it must have been something horrible. 

He sat far in the back corner slumped and staring at the wall. His long blue hair draped around him practically covering his face. He wasn't even looking for you. You had to hold back a scoff. This could not be happening. 

You were on the verge of marching up to Mr. Swanson and asking for a new partner. Literally anybody but him. You had no clue how many of the freaky rumors about him were true, but you definitely didn't want to find out yourself. Unfortunately you knew asking to switch partners would go about as well as asking a pig to sprout wings and fly. 

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad? You bit your lip and grimaced. Even you weren't that delusional. With a sigh you got up to head over to your partner.

Shigaraki was lost in his curtain of white hair and hadn't even acknowledged your presence. What was up with this freak? Like hello? You were supposed to be working on a project. He wasn't even sparing you a glance. 

Your eyes wandered to the clock. Seven more minutes, you could do this.

Did he drink blood like the rumors said? You knew that thought was insane yet seemed totally possible. Did he talk to himself and practice witchcraft like you'd heard people whisper about? Maybe he'd teach you so you could curse Mr. Swanson, you thought bitterly. 

He was slouched in his seat wearing a black t-shirt, black jeans, and ratty old red shoes. His Nintendo switch sat beside him on the table. You didn't know much about Shigaraki, but you did know his father was insanely rich, like stupidly rich. That led to Shigaraki getting away with practically anything - including playing games in class apparently.

You set your notebook down as loudly as you could without fully slamming it to get his attention. He finally looked at you with a bored stare. God, had he never heard of chapstick? Maybe some moisturizer? 

"I'm not doing this project alone," you declared. Because really, what else could you say to him? You refused to be stuck doing all the work. 

His bored stare turned into a glare. "Did I say that?" He snapped. His voice was scratchy and you were pretty sure you'd rather listen to nails on a chalkboard than listen to him right now. 

"No." You wanted to just walk out then and there. Maybe the credit wasn't worth it. Mina would never believe this. Getting paired up with the biggest freak? It was unbelievable. "I just wanted to make that clear because you weren't saying a single thing." You finally slid into the chair next to his, albeit reluctantly. 

Two groups had already gotten up to leave, having chosen their projects. You couldn't help the envy bubbling up. Why couldn't Shigaraki act like a normal person? He apparently wasn't in any hurry to leave. 

Maybe Mr. Swanson's pairings weren't random and this was his idea of a sick joke. This is what you get for turning in your last assignment late, you thought bitterly. 

"I'm not doing it all either I hope you know. I know you little cheerleaders have brains the size of a peanut, but that doesn't mean I'll do it all," he sneered as he finally looked you in the eyes. You hated him already. 

His red eyes were intense making you want to turn away, but you refused to back down. It was like a predator sizing up its prey. You refused to be the prey. 

Your chest was flooded with discomfort. Who even was this guy? Who shit in his cereal? Your gaze moved to the scars on his neck. You'd heard about him scratching himself raw before, but seeing the scars up close still caught you off guard. 

Shigaraki leaned in closer causing you to meet his intense eyes again.

"What are you staring at?" He whispered.

You drew back instantly, face feeling hot. That's it, you were outta here. Your hand shot up in the air as you mentally begged Mr. Swanson to show you mercy just this once. You were not doing this today. 

You heard a slow ominous shuffle behind you. Your whole body went rigid. You slowly lowered your hand and looked up. There he was, towering over you. Tall and so very pale. 

You bit back a protest as he took your hand in his. You gaped as his long slender fingers gripped your hand, his pinky slightly raised. All you could do was stare, unblinking, as a black appeared and began moving against your skin. The tip was as cold and sharp as his eyes. 

What. The. Fuck. Was he writing on you?? 

You couldn't make a sound if you tried. 

His face remained unchanging, just as emotionless as before as he carefully slid the pen over your skin. The pointed tip of the pen slightly tickled creating a knot in your stomach. You couldn't even begin to comprehend what was happening. You were so shocked. All you could do was stare at his pale fingers. 

At last he finished and released your hand. With one final cold piercing look he turned away,  snatching his switch and bag from the desk beside you. "Don't call after nine," he said as he walked right out the door. 

Your face burned and your skin tingled where he had just touched you. Finally snapping out of whatever daze you were in, you scanned the room. You were afraid to see who noticed. What would people say? You let out a small sigh of relief. No one had noticed. Thank god. 

Finally you looked down at your hand. In black ink he had written "S - 555-0710”

[ariaste]

I found out about running close to the wind last month from a tumblr poll and had it on hold at the library until I got my (metaphorical as it was an audiobook, also goddamn I don’t know if you got to choose the narrator but Casey jones was a damn good choice) hands on it and just finished it earlier tonight, I am SO in love with it. I’ll write a proper review but I was scrolling through the tag trying to eek out a little bit more of it from fan works and such since I already miss Avra, Julian, and Tev and I saw your post about how you were worried about it and wanted to drop you a message. I’m sure you have gotten lots of people complementing it since it came out, but just to add myself to the list of people who have complimented you: the world building you created as well as the fantastic characters and general feeling the book gives you as you read is downright delightful and so easy to love. I found it so comforting and couldn’t stop smiling, laughing, and blushing the whole time. When the book was over I immediately wanted more, and would read an endless supply of books about them. I love all the characters but I would specifically read an endless amount of books about Avra, Tev, and Julian having their happily ever after without ever getting bored of it, if you decided to continue writing about them 👀 I hope it has sold really well, I know I’m not going to shut up about it 💜 I hope you received so many accolades and such a fine payment for it that you won’t have to worry about how your future work might sell again 💜

Awwwwww what a kind message! Thank you! <3 I am very pleased you enjoyed the book! Also, good news, all my books are set in the same world, so if you haven't read A Taste of Gold and Iron yet, that's the next one I'd recommend for a different perspective on what happened with the Shipbuilder's Guild :)

Also, if you are interested in meeting some other fans of the book, there is an official fandom Discord server: https://discord.gg/DTyee9HRR9

[aiiria17]

I read Midnight (Warriors: The New Prophecy)

Bit of a name change in this silly little series of write-ups I've been doing because I've actually never read The New Prophecy. When buying these books as a kid I just never got these (I think wherever I was getting books just never had this arc specifically) and so I skipped right to Power of Three. I'm pretty excited to experience these though as I like the core conflict of them being that the cats have to work together and move. It's an interesting direction to take after the first arc.

Well, without further ado, how do The (new) Prophecies Begin (not confusing at all).

Post edit: longer post than planned. oh well.

Brambleclaw is the warrior cat of all time

Brambleclaw isn't white bread. He is definitely more of a wheat bread. Cause he's still not interesting but objectively he's pretty good for you.

Early on in the book, 90% of Brambleclaw's existence is bickering with Squirrelpaw and it's fine. Very carried by Squirrelpaw to me, who's such a standout character, enough to warrant a shared subcategory. The reason Squirrelpaw stands out is also because Brambleclaw is so boring.

The actual plot at the beginning is just Brambleclaw deliberating on whether he should do anything and waiting for someone else to tell him to. First Tawnypelt has to drag him to fourtrees, then Ravenpaw of all cats has to convince him to maybe not just ignore the dream from his cat ancestors. Brambleclaw is boring because he just doesn't do anything unless told to. It seems like he is, to some extent, incapable of though.

Brambleclaw is also literally incapable of thought. Not even as a joke. He comes across as just sincerely stupid throughout the journey. Here are some excerpts:

On page 168, Stormfur recommends that they cross the thunderpath and then meet up on the other side so they aren't alone. Brambleclaw is "impressed by Stormfur’s sensible thinking." He actually was unable to figure that out on his own.

Page 201: "Crowpaw had good ideas, Brambleclaw decided, if only he’d be less aggressive about sharing them." Nothing stupid just the way it's worded is really funny to me.

Here's the origin of "Brambleclaw is dumb" for me on page 206: "[Squirrelpaw] stood up and shook herself. “Thanks,” she meowed to Feathertail and Tawnypelt. “That was a brilliant idea!” She was right; Brambleclaw wished he had been the one to think of it."

Last "Brambleclaw has no neural activity:" Brambleclaw hadn’t thought of that before. It was worth thinking about, though it wouldn’t make it any easier to get on with Crowpaw the next time he started arguing the smallest point." The thing here is realizing that none of them know Crowpaw.

So jokes aside it's just so weird that Brambleclaw is depicted as incredibly poor in perception (being kind), which is like the worst trait for a main character to have. Like he's not fun to follow because his thoughts aren't interesting. With Firestar, he had a prominent conviction and perception that made his thought process something to be invested in. The only reason Brambleclaw is a fun perspective to read in Midnight is because he's supported by 3 good characters and also the Riverclan duo on an incredibly interesting journey that's set apart from everything established prior.

So why is he wheat bread? He's super uninteresting and doesn't really have a prominent flavor, but he's pretty good as a plot device even if he has to be pushed into it. I really think it'd be awesome if his role was replaced by Squirrelpaw though so he can go and just rot in the warrior den.

Wait it sounds like I hate Brambleclaw I want to specify I'm just underwhelmed he's chill.

Leafpaw sure does exist and have vague superpowers

What are Leafpaw's powers? How does Squirrelpaw not know about them? All these questions in more will absolutely not be answered.

I don't have much to say about Leafpaw as a narrator. She does two main things: show what's going on back in the forest and clarify more what the role of medicine cats are. The first role is pretty simplistic and something I'll talk about more next subsection but the second role is kind of neat. Through being a narrator, Leafpaw clarifies the duties of and culture surrounding being a medicine cat much more than in the first series. The expansion of the world is part of what I've liked so far about the new prophecy as the Brambleclaw's perpective expands the physical world and Leafpaw's expands the spiritual world of Warriors. In the first arc, a lot of things were very undefined. Especially on Starclan but again that's a different segment. Basically, more world-building is cool. And so far it's being delivered.

The specific event I'm talking about here is Leafpaw's visit to the moonstone with Cinderpelt and the other medicine cats. We see her talk to Mothwing and it gives more perspective to the weight of being a medicine cat, and it makes me hope we learn more about how Leafpaw got made a medicine cat apprentice as well. Mothwing is essentially given heavy doubt towards her new job because she was a rouge, but a sign from starclan lets her be a medicine cat anyways. Neat stuff. Having a medicine cat perspective is a very different outlook that portrays the world of Warriors in a brand new light.

Oh by the way she also has superpowers. Yeah Leafpaw can tell things about Squirrelpaw and vice versa. What things? Whatever is needed for the plot. She succeeds later at giving Squirrelpaw a yucky taste in her mouth while also having a constant tell on Squirrelpaw's location. You might notice how one sided that is and that's the most confusing part. Squirrelpaw, seemingly, has no idea that she also has these powers. How? It's not yet explained. It is however, completely illogical. A major point in the relationship between the two sisters is that they share everything with each other, to the extent that when Squirrelpaw hides the fourtrees meeting and Leafpaw hides the bush prophecy, neither of which I have explained or will explain (figure it out I guess), it causes signficant conflict between them. So why hasn't Leafpaw ever explained the super powers that she explicitly knows about to her sister, who only can benefit from knowing. There is no given or implied reason for Squirrelpaw not to know, making it, technically speaking, stupid. I would love to give theories about why but I can't think of any harm that could possibly come by Squirrelpaw knowing. Did Leafpaw forget? I'm going to say she forgot.

Split perspectives works great given the narrative

One of my concerns coming into The New Prophecy was that I knew it switched to a varied character perspective compared to only Firestar in TPB (ignoring prologues, which most people do). My concern was completely unjustified because Midnight actually uses split perspectives pretty well to make the narrative more interesting and cohesive.

There's two perspectives featured in the first book, both of which I discussed earlier. This is a reference to me formatting my post for about 5 seconds (being generous). Really the highlight is both the use of flipping between the two areas to create tension and creating even more tension by having cliffhangers be more effective. Gradually throughout Brambleclaw and the badger-talker's awesome journey it becomes more and more clear (and at the end literally stated) that the forest is in danger. So having a perspective showing, you know, the forest has a sense of tension because the readers and the Bramblesquad all know, to some extent, what's coming, but nobody in the forest has any idea. The last chapter of Midnight just shows some kind of monster (aka construction vehicle) demolishing the forest by cutting down trees which really freaks out the cats who live there. (Side note this is inadvertently an expansion on Riverclan's issues of twolegs intruding on their territory.) Another side of the tension built is that none of the forest cats know why Bramble and the Jets had to take off from the forest, which makes the scenes where it's brought up interesting to read. Dramatic irony is a really cool plot device and I'm glad that Erin(s) Hunter(s) remembered it.

One plot device that Erin(s) definitely loves though is a solid cliffhanger. Even in the first arc, like every book and chapter ends on a cliffhanger, from Graystripe leaving to Tigerstar showing up, the cliffhangers are a famous part of the way warriors is written, at least to me. Splitting plots makes cliffhangers even stronger because they hang for longer. Cliffhangers kind of suck if you just have Brambleclaw hanging for like 5 seconds. He needs to marinate for at least 30 minutes before being use. There's not much else to say on this front, it's pretty clear, but it helps bring out the plot device that Erin(s) use constantly. And if you're doing something literally constantly, might as well do it pretty well.

Squirrelpaw and Crowpaw save this book by having a personality

Easily my two favorite characters to follow in Midnight just because they are significantly more of actual characters than anyone else by a country mile.

First up on the list Squirrelpaw!

She's super fun. She's overconfident, overassertive, and annoying to deal with. She 100% has the attitude that as Firestar's daughter she deserves like everything. I love it. I think it's good to have characters that aren't fully likeable at the start of the arc. A lot of the characters in TPB were very set from the start. Nobody really grew beyond Cloudtail who just learned to not go take food from twolegs and beyond that changed very little. Comparatively, the growth Squirrelpaw shows is so pleasant in comparison. Throughout even just the first book, she matures quite a bit and starts to lose some of the negative traits I mentioned earlier. Squirrelpaw isn't a character I have much to say about now but that'll probably change pretty soon. She's really cool though.

Okay and now for my honest favorite character of the book, Crowpaw.

He's so silly. Another thing that separates the characters from their arc 1 cohorts is what I am dubbing, very scientifically, the sauce-o-meter. The sauciest arc 1 characters are Yellowfang, Bluestar, and Scourge, who all come in at like a barbeque sauce. Good but not crazy. Crowpaw is Canes sauce from Raising Canes: he's awesome and I love him. He's super duper edgy and blantantly just disregards basic rules like not stealing prey and respecting others and it's just so much more interesting. Now he does end up having some romantic tension with Feathertail, who isn't interesting, and that's an actually interesting plot point. Beyond raising questions about the value of the warrior code, it's also just, you know, funny. It's more so amplified next book (I'm only like 6 chapters in and it's already prevalent). I'm excited to see Crowpaw do more because he's significantly more of a goofy little edgelord than anybody else in the cast so far.

Really this section has been my preview of characters I want to see more of later.

Purdy

hell yeah

Starclan

We get a Starclan pov within the prologue section. So as of now, the established role of Starclan is making prophecies, giving lives, and moving clouds. Very little else. Something introduced in The New Prophecy is an expanded role of Starclan within the Warriors world. The prologue shows Starclan being much more ""human"" (they are cats though), by that I mean it's still defined characters and not a vague collective where cats just hang out. The cats all communicate normally when they're placing bets on who's Warrior's Next Top Protagonist. The prophecies are also given a lot less vaguely than in the first arc, where Spottedleaf just gets it on vibes and nothing else. Now, they can go in dreams (already established) and send in salt for signs or whatever and have messengers.

That's where we get to Midnight, not to be confused with Midnight. You see, in Midnight, Midnight is a badger who has an undefined connection to Starclan and delivers Go Go Bramble Rangers the instructions to make the cats leave. Why did they have to leave to get told that? Who knows. I'd say why wouldn't they communicate to medicine cats but 90% of all leaders agree that actually listening to the literal clan prophet is cringe. Midnight is an interesting figure because she communicates Starclan's message as like an envoy, which means Starclan has an more direct presence on the physical world than they previously did.

Note it's still extremely vague and as needed according to the plot but that's okay? Honestly a vague deity figure that's adaptive to the needs of the plot is completely okay. Sometimes the plot has to move and having a sky full of deus ex machinas is completely okay in my opinion. Storytelling isn't about being perfectly consistent and always 100% clear, it's about what is communicated to the reader from the authors. Art is about the sharing of thoughts and feelings non-literally, and it doesn't have to be perfectly consistent. And yes, I am saying that Warriors, the violent cat books for preteens, are art. Cause it is.

Starclan still is some bullshit though.

Conclusion

I really like the worldbuilding so far in The New Prophecy. I've done enough analyzing though so I'm leaving it there for now.

It's definitely different to no longer be rereading the books (which I'll be back to for Power of Three & Omen of the Stars), and I'm still really enjoying them. I really like reading them despite the fact that I'm years above the target demographic. And that's fine. Media isn't about being the correct person to enjoy it it's about it being the correct thing for you to enjoy. I like watching the goofy edgy Windclan guy stumble his way into the most forced romance I've seen in years. So I'm going to keep on reading.

Next up is Moonrise, which has a neat cover. Side note this arc has easily the best covers of the entire series.

Thank you for reading a ton, tell me if you think I said something dumb or, less likely, something not dumb.

bye bye

[v4mpgrrl]

top 5 horror media :)

this was sooo hard this was so so hard so i tried to pick a different one for different (non-exhaustive) readings of the question

#1 the diary of laura palmer: this is the only book i can ever remember having to stop reading because it scared me so much

#2 ginger snaps: fave movie lol

#4 vampz 2004: i love the sfx in this theyre so silly; though idk if i would recommend the movie itself without the caveat that its ending is terrible enough to taint the entire viewing experience

#3 iwtv 106: duh

#4 attack the block: horror movie ive watched most in my life maybe only with the exception of ginger snaps

play toys with me ^_^

i want to talk for a moment away from prying eyes (casual scrollers) but iwtv 106 is on the list for a multitude of reasons

1) the episode is shaped forever by my friend goat's writing about claudia and lestat's relationship and this line in particular:

There were many horrible truths between them that proved too difficult to pull back fast enough. With Lestat gone and Louis confined to recovery in small spaces, the house (which Claudia had cleaned and she’d rearranged the shelves and took books to her coffin and filched fancy pens to trade with her own fancy pens when she bored of them and when it came time to decide what to leave as a reminder and what to put away SHE had made the final decision SHE DECIDED IT–) had finally become her house. Lestat crossed the threshold and her house cowered and creaked under the weight of his boot over its floors. She watched him do it and watched Louis flinch when he saw himself in her mind’s eye, superimposed and cracking with the foundation.

2) i think claudia train scene is the most viscerally frightening in the season, made more horrific by how ppl discuss it

3) the youre-coming-back-and-its-the-end-of-the-world effect aka the famously dubbed soulmate studies which to me is the scariest thing in the world its interpreting horror in my rawest sense of the world #myrawfeelings im very relationship-averse im too selfish i dont like the thought of compromising whether on my personhood or anything else which is perhaps an uncharitable reading of love but i do think it is an honest one. and this of course manifests in the joys of soulmateposting :-)

i really debated including this scene

frm my shit yaoi from a thing thats bad (ignore that he cant act) even though ive relegated robrondale to the abyss because it really really does scare me (i also think theres an element of horror in the constrictions of the media's form (soap opera) but thats for a different 2 note post) like i watched him send his brother insane and i'd still have him back in a shot ... Hiiii the thought of .. what is that jacob anderson quote .. 'until one of them perishes, they’re destined to dance forever' to fall blindly into with that someone and now youre trapped. and the thing with soulmates is that the conceit so often necessitates a return -- the promise of water under the bridge for the unforgiveable -- which is utter HELL...? maybe there is beauty in a second chance but not for me #grudgekeeper also i think ive made my stance clear on the how soulmate studies is almost always an act of (intentional) abuse apologia im never passing judgement ldpdl or aaron (two names that shld never be in a sentence together) for having found themselves in these situations just expressing my horror at what i do unfortunately think im susceptible to . Also the soul isnt real LOL

[humorisstoredinthetits]

The Heathers + Veronica Youtuber! AU

I'm gonna be trying to post more consistently, hopefully once a week on Fridays

In this AU the events of Heathers happened somewhat similarly, Veronica never joined the group but she still got together with JD and he murdered Kurt and Ram but failed to kill Chandler before the ending playing out the same. JD is also more movie-like in that he isn't as obsessed with Veronica and just wants to kill.

The Heathers are the most popular Youtuber group in the history of the platform

Their channels combined have over 200 million subscribers, and ask any person on the street and they would be able to tell you who the Heathers are, think like Mr. Beast levels of people knowing them and double it

The group consists of three members

The first is Heather Chandler, aka Mythic_Bitch, who has a beauty/drama channel and is by far the most popular of the three

A weird combination of topics sure, but one Chandler makes work

She'll often review beauty products, and while applying them to herself she'll talk about Youtube drama

Beauty companies line up to have their products tested out by her, and she will only accept sponsorships from those which she feels are the best of the best or those which she wants to warn her viewers about

As part of her sponsorship contracts she demands that she be free to give her true opinion about the product, a term which the companies are forced to accept if they want their products recommended by the most popular Youtuber in the world

And of course she is always in the know of all the juiciest drama

Her word is treated as gospel among the population of the site, when she gives her opinion on the matter its closed and public opinion shifts to whatever Chandler's opinion is

She started out just reviewing products, but she quickly ran out of things to say while showing her viewers how to use them which led to awkward pauses

Knowing that she would have to find something to fill that blank space, she tried doing timelapses, telling personal stories, jumpcuts, and when none of those seemed to really work she decided to talk about what she knows best, which was drama

Her modest audience was boosted by an influx of new subscribers who sought out her opinion on the latest drama

And since this is Youtube, there's always new drama going on so she never runs out of things to talk about

Her views only skyrocketed when it was announced she would be collaborating with two other Youtubers who also happened to be named Heather

They would appear in her videos, acting as canvases for her to test out products on or to help talk about a big piece of drama news

Next up is Heather Duke, aka Shut Up Heather!, who runs a channel which focuses on literature

One would expect this to be rather boring content, I mean she's just talking about books, but her unique sense of humor combined with her insights into the books she discusses creates interesting videos for even those who wouldn't normally be interested in reading

She often tries to search out lesser-known books by unknown authors and reviews their work to try and bring attention to them

Mainly the kinds of books she looks for are by LGBTQ+ or POC authors

She also accepts submissions of writings for her to review and critique to help them improve their stories and with her advice several writer viewers have managed to get their stories published, an accomplishment she always celebrates by making a video about said book

For the longest time she's been trying to write her own book but keeps pushing it back out of fear that it's not good enough, but her viewers wait in anticipation for that day

Once she began collaborating with the other Heathers, she introduced a new segment to her videos, the skit segment

When trying to explain a key scene from a book she's reviewing, she and the other Heathers will act it out in a succinct yet humorous manner

They spare no expense either, getting costumes, doing their hair and makeup, the whole nine yards

At the end of the video there's a blooper reel of all their failed attempts

A fan-favorite of her channel has nothing to do with literature, its her pet snake, Cornelius

He was included in a skit involving a scene where a character was bitten by a snake, and ever since that video her viewers begged to see more of him

So she now starts every video by giving a snake update

To round out the trio, there's Heather McNamara, aka Mac & Cheese, who makes variety content with her golden retriever, Cheese

She hated the idea of being stuck into this box of 'gaming Youtuber' or 'drama Youtuber' or whatever, so she posts whatever she feels like with no cohesion

Normally this wouldn't be the best move, after all to have a consistent audience one should focus on a single type of content that those same viewers would come back for, but Mac's bright bubbly personality helps tie it all together

She has several ongoing series in between her other content, including a Minecraft Let's Play and a series focusing on her pets, of which she has several

Of course there's Cheese, but also Munchkin the Rabbit, a Parakeet named Tweety and a Maine Coon called Heather Catler, who was adopted after the collaboration with her was announced

The latter is technically Chandler's pet but she hates her so for all intents and purposes she's Mac's

In these videos she'll show her routine for caring for them and give the audience updates, but mostly its just an excuse for her to get paid for playing with her pets

From week to week her content can shift wildly, it all depending on what Mac feels like doing that week

The one constant is Cheese, who the viewers often call her twin because Mac always dresses in yellow

The dog was named Cheese because he loves cheese, to the point that if she cooks with it he'll jump onto the counter to nab some

The three of them also have a collab channel, simply called The Heathers, where they post content involving the three of them

When the collaboration was announced the three of them bought a house together and all moved in, an experience which they vlogged and created the channel to post the vlogs to

They post the occasional vlog, but also their gaming videos where they play games like Mario Party, or Duke's infamous prank videos, like the time she put her snake in Chandler's makeup cabinet, capturing on film the moment she opens it up and screams upon seeing a snake slithering through her things

As time passed their fanbases grew and grew until they became the largest group on the platform

They were invited to official Youtube events, went to conventions like VidCon, started their own merch line, major news companies started reporting on their big developments, things were only going up for them

Unbeknownst to the public, however, the three of them were dating, and had been long before starting their channels

Of course there was always speculation, there was plenty of evidence that the three of them were in some way LGBTQ+, but no one could agree on which two were dating and the Heathers never confirmed or denied anything

They were at the top of the world, they were extremely well-liked, had no major controversies and most importantly to them, they were happy

But one day, things changed

Veronica Sawyer, aka Detective Sawyer, ran a small channel of around 150k subscribers focusing on true crime and unsolved mysteries

Her small fanbase admired the sheer quality of her videos, as it was clear they were well-researched and well put together

A big part of her content was the motive behind the crime

Veronica was studying criminal psychology at her university and she applied what she learned in class to these cases to try and understand what drove these people to commit these heinous acts

If a case was unsolved, she would give her best guess on what she think happened

She took audience submissions for people they wanted her to cover, which helped boost her views as she was looking in to who her viewers wanted to see

Because of how long it took to research, analyze, and film, she did not upload very often, but her videos were always greeted with plenty of fanfare

**Line break**

She also always wore this monocle and a old-timey detective's hat, helping her to build up this character

However, there was a reason she created this channel, a reason she chose to cover what she did, hell even a reason that she was studying criminal psychology in the first place

Initially she was never planning on covering it on her channel, sure it fit in with the rest of her content but it was deeply personal to her and she wasn't sure if she wanted to share it with the whole wide world

But eventually she decided to do it, having it serve as a warning to those in similar situations

The video was titled "The Tale of Jason "JD" Dean and the Girl Stupid Enough to Follow Him"

As soon as the video started it was clear that something was off

She wasn't wearing her usual get-up, and it took her several seconds to compose herself before she was able to speak

She started by saying that this situation is different than all others she's covered up until this point, because it involves her personally

She went on to explain that this was more so than others a cautionary tale, of fear and lust and pride based on actual events where people died (People died)

She started at the beginning, spinning a tale of a loser girl and a guy who took interest in her, infecting her with his lies that they personally could choose who lived and who died because they knew better than everyone else

She spoke of his crimes, from attempting to poison the most popular girl in school by spiking her coffee with drain cleaner to shooting and killing two jocks after luring them to a graveyard at the dead of night, and his 'jokes' about killing her too if she went to the police

She told of how she was enthralled by his ideology, the idea that bad people deserved to be punished and that they were the ones tasked to do so, letting her finally get revenge on the people that had wronged her for years

Eventually she reached the end, with her realization that he was insane after telling her of his plan to blow up the school, leaving them the sole survivors, and how after she left him he almost killed her and was forced to fake her own suicide to get him to leave, only to confront him at school and remove the bomb, only for him to then take it back and blow himself up on the football field, claiming that he was too damaged and that she deserved better

She then went on to speak of the aftermath, the countless police interviews, the trial where she was found not guilty as she had not actually participated in any of the crimes and was found to be under major duress and threat of harm, explaining why she hadn't acted sooner, her stay at a psychiatric institution, the hours and hours of painful, upsetting therapy, her return to school, her anger at everything and everyone, and her eventually resolve to figure out what drove JD to do the things he did, leading to this channel

Eventually she reached her segment where she discussed the why behind his actions, where she attempted to dissect his rationale, speaking of the death of his mother, his abusive father, his constant moving around, ending up with a simple 'he thought he was better than everyone else and was the one to dish out punishment' being unwilling or unable to go any further

The video ended there, Veronica clearly in tears and just wanting to be done with this

Unexpectedly her video blew up, reaching the front page, going up to #1 Trending at it's peak

Veronica was surprised to see her comments sections filled with supporting comments, telling her that she was so brave for going through that and coming out on the other side, saying that JD was a master manipulator and that she shouldn't feel bad for falling for him, and that they are proud of her for being able to get up here and tell her story despite how much she suffered

But what really surprised her was a single comment from a Mythic_Bitch, asking her if they could talk

The replies to it were filled with questions and theories, but all were ignored

Of course Veronica knew the Heathers ran the most popular Youtube Channels on the platform, how could she not, but she wasn't expecting Heather fucking Chandler to see her video, much less ask to talk to her

But she couldn't be all that surprised, after all it was her that JD tried to kill, the situation involved her as much as it did Veronica

Of course she didn't name her or anyone besides herself and JD, but she still knew who she was talking about

With much anxiety she sent her a reply, starting a chat with the Demon Queen herself

Private Message Between Mythic_Bitch and Detective Sawyer

Detective Sawyer: Hey, you wanted to talk?

Mythic_Bitch: Yeah, I saw your video.

No messages are sent for about 5 minutes

Detective Sawyer: And?

Mythic_Bitch: I have to say I was pleasantly surprised

Detective Sawyer: What

Mythic_Bitch: You took complete accountability for your actions, never once trying to downplay your role in the events but instead explaining why you did what you did

Mythic_Bitch: Honestly I expected you to just deny deny deny and blame it all on JD, but it seems that you've grown up a bit

Detective Sawyer: Of course I took accountability for my part, even if I didn't actually do anything to hurt anyone I still enabled him to do what he did

Mythic_Bitch: I have a proposition for you

Detective Sawyer: Well that was an abrupt change of topic

Mythic_Bitch: Just take the compliment and listen to my proposition

Mythic_Bitch: I want you to interview me, on your channel

Mythic_Bitch: You can ask me literally anything about my perspective on the situation, my experiences, whatever you think will add to your video

Mythic_Bitch: It'll be a great way to get some views, plus when have you gotten the opportunity to interview a victim of one of your video's subjects before?

Detective Sawyer: And you're ok with this? It kinda seems like I'd be forcing you to talk about your trauma

Mythic_Bitch: I trust that you won't just ask "Hey Heather how did it feel to almost get fucking murdered?" or something like that

Mythic_Bitch: Besides, my therapist says I need to "open up more" and I guess this counts

Detective Sawyer: I guess that makes sense, but why are you being so nice to me? I enabled the guy who almost killed you, you should hate my guts

Mythic_Bitch: Its a twofold situation

Mythic_Bitch: Not blaming you, but since you put out that video its only a matter of time before people find out who his victims were

Mythic_Bitch: You tried to hide my name but its the internet, things like that don't stay secret forever

Mythic_Bitch: And don't apologize either, this is just what happens, and it probably would've been found eventually

Mythic_Bitch: Also I'd like to talk about it on my own terms, before the horde of fans demand an explanation

Detective Sawyer: Understandable, but I'm still sorry about that

Mythic_Bitch: And I don't really blame you

Mythic_Bitch: You were young and dumb, and there was this guy who made you feel special and important and that nothing else besides him mattered, and because of that you ignored all of the red flags

Mythic_Bitch: I know what its like to be in that situation, and it would be hypocritical of me to judge you for it when I am guilty of it myself

Detective Sawyer: Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I didn't know

Mythic_Bitch: Don't. Just don't

Detective Sawyer: Ok....

Detective Sawyer: Well, I guess I accept your offer, just let me know when you're free

Mythic_Bitch: Alright

Veronica didn't exactly believe her when she said that she didn't blame her

Of course she had no choice but to take what she said as the truth, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to it than what she was told

She considered that this interview was just a chance for her to yell at her for all that she's done, to tell her that she hates her and for everyone to beg Youtube to delete her channel, the possibilities for humiliation were endless

Even so, a small part of her hoped that she was telling the truth and simply wants to tell her side of things, however unlikely that may be

The scheduled time for the interview arrived and Veronica booted up a livestream

There had been massive hype when it was announced, and even before the stream started there were millions waiting

It was widely theorized that Chandler was the victim that survived, after all why else would she comment on the video?

She sent the link to Chandler before sighing and turning on her camera

She explained, to those who didn't already know, that she would be interviewing Mythic_Bitch about her part in the JD Case, and asked them to please remain respectful as this was gonna be tough for both of them

She also added that any donations made would be donated to a anti-child abuse organization and that Chandler had agreed to match and double the amount

With that she pulled up Chandler's screen

She was sitting on a rather expensive looking couch, Duke and Mac on either side of her, and Cheese laying on the couch with them

Veronica decided to start out with some pleasantries, asking the three of them how things had been going, trying to diffuse the obvious tension

She received three identical oks, and sensing this wasn't going to work she decided to just move on to the interview

Before she did that she reminded Chandler that at any point she could end the interview or refuse to answer a question that makes her uncomfortable

To start, she decided to ask Chandler why she wanted to have this interview, already knowing the answer but asking for the audience's sake

Chandler responded that she was the victim who was fed drain cleaner and survived from her latest video

Veronica then asked if she could give her account of the event

Chandler explained that she woke up with a hangover from a party the previous night and went to make herself a prairie oyster

Unbeknownst to her, JD had switched out one of the ingredients with drain cleaner, making sure to clean up his fingerprints after doing so, and when she went to drink it she felt a burning sensation, quickly stopping drinking

Looking in the cup she could see that it was bright blue, and so she quickly called 911 and was taken to a hospital where she went into a coma

When she awoke it was several months later, and she was told that she had tried to kill herself, much to her confusion

It was hard to talk, as she had gotten several surgeries while in a coma to replace the damaged tissues and organs, but thankfully because she didn't drink that much and called 911 quickly she was able to make a full recovery

She told the doctors that she didn't have suicidal thoughts, and thats when they brought out the suicide note

Veronica interjects here, explaining that she was the one to forge it, the actual words being JDs and her just using her skills at forgery, all done under threat of something happening to her if she didn't comply because "she knew too much already"

The police came and took a statement and while searching for evidence JD blew himself up and Veronica turned herself in, clearing up the situation

She ended up staying in the hospital for months after, going through physical therapy to help her re-learn how to talk and walk after so long in a coma, actual therapy for her many issues, and monitoring, but eventually she was allowed to go free

She told the audience that she wasn't exactly the nicest person in high school, quite the opposite, and thats probably why she was a target for JD, but after almost dying she had a newfound perspective on life and on the way she had been acting, and decided to try to make up for the wrongs she's done

She felt like she didn't do enough, and thats part of why she made a Youtube channel

Entertaining people, giving advice on things she knew enough about to help people with, thats some good she could do, right?

Tears are pooling in her eyes as she finishes speaking

Mac and Duke, seeing the tears, took the opportunity to tell Chandler that of course she did enough, they witnessed firsthand her bending over backwards to earn forgiveness from all the people at Westerberg, and even now she donated most of their earnings to different charities and holds fundraisers constantly, and that she's more than made up for her actions

Chandler starts crying before pulling both of them into a tight hug, telling them that she loves them so much and that she couldn't imagine a life without them, before giving them a big kiss

Veronica just stays silent before the realization hits her

They're kissing

Thinking about it, it should've been obvious they had some kind of polyamorous situation, they were wayyy too close to just be friends

Then a second realization hits her

They're recording

She makes some noises in an attempt to get their attention, and when they turn to face the camera they all have the realization at the same time, and their faces burn bright red

Duke mutters that they're gonna have to make a video on this, but Chandler says screw it and that they'll just talk about this now

She tells the audience that her, Mac and Duke are all dating each other and had been since freshman year for her and Mac and junior year for all three of them, and that the four of them went to the same high school

She promises to make another video elaborating on their situation, but this is Veronica's stream and they don't want to take the attention away from her

Veronica feels super awkward, like she walked in on them having sex or something, but quickly comes to her senses and moves on with the interview

She asks Chandler some questions about what she can remember of JD, even going to ask Mac and Duke what they remembered

This is actually how Veronica found out that JD blackmailed Duke to pass around a petition that was later found to be a group suicide note

For her part Chandler asks Veronica some questions about what about him drew her in, what he threatened to do to her, what he did to her, and eventually her final question, why his ideology appealed to her?

It takes a minute for her to respond, but she eventually settles on saying that everyone knows that she wasn't exactly the most popular in high school and she always thought that it was unfair that who she perceived as bad people got to live good, fun lives while she struggled, and so when he came by and told her that her feelings were right and good and that she could use them to change things for the better, she jumped at the opportunity

Chandler muttered 'that's what I thought' before taking a deep breath and saying that after all these years there was one person at Westerberg that she never apologized to, and that was Veronica, and she feels that out of everyone she's the one owed an apology the most

Veronica is taken aback as Chandler begins listing off all the things she needed to apologize for, like bullying her and her best friends, having others target them and so on, but Veronica interrupts her, telling her that she's the one who should be apologizing, her boyfriend literally tried to kill her and she was a part of it

**Line break**

Chandler then said "who do you think pushed you to that point?", telling her that it was obvious the 'bad people' she referred to earlier meant them, and maybe if they weren't such bad people then she wouldn't have felt the need to do what she did, essentially telling her that she blamed herself for everything that happened

Before Veronica could get in another word Chandler told her that she knew that words could not ever begin to make up for all the pain she went through because of them, and that's why she has something to offer her

She invited her to join the Heathers, move in with them in their house in California, become part of their events, the whole fucking package

Veronica is stunned and is silent for a good few minutes, just taking it in

Mac eventually asks if she's ok, which breaks her out of her stupor

Veronica tries to deny the offer, saying that she doesn't deserve it, but all three of them start trying to convince her, eventually wearing her down and getting her to say Yes

The livestream eventually ended, and Veronica flopped on to her bed and screamed into her pillow

In the meantime, the Heather started their preparations to have Veronica join their group

They added her to all of their groups, linked her channel to their shared channel, bought her a plane ticket and arranged delivery for her things

They then made a quick announcement on their Twitters and filmed a short video announcing her invitation for anyone who didn't see the stream, but it was pretty redundant because every news outlet was covering this news

The idea to invite her was actually Chandler's, she had always wanted to apologize to Veronica since the moment she heard her testimony at the trial, but with her isolating herself and deleting her social media she never got the opportunity, so when this situation came up she saw it as a sign to make up for what she believed was her biggest wrong

And now she could not only boost her channel and bring her plenty of clout and attention, but also get her out of that horrible town where everything went down, in Chandler's opinion a win-win situation

Fast forward several weeks, and Veronica has gotten everything arranged on her end

She applied to a much better university in California, known for its astounding criminal psychology program, and was transferring there next semester

The Heathers agreed to cover the cost of her tuition, so the only thing she had to worry about was actually getting it, but with her videos she was able to prove to admissions that she would be an excellent fit for their program

As she got on the plane to head to California she started feeling unsure again

It was something she kinda pushed to the side while she worked on getting everything settled, but now that the day was here it came back in full force

She barely knew these people, and despite everyone, even Martha telling her that the Heathers had changed, she couldn't escape the feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong

On top of that, she hated the idea that her channel was going to grow off the backs of other people

She wanted her channel to succeed due to her own merits, not promotion from people who already made it big

And while her channel had grown after the first video on JD, it grew exponentially faster following the interview with Chandler and her endorsement, but how many of these subscribers subscribed because they liked her content or because she was part of the group?

These thoughts swam around her mind the entire plane right, the stress only building as she landed in LA

As she got off the plane she was able to find the three of them dressed inconspicuously as to not draw attention to the fact they were the Heathers

Inconspicuously for them at least, to any onlookers they looked like they were going to the Met Gala

Upon seeing her Mac rushed up and pulled her into a hug, the force of which knocked the wind out of Veronica

They went to pick up Veronica's luggage, of which there wasn't much as she had shipped most of it a week earlier, and then they got into Duke's infamous dark green Jeep, her "baby"

The tension during the car ride was so thick one could cut it with a knife

None of them really knew what to say to the other, Mac trying to start conversation but all attempts receiving a short, curt response that didn't leave much for her to work with

Plus Veronica had jet lag, having taken an early flight to avoid any fans who may want to see the Heathers greet her at the airport, so she was exhausted beyond belief

After a 2 hour drive they reached the mansion the Heathers called home

This thing was massive, being 3 stories tall and having huge grounds surrounded by a electric fence, which Duke explained had to be installed after some fans tried to break in to their house

They had planned on showing her around but they could see that she was exhausted, so they decided to postpone that and just show her to the guest room (her stuff hadn't arrived yet) While they headed to the room Veronica was amazed at the sheer luxury of the home, she knew the Heathers were rich but not this rich

As soon as she basically fell into the bed she thought 'this is the most comfortable I have ever felt in my entire fucking life' before falling asleep

When she woke up she saw a little yellow sticky note attached to the nightstand, telling her to come down to the kitchen whenever she was ready =) <3 - Mac

She just shrugged and headed down, after spending 20 minutes trying to find her way around the house, seeing the three of them sitting at the kitchen table, scrolling their phones

They look up and see her, and ask her to sit down

Feeling like she's already done something wrong, she nervously sits down

Chandler starts by welcoming her to their home, before saying that they have to talk business before they can do the fun stuff

They just have a couple of suggestions of how to improve her content and to let her know the expectations they have for her

Internally she thinks that maybe they should've talked about this before she moved across the whole country to work with them, but she digresses

Over all its not too much, they tell her that she should send her videos to be edited by someone else, they have several amazing editors who will accommodate any specification she has, plus it'll save her some time

They also tell her that she will have to be in some group content like vlogs and Duke's skits, but they wouldn't pry too much into her personal life and that they would work around her school schedule

That also meant that if she needed them to be in her videos that they would be available to do so

However there are 2 major problems

The first is that they want her to upload more frequently

Currently she uploaded about once every other week, sometimes more if it was a smaller video or the evidence was easier to obtain, but the Heathers wanted at least 2 a week

Veronica said that she felt like it would compromise the quality of her videos if she was to do that, plus with her college she's gonna need to devote even more time to studying than she did at her old community college

They were able to negotiate it to once a week, but she would start making shorts going over some cases she's already covered

The final issues was a big one

The Heathers' channels were family-friendly, at least to some extent

Veronica's was not, often going into detail about the heinous actions the subjects of her videos committed to paint the full picture of the nature of the crimes

The Heathers were worried that this could cause Youtube to take action against her channel, and that maybe she should tone it down a little

**Line break**

Veronica was vehemently against this, stating that in no uncertain terms would she be censoring her videos

Duke told her that they figured as much, but they had to do something because Youtube really doesn't like that kind of thing on their platform

It didn't matter so much when she was a smaller channel, but now she is likely to become the 4th biggest channel on the site, meaning it was more likely that Youtube would be willing to demonetize her or give her channels strikes

Veronica retorted, saying that 'so it's about the money then?'

Chandler explains that its yes and no, obviously they want to make money and more importantly want her to make money, but they also don't want her to lose her hard work over it

They know Youtube isn't a perfect platform, but its what they have to work with and they kinda have to play their game and follow their rules, no matter how ridiculous they are

She then told her that they wouldn't force her to do anything, but to just think about it

They had a few more things to discuss, mostly about money (25% of profits from all of their channels went into a shared account to help pay for the groceries and bills and that kind of stuff, and the money from their shared channel would be divided evenly between the four of them), which Veronica felt was fair and agreed to

With all that settled all that was left to do is start recording

They were planning on filming a vlog for that day, detailing the process of her moving in and getting settled

Initial filming attempts go badly, to the shock of no one

Veronica is an introvert and is in a completely new place with people she barely knows and trying to do content she is wholly unfamiliar with, of course she didn't do great

They did that mainly to see what areas of her performance needed improvement, and yeah she needs a lot of work

They postponed the video and spent a few days walking her thought how to act on camera around other people

She was fine when alone and in her element, but in unfamiliar situations she really struggled, so they needed to work on getting her more comfortable around them and around the camera

To help with this, they had a game night that night, a staple for their shared channel, but they told her that they weren't going to film it, just play

They were filming, they just didn't want her to know and were planning on including it as a segment in a larger video

They decided on Wii Sports, as they knew how rowdy they (Duke) got during other games and they didn't want to scare her

It took a minute, but after a while Veronica started to let her guard down and get into the game

She even ended up winning at bowling, much to the dismay of Duke and Chandler

Once they finished they pulled out the camera and admitted that they recorded the whole thing, just to show her that it wasn't that hard and she just had to act like the camera wasn't there

She was pretty upset about this, they had told her specifically that they weren't filming and they did it anyway, was this how things were going to be living with them?

The Heathers were quick to explain no, this was just to help her get accustomed to the camera

Veronica understood their reasoning but told them that if this ever happened again she would be leaving, no questions asked

If she was to be filmed, she must know that she is being filmed, firmly establishing this boundary with them, to which the three of them apologized and agreed to

Despite how upset she was at them for it she was actually kind of glad, because when they went to film the other parts of the vlog she found it easier to be in front of the camera

Still not easy by any means, but she no longer felt like a wild animal being recorded by researchers

To make it up to her the Heathers let her pick what movie they watched that night, and not a single complaint was heard when she picked The Princess Bride

From there her new routine started

She had class three times a week, and she would get up early

The Heathers told her that she didn't have to worry about driving, they paid for a chauffeur, which while making her feel a little uncomfortable at just how rich they were also was freakin' amazing when she had a 7am class and the college was an hour and a half away, meaning that she could sleep the whole way there

She also had security with her at all times, another thing she had to grow accustomed to

The Heathers had told her that because of their popularity they almost never went anywhere without security, there were some crazy fans out there willing to do anything to meet their favorite Youtubers

It was that that made her realize just what she was getting into

She was a celebrity now, a person of note, she needed security and chauffeurs and all this crazy rich people stuff because as much as they loved their fans some took it a little too far

This was none more apparent from the moment she stepped out of the car

Some people with too much free time had realized that she was moving in with the Heathers, and knowing she was attending college for criminal psychology found the nearest university with a good program for it, and had been coming for several days in hopes to catch a sight of the one of the biggest content creators

She was bombarded with people taking photos of her, asking for autographs and answers to their questions, one really dedicated fan even trying to ask her on a date

Thankfully security forced them all back, and campus police arrived not too long after to remove those who refused to leave her alone but the experience stuck with her, making her question if she had made the right choice

What she didn't question was coming to this university

The class was much more intensive, with a professor who really knew what she was talking about and classmates who wanted to be there and put their all into learning

They didn't even care that she was Detective Sawyer, hell they actually helped her by pointing out some mistakes in her videos, giving her an idea for some new content, to go back over her old videos and update them

And sure she probably had triple the work to do, but it wasn't like she needed to work a part-time job anymore to help pay for rent while balancing her channel

Inbetween homework she would research topics for her channel, relying more heavily than ever on viewer submissions to find new subjects, but as a result of her better education her analyses became much more detailed and accurate

But the most interesting part of her new life is the Heathers

She had imagined rich people life to involve hundreds of servants running around, waiting on the beck and call of their masters, going to balls and other events for snobby rich people, sipping martinis on the beach, you get the idea

But in reality, they were nothing like that at all

There was not a single servant anywhere in the house, the only hired help was the chauffeurs and security, which they said they only have for their own protection

All of the household chores were divided up amongst themselves, everyone doing their fare share

They also seemed to genuinely enjoy each other's company, which yeah they were dating but even so she had always imagined them as coworkers in their job of being popular and shit, but it was the exact opposite

Despite their busy lives, between filming, chores, dealing with business aspects of their channels and their own personal projects, they always made time for each other, and she would usually see them at night cuddling on the couch watching a movie, or playing a game, or just talking to each other

**Line break**

And they seemed to have a really strong relationship

She never really saw them fighting, if one of them had an issue with something the other two always listened, if they needed each other they would immediately put down what they doing to go help

There were no "Shut up Heathers", no shoving, no rude comments, no yelling, they were kind and caring and sweet

If you told Veronica that she entered the Twilight Zone she would've believed you

Maybe that drain cleaner messed with Chandler more than she thought

And the weirdest thing was that they extended this kindness to her as well

Whenever she came home stressed they would fuss over her, making her hot cocoa

They would listen whenever she came to them with problems with sponsors, Chandler even getting on the phone with them personally to deal with it

Sometimes they would invite her to watch a movie with them, or take her to events that they had been invited to but she had not, making sure to let the whole world know that they did things as a group and she was part of the group

And she appreciated all of it, don't get her wrong, their help was invaluable in helping her navigate the world of the top echelons of Youtube, but she felt weird

Not only did she not feel like she deserved the kindness afforded to her, she literally helped in the attempted murder of Chandler, but seeing them all happy and loving made her feel.... jealous, in a way

She's only ever had the one relationship, and that was the disastrous one with JD

He wasn't exactly the most touchy-feely or even loving of partners, and oh yeah he was a psychopath, so she's never had the experience of real love and seeing the Heathers being so in love made her a little upset

She knows she's being irrational, she no longer thinks that they're bad people and knows they deserve to be happy, but she still wants that feeling of love more than anything and hates the constant reminders of what she doesn't have

She tried to go on some dates, but her dates were mostly fans who sought her out or were really creepy, so that was a bust

The Heathers always comforted her after a failed date, being there with open arms, which only makes her feel worse

She also considered asking them to tone it down, but this is their home and as much as they try she doesn't feel like she belongs here just yet, so it feels unfair to ask them to watch their behavior in their own home

Eventually she internalizes the idea that she's meant to be alone forever, a repentance for her wrongs with JD, and she starts to withdraw herself

Of course the Heathers know that something is up

Veronica clearly never got the help she needed after the incident, the trauma never being confronted

When Chandler asked her if she needed help finding a therapist upon moving, she was surprised to hear that she didn't need one and never had one

They saw the bags under her eyes, saw her grades slipping, noticed her attempts to avoid interaction, only talking to them when they needed to film, and even then it seemed like the progress they had made over the past few months had vanished overnight

They watched her videos, and while they didn't know much about child psychology they could tell that her analyses were off and not accurate, the comments confirming their suspicions

However, they debated on just how to help her

Chandler was adamant that they just confront her outright, but Duke told her that it would only scare her or piss her off

Mac suggested that they bring it slowly during a normal conversation, but Chandler said that she was too smart for that and would see it coming from a mile away

Eventually they came up with a plan to get her to talk

They told her one day that they were making a video about mental health and the stigmatism surrounding it, and if she was ok with it she would like her to talk about her experiences

Veronica looked weary, but Chandler told her that the rest of them would be talking about their issues and none of them would judge

She eventually agreed to do so, and headed in front of the camera

What Veronica didn't know is that the camera wasn't actually on

The plan was that by opening up themselves, Veronica would feel more comfortable talking about what was going on

They imagined that before making the video on JD she was repressing it all, but with it blowing up she was unable to escape it, which combined with the fact that she never dealt with the trauma to begin with was probably the source of her current issues

Chandler started by speaking about her parents, both abusive and non present, her need to be better than everyone else, and the things she needed to do to maintain her popularity, before moving on to the whole almost getting murdered situation and how she got helped by the mental health staff while waiting to recover from her injuries

Duke then spoke about her bulimia and self-image issues, how it invaded her every thought, every action, every waking moment but also how, with the help of her gfs, she was able to get the courage to do something about it

Mac then spoke about her troubles with self-harm and suicide, even to the extent that the only reason she was here today was a child-proof cap on a pill bottle preventing her from taking the meds before Chandler found her, and how even though she didn't want help and just wanted to fade away she eventually found something to live for

Hearing all of this, Veronica only felt worse

These were people with actual problems, who have gone through some shit in their lives, not like her who chose to get together with JD and willingly took part in his demented lies

She deserved what she went through, she didn't deserve the help

She stood up before bolting out of the room before locking herself in hers

Chandler said "goddamnit, we're moving on to Plan B", much to the other two's confusion

Chandler raced up to her room, and upon finding it locked asked Veronica to 'open the door please'

Those words brought her back to that awful day when JD banged on her closet while she huddled up scared, using the exact same words to order her to come with him, and she started to feel lightheaded and her breaths became rapid

Hearing the telltale signs of a panic attack, Mac used her cheerleader strength to kick the door in just the right place to force it to swing open without it breaking, before rushing over to find Veronica curled up in a ball on the side of her bed

She quickly pulled her into her arms and after a bit of struggling Veronica gave up and began to sob into Mac's shoulder, the other two sitting beside the pair stroking her hair as she cried

Eventually Veronica was able to calm down and as she looked at the three women looking at her with concern written across their faces, she felt deep shame for bothering them and needing comfort like a child

Duke asked her if she wanted to talk about it, and when Veronica shook her head Chandler stepped in, telling her that she probably needed to talk about it

Veronica was able to choke out that she was fine, but Mac was quick to ask her if running into her room having a panic attack was her definition of fine

After a bit more persuasion she gave in, and began to explain what was wrong

The Heathers were shocked to hear what was actually bothering her

They knew she had been on a few dates and that they hadn't gone well, but they never realized just how much love, both past and lackthereof, had a negative impact on her mental health

They assured her that they didn't think her struggles made her weak or were bothering them, and they were here for her if she needed to talk, and that she deserved to get help, her past be damned

**Line break**

Chandler also told her that she was going to therapy, and her tone of voice indicated that this wasn't optional

The Heathers also agreed to help her with dating

They all sat down one night and Mac asked her if she was looking for guys, girls, nonbinary people, or it didn't really matter

Being bisexual Veronica responded that it didn't really matter, but she would prefer a woman

Duke then pulled out a sheet of paper and asked her what she was looking for in a partner

It took her a good minute to think about her answer, but she eventually responded that they would have to be kind, protective, cognizant of the world around them and their place in it and accepting of her past misdeeds and willing to look past them, but also willing to stand up for what they believe in and being intolerant of injustice

They also need to be ok with her Youtuber lifestyle and of the subject matter of her channel

It was only later when reviewing the list that Duke realized that all of these these things lined up with them, which she brushed off at the time as a coincidence

Unbeknownst to her Mac picked up on this immediately, and decided to keep a closer eye on how Veronica acts around them

After talking a few things over Chandler decided that it was probably best if she dated a fellow Youtuber, someone who knew the struggles of their career

Using her many connections she was able to secure dates with several different Youtubers

The dates were framed as collaborations and all took place in public areas with the Heathers present, and of course they were filmed

They knew that Veronica had bad experiences with previous dates, and they just wanted to make sure nothing fishy went down

However, she already knew these dates wouldn't go anywhere and just went along with them, her heart being set on a certain color-coded trio despite knowing the absurdity of her feelings

Most of the dates ended with both Veronica and her date agreeing that the spark just wasn't there and parting ways as friends, but not all dates ended so amicably

The Heathers had found someone who made similar content to Veronica, hoping that the connection would help foster a relationship

Instead, the Youtuber went on to berate Veronica every time the camera was turned off and the Heathers had their backs turned, telling her that her analyses were all wrong and that there was no why behind the crime, they were just evil people with no reason to why they did what they did, and even going as far to tell her that she was stupid for falling for JD and should've seen right through him and gone to the police

Veronica initially stayed quiet, knowing how much thought work the Heathers put into finding a date for her, but the last comment set her off and she punched the Youtuber right in the nose

The Heathers quickly rushed over, asking Veronica what was her damage?, to which Veronica explained what she told her

The Heathers were livid, telling the Youtuber to get the hell out and never talk to them again

The Youtuber threatened to sue for assault, but Chandler gave an evil cackle and told her that if she tried she would ruin her career, get her channel removed, blacklisted from every sponsorship opportunity, basically forcing her to get a normal job

The Youtuber looked terrified and scurried away

Mac quickly pulled Veronica into a hug, apologizing for what just happened

Veronica brushed it off, saying that they couldn't have known her true colors, blushing the entire time Mac had her arms around her

Mac took note of this, seemingly confirming her suspicions

After that debacle Veronica decided to hold off on dating for a while, a sentiment which the Heathers couldn't help but agree with

Mac took this opportunity to test Veronica's reactions to things

When they would sit on the couch she would get really close to her, just barely touching, noting how Veronica's heart would start to beat louder and faster when she did so

If they needed to go somewhere during a video she would grab Veronica's hand and pull her along, seeing how she would blush and (poorly) try to hide it

Things seemingly pointed to that she had a crush on them, but her suspicions were confirmed when she accidentally got a peek at Veronica's diary

Tweety had flown into Veronica's room and she was running around trying to catch her, and while attempting to do so she bumped into her nightstand, knocking a book over

The book had fallen in such a way so that when Mac picked it up it was open to pages where Veronica detailed her feelings towards the Heathers soon after she arrived, the notes on them being written in their signature colors

She wasn't intending to read it, but when she saw her name written in a sparkling yellow hue she couldn't help herself

March 16th, 20XX

Dear Diary, I've been living with the Heathers for about two weeks now, and I've got to say I was pleasantly surprised. I was sure that the interview was gonna be a prank, and even more sure that this situation was an even bigger one, but in the time that I've been here they've been nothing but kind and caring and supportive. They've helped me so much with Youtube and getting things settled, they'll never know just how much I appreciate their help.

And the weirdest thing is just how much they've changed;

Heather Chandler - I used to think she was a real bitch, a Regina George-type who just cared about herself, but the person that I've seen is nothing like that. She is dedicated to making up for her wrongs, hell she apologized to Martha, MARTHA of all people! She showed me her donations, and she is donating tens of thousands a month to various charities. HEATHER FUCKING CHANDLER is donating to charities about bullying and domestic violence and honestly I feel like I entered an alternate dimension. And she's so passionate, she's so hot when she goes on her tirades or yells at people god I wish she would talk to me that way

What I meant to say is that she honestly believes in the causes she supports, the other day she was livid because she watched a video about some Youtuber coming forward with allegations against their previous partner who was another Youtuber and how she planned to invite that person onto her channel and hear her side of the story, and how she was planning on working to get her ex's channel taken down. Yes, Heather Chandler is helping an abuse victim, what a world we live in. Something probably went on in her past involving abuse, but I don't want to pry at it, we've really only known each other for two weeks.

If you thought she was hot normally SHE LOOKS EVEN BETTER IN PERSON, HOLY SHIT when she has her makeup on its like Aphrodite herself walked in

I don't normally look for looks when I'm trying to find a partner, but GODDAMN she is hot

I need to stop, she is already in a relationship and even if she's poly there's no way that anyone would want me as a partner, not after what I've done... Anyway

Heather Duke - I think I was the most wrong about her. I always saw her as just kind of there, no personality, just a servant to Chandler's bidding. I couldn't have been more wrong. What I saw back at school was just a front, just like the other two.

She's really caring, always offering me advice or help even when I don't ask for it, its like she can tell when I need help and is just there ready to offer it. She does this for her gfs too, helping them look at frustrating situations logically and work through a solution. She's not the most open person in the world, but she's there and willing to help. I can really admire this about her, I would've killed for someone like her when I was dealing with (the next word is scratched out to the point of being unreadable)

I've found myself really liking her videos too. I always imagined a channel talking about books to be rather boring, sure I like to read but how much is there to talk about? But I see the effort she puts into every video, the time spent rehearsing skits so they're funny and informing, the amount of research she does, it all astonishes me.

And what really surprises me is how funny she can be. Mac can be funny but its unintentional, with Duke its purposeful. Apparently she's played pranks on the others before, but its never mean-spirited or harmful, its something silly like putting her snake into Chandler's makeup cabinet. Chandler was upset for a little while but they all have a good laugh about it now.

I think I was wrong about the boob job too, I got a look at those things on accident and they are real and just so big

Heather McNamara - She's just so precious. She reminds me of her dog, they're both always just so happy and excited about everything and when I'm around her it seems to rub off on me. No wonder people call them twins.

But in all honesty, she's just been a really good friend to me. She asks about my day, listens to everything I tell her intently and even though its clear she doesn't fully get it she still tries to ask me questions. She's done her best to make me feel welcome in her home and that I'm wanted here, and while I don't feel that way just yet I appreciate the gestures.

She's also super affectionate, she's always holding someone's hand or arm and is usually having some kind of physical contact with her gfs or even me god I wish she would do it more it feels so nice to be

The blush forming on Mac's face is wiped as the diary is swiped out of her hands by a mortified looking Veronica

Mac tries to offer up an apology and explanation, but all she manages to get out is a unidentifiable noise before bolting out of the room and heading to hers, locking the door behind her

Veronica on the other hand, is terrified as the looks at the pages that Mac was reading

It was from early on in her time living with them, and the first time that she realized that her feelings towards the Heathers may be something a little more than friendly, and now Mac read all of that

A small part of her recognized that she was blushing while reading that and maybe there was some hope, but it was quickly shut down

She literally wrote in her diary about how she wants to fuck the three women who are already in a relationship, and after all they did for her

They were probably gonna kick her out of their home, but it didn't even matter, she deserved it after all she's done

She sunk to the floor, back against the door as she curled into a ball and began to cry

It was after about 15 minutes that Duke realized that she hadn't heard anything from Veronica or Mac in a while

For Veronica that's the norm, but for Mac going 15 minutes without seeing one of her gfs was unheard of, so she went to check up on her

Mac was lying down on her bed, face buried in several plushes

Duke went over to sit on her bed and rub her back as she asked what was wrong

Mac replied, her voice muffled by the plushes, 'don't wanna talk about it'

Duke became really concerned with this, Mac always would tell her or Chandler what was wrong, for her to refuse meant that this was a real bad fuck-up

She texted Chandler and within 30 seconds she bounded up the stairs and reached Mac's room, concern written on her face

After a bit of coaxing Mac sat up and faced them, and began to go on a tangent explaining that that Tweety got into Veronica's room and she knocked into her nightstand and her diary fell down and when she went to pick it up she saw that it was open to a page talking about them and she got curious and looked at it and it had some parts where she was talking about how she found them attractive and that she had been suspecting this for a while but this confirmed it and she wasn't able to apologize to her because she was so shocked and she probably hates them and and and

She bursts into tears

Eventually she is able to calm down and is able to slowly to explain to the other two what transpired

Once she gets over the initial shock Duke realizes that this was kinda obvious, but Chandler is dumbstruck, saying that she would've never seen this coming

The other two tell her that they love her but that she's oblivious as hell

They decide that Mac needs to go and apologize, but the question of what to do with this information is still up in the air, none of them sure how to approach the situation

Mac is the one to break the ice, saying that she would be open to the possibility of having Veronica join them

She says that she already lives with them, does everything with them, is in their videos, and people already suspect that she joined the polycule, it wouldn't be that much of an adjustment to bring her into the relationship

Duke and Chandler remain in thought for a minute

Duke is the first to respond, agreeing with Mac's assessment of things, adding on that Veronica is pretty cute

Chandler admits that they both make a compelling argument, but says that its a big step to go from friends to gfs, and they haven't talked this through or planned it, they're just rushing into things

She doesn't think her joining is a bad idea or even that she's opposed to the idea, she just doesn't think the time is right

Duke responds that they have to tell her something, they can't just go on like everything is normal, and they definitely can't tell her "we want you to join but not right now"

Chandler then asks 'then what are they supposed to tell her?'

Mac, getting frustrated, proposes just sitting down with her and talking it out, working with Veronica to plan out how things will go and help integrate her into the relationship

She goes on to say that it seems like they are in agreement that they want her to join or at least aren't opposed to it, but if she is going to join they need to treat her like an equal, that includes including her in their talks

The other two look a little ashamed that they had tried to have a talk about Veronica's future without her, but they brush that aside and head over to Veronica's room, only to hear the sounds of muffled sobbing

Thankfully this time her door is unlocked, but unfortunately she's also sitting against the door, so when it is opened she falls onto the floor, looking up at the Heathers who are all clearly concerned

She quickly gets up and wipes her eyes before asking what they wanted

Mac is the first to enter, sitting awkwardly on Veronica's bed before beginning to apologize for reading her diary without permission

Veronica had kinda forgot about that with the whole panicking about her secret crushes thing, but regardless she was still upset with Mac, and rightfully so

She told Mac that she had no right to look through her diary, even if the part she looked at was about her, the diary was meant as a place for her to write down her private thoughts and to have someone look through them was a major invasion of privacy

Mac had the decency to look ashamed of how she had acted before going on to promise to not even go in Veronica's room without explicit permission again

Veronica was satisfied with this, but she went on to question why the others were here

She already knew the answer but she wanted to hear it from them

Duke squirmed but eventually said that they three of them kinda sorta talked about what Mac saw in the diary

Veronica's blood turned cold as she heard the words, fearing for what comes next

Chandler, noticing the panic seep into her expression, told Veronica that there was nothing to worry about, a sentiment which only worried her even more

Noticing that she was on the verge of a panic attack, Chandler moved down onto the floor and pulled Veronica into a hug, sushing her cries

Duke and Mac then followed her lead, holding Veronica tight, apologizing for making her panic

Once she calmed down the Heathers went on to explain that while they didn't feel quite the same just yet, they would be willing to invite her into their relationship and give things a try, Mac interating her earlier points about how integrated into their lives she already was

Veronica was completely stunned

This was not the outcome she was expecting in the slightest, and it took everything she had to not start sobbing again

From there they went to the kitchen table and had a long talk, not too different from the one they had when Veronica joined the Heathers, about how their relationship worked and what was ok and what was not, but Veronica picked up on it really quickly

Chandler was surprised at how well Veronica was handling this, and reconsidered her previous belief that they weren't ready

Once that was settled, they declared themselves girlfriends and went to consumate the relationship *wink wink*

Of course they made a video telling their audiences the good news, with the consensus being 'it took them long enough'

Not much changed with the change in relationship

They still had videos to make and upload, sponsors to deal with, Veronica still had class, but she found herself feeling much better mentally

Combined with some advice from her therapist Veronica felt the best she had since before JD, and maybe even her entire life

**Line break**

But of course, something had to ruin that good feeling, and this time it was actually her fault

Veronica woke up one day to check her email, only to see a notification from Youtube notifying her that her channel had been taken down for Community Guidelines Strikes

No warnings were given, one day it was there, the next it was not

She just felt numb

Of course as soon as she gets something good, something else has to be taken away, she can't just be happy

Duke came up to greet her, joking that she thought she had slept in and was brining her come coffee, only to see the email spread across Veronica's PC

Duke's hand curled up so hard that the mug shattered in her hand and they had to rush to the ER to get her stitches

While that was happening the three of them sat in the waiting room (Chandler couldn't even be in the same room while they did that, she is terrified of needles), and discussed what they were going to do

Chandler was adamant that she would raise hell if they didn't reinstate her channel immediately

Mac added in that she would rally the other Youtubers and have them say the same, and that this was completely unfair and bullshit

Veronica just stayed silent, done with everything

Duke eventually emerged from the room, her hand covered in bandages and they headed home

Chandler and Mac filled Duke in on their plans, but she was more concerned about how Veronica was handling this, noticing the blue-clad girl staring silently out of the window

As they got home Duke puled her onto the couch and asking her what's up

"Asking" in quotations, she basically demanded that Veronica tell her the truth

Veronica eventually spit out about how unfair this all was, telling Duke all of the things she had thought about earlier

Duke heard all of this but quickly debunked it all, telling Veronica that of course she deserved to be happy and that happiness wasn't limited to just one area of life at a time

She also admonished that she could come to them for help, they were girlfriends and that meant that they were there for each other

Chandler quickly put out a video explaining that Veronica's channel had been taken down with no warning, before detailing her plan of action to deal with this

They were going on a Youtube blackout, none of them would be posting any content until Veronica's channel was re-instated, and she encouraged all their fans to not use the platform either

In the meantime they would do some streams on Twitch (link in the description below) so that they could get a fill of Heathers content

She also invited every other Youtuber to join them in the protest

Youtube quickly took the video down and put up a stattement saying that Veronica's channel had been taken down for violating community guidelines policy and would be staying that way, but none of them were deterred

Big name Youtubers joined, all refusing to interact with the platform

In just a week the site saw a 75% reduction in ad revenue with no signs of stopping, a move which scared the higher ups so bad that the CEO was ousted and many more upper management members were replaced, before it was announced that Veronica's channel would be re-instated

Seeing all this occur made Veronica come to a realization

She could trust her girlfriends

She's known that she has trust issues from what happened with JD, but didn't realize just how deep they go until this

She was ready to just give up on Youtube, not even considering the advice from her gfs, only doing so after Duke sat her down and forced her to do so

And why didn't she, she should've known that they want nothing but the best for her and just want to help

But in the end she was paralyzed with fear of what they were going to do, having absurd thoughts like them kicking her out of their house and breaking up with her, things that weren't even close to reality

But her girlfriends proved time and time again that they were people who could be relied upon and trusted and wouldn't just abandon her at the drop of a hat, and with that Veronica felt the anxiety that had made itself home in her chest since the day she met JD evaporate

As she walked into the room to record her welcome back video with her gfs, she smiled, envisioning the future the four of them would have together

This didn't turn out as well as I would've liked but I've been working on this for ages and I just wanted to be done with it lol

[ofliterarynature]

FEBRUARY 2025 WRAP UP

[ loved liked okay nope dnf (reread) book club* ]

First Test • Changeless • Penric and the Shaman • The Poisoner's Handbook • Everfair • Shades of Milk and Honey • Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear • The Archive of the Forgotten* • Penric's Fox • The Girl from the Sea • (Wizard's First Rule) • Blameless

* * * * *

First Test (graphic novel) - Protector of the Small is one of my favorite series of all time I think, so I was very excited to see we were getting a graphic novel adaptation! Even if it then took me almost a year to read. This was fun to flip through and I had a good time, but not really anything stronger than that (it could never match up to the book). And it cut enough from the story that I wonder how it reads for someone unfamiliar with the original.

Changeless - I wasn't entirely sold on the first book, but decided to pick up the second one anyway because it was at least entertaining. I liked this one a bit better! Probably because all of that messy introductions and getting-together stuff was out of the way now. Still quite silly, but that ending! Harsh. I had to pick Blameless up as soon as I could, and honestly? It was fine, but speaking from the farther future, I think it's where the series started to lose me.

Penric and the Shaman / Penric's Fox - enjoying these very much! It was nice to see some continuity of side characters - going in I knew Bujold wasn't writing these chronologically so I had now idea how the chronological order was going to actually shape up.

The Poisoner's Handbook - picked this up after seeing it mentioned on a tumblr post. Was a very easy listen on audiobook and I had a decent time! Nothing too interesting though, because I've listened to a lot of medical history nonfiction for some reason, and it tends to repeat. For some topic crossovers, check out The Radium Girls or The Divorce Colony

Everfair - I really *wish* I could wholeheartedly recommend this one, but I've just got too many reservations about it. The premise is fascinating and the writing is very good, truly. BUT. It's a very long book, and it's mostly told in the style of short vignettes that skip between character, place, and time! Time!! The next bit could be a few days from the last, or months, or years! (Mostly months or years :/ ) With such sprawling worldbuilding and a large cast of characters it never really felt like a cohesive work and was very frustrating and ultimately dissatisfying to read. I bet the author's short fiction is very good though.

Shades of Milk and Honey - I really wish I'd written some notes about this earlier because I have to confess, I've forgotten almost entirely everything about it. Sometimes I wanted to like it, but it never really won me over. One thing I can say in its defense - while not trying to be a 1:1 Jane Austen retelling, it manages to incorporate numerous subtle nods to characters and relationships from her works that I enjoyed and found much more successful (and less cringe) than most direct reimaginings.

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear - the new Wayward Children installment! As always a nice read, though I still prefer the ensemble books. I hope we'll see Nadya in them again.

The Archive of the Forgotten - we read the first book in this series for book club and I did like it, so I'm not sure what's up with this one. I picked this up on audio as a break from a longer title that was dragging, excited to read something interesting! Only to realize after the first day that I was bored to tears. If I'd been reading it on my own I'd probably have dnf'd, but alas, book club, and I didn't hate it enough to not finish it. It wasn't really a hit with anyone else either but we've for some reason decided to see the series through.

The Girl from the Sea - I've been putting this one off for a long time now it feels like, and for some reason my expectations had dropped really low. But I really liked it! Both a great story and great art that I loved looking at.

Wizard's First Rule - reread of an old favorite from high school - I've already spoken about this one a bit elsewhere and knew it would probably be bad going in, but the rant I could give!!! On a sentence level the writing is entirely passable, but everything else? The characters are all kind of similar and one dimensional, the worldbuilding is unimaginative, the villains are so unbelievably vile that's it's boring (I fast forwarded through most of their scenes), it takes itself so incredibly seriously regardless, and even with the "heroes" there's something definitely off. I had to shut my brain off for so much of this book in order to not get too hung up on it, because it's pretty obvious to me now that there's something rancid about the core beliefs of the book and it infects everything else. TLDR: it's bad and I don't recommend it under any circumstances. Still compels me though, I'm tempted to keep reading.

[mercurial-thrills]

7 Writing Tips From An Amateur Writer

Let’s get to the point: I’m an amateur writer. I am unqualified to give professional advice on the art of storytelling, grammar, or syntax. My only published work is a letter to the editor from the newspaper. Writing advice comes better from proofreaders, editors, published authors, and English majors.

On the other hand, my experience as an amateur is filled with wisdom. I learned to write as I wrote unintended novellas and short stories, watching YouTube videos from other published authors, and editing my manuscripts with the tips I found online. By learning how to write, I learned other writing-related skills to improve my craft.

In this blog post, I have 7 writing tips for amateurs, by an amateur writer. Most of them came from my own experimentation and thought processes, others are adapted from non-writing related ideas on the Internet.

Focus on your own path. This is one of the most important writing tips, because people often get caught up in what others do, to the point where they forget about their own craft. The phenomenon of “comparisonitis” can leave us feeling drained after spending time comparing ourselves to other writers.

When you read a novel, keep in mind it has been edited to be neat and organized. When you see another amateur with a high word count on their NaNoWriMo novel, keep in mind you have different circumstances than them. Create your own goals and stick with them, making sure they are tailored to your own needs!

Write with quality in mind. Before I decided I wanted to write as a hobby, my “chapter books” ranged from 10 to 20 pages. When writing became my biggest passion in life, my first draft of Secrets came out as 60 pages. For reference, a page in Microsoft Word or Google Docs is usually 400 words long with the default font.

These stories helped me form an understanding of outlining, plotting, and character creation. Without these stories, I would not know how to develop my characters throughout the story and move the plot.

This is why I do not recommend for beginners to try NaNoWriMo when they recognize their passion. The focus on the 50,000 word count creates a heightened importance of words while putting plot development, setting, and characters on the back burner. However, that’s a topic for November.

Writing will not always be enjoyable. Writing is one of my favourite hobbies. Writing in my diary helps relax me after a stressful day. I vent my emotions and frustrations through my characters, reflecting my personality onto them. I care about my craft deeply, more so when the words flow smoothly. However, the words will not always be smooth.

Sometimes, it will frustrate you to fill a plot hole. Editing can be mind numbingly boring. Writing can sometimes leave you with anxiety, wondering if it is something you truly want to pursue. Writing will not always come easily. If you love writing, it is worth keeping around when it gets difficult.

Do not edit while writing a chapter. When it comes to writing, it is better to write out everything instead of pressing “backspace” every time you believe something sounds weird. Finish writing the chapter, or any chunk of writing, then go back and review it. As long as you are writing with an erasable object, you can always go back and change what your past self has written.

Back in my elementary school days, I overheard two fellow writers speaking about this issue, discussing how they always went to edit after writing a chapter. Remember: you do not need to edit a chapter after you have written it. Many authors on Authortube will recommend waiting a week to two months, or after the whole draft has been written. Personally, I choose not to edit after the draft is finally finished, and my waiting time depends on the piece of work.

Join a community of writers. This can be done through clubs at schools, social media, or online chat rooms. You can either be interacting often, or lurking. This will keep your brain in the mindset of “writing” and remind you of your craft. It can help you learn more about the craft of writing through simple conversations. This can help you make connections to other authors as well as potential beta readers.

When you are in a community, remember to be civil. Keep an open mind and give constructive criticism when wanted. If you make a mistake, apologize and move on from it.

Balance reading and writing. If you have looked online for writing advice, you know people recommend reading as a way to get better at writing. I agree with this, because it can help a young writer come up with ideas and understand how to write.

Before I started to write, I read voraciously. The reason I know so many dialogue tags is because of the Abby Hayes series by Anne Mazer. When I started writing more often, many of my ideas for Secrets came from the book Masterminds by Gordon Korman. If you read, you may start absorbing ideas from other authors and colliding them together to create your own, unique masterpiece.

And finally, enter a writing contest once you have developed your skills. As of January, I have never entered a writing contest. In fact, I never thought my writing would be worthy of a writing contest. After spending 5 years improving my craft, I am confident in my writing for it to be judged.

Winning isn’t everything in life, but preparing to win is important. If you decide to start publishing your novels, entering a writing contest will encourage you to edit and proofread your submission, making sure it is as perfect as possible.

A quick search for “creative writing contests” can bring quick results. If you are Canadian, CBC is an invaluable resource for writing contests. Wattpad has writing contests as well. These will be linked at the end of the article.

These 7 tips are unrelated to setting, character development, and plotting. Still, they are an important part of the writing journey. They all came from what helped me learn to write, and what I believe will benefit other amateur writers.

Does anyone else have any other advice to share? Let me, and others, know in the comments below. All advice and friendly debate is appreciated!

CBC Literary Prizes A Guide To Writing Prizes For Young Canadians | CBC Books Writing Contests On Wattpad

Wattpad Contests | Ambassadors

[gamerbot-22]

Bored Near to Rust

Prompt: Knitting

TW/CW: None, barely proofread and I appreciate spellchecks!

Word Count: 651

A/N: Alright real fast, rant time: I really hate the way the HSR wiki is formatted. Like I appreciate that all the Character Backstory and whatever else are there but I wish there was more second-source stuff that added to what the character's personality is like. What they canonically like, dislike, etc. It would make writing for characters like Xueyi a lot easier! Also if you get the references here ily /p

Likes and Reblogs appreciated (reblogs > likes) and Requests are Open! Read this story on Ao3 here!

<- Previous Ficlet | Collection Post | Next Ficlet ->

The dividers in this post were made by @/gamerbot-22 (me!) ☆

© All rights reserved by miHoYo

Xueyi was not supposed to feel bored. For a variety of reasons. Firstly, she was a Ten Lords Commission Judge, a hunter of the mara-struck. That alone was supposed to be a blood-warming, heart-racing occupation that would keep anyone fired up for a very long time. But of course, when you have no blood to warm and no heart to race, things get to be a little rote.

Now, that isn't to say Xueyi didn't have hobbies. While some things had faded in her consciousness' transfer between flesh and blood to cool metal, one thing that hadn't faded was her love of thriller novels and immersia... Until it did.

She opened her favorite thriller--one about a heliobus possessing a mannequin who doesn't realize she's a heliobus until she's confronted by her former haunting partners waiting for their turn--and felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. There was no interest or intrigue; it was all just the same as it had ever been.

And she could have gone out hunting, but Huohuo had, for once, been firm in the sentiment that Xueyi needed to sit still and not go hunting for a while. The last beating she took had eaten through all of the parts needed to rebuild her body, so she was going to be stuck waiting in a temporary frame for the replacements from the Zhuming.

So here Xueyi sat, in her sparse "room" in the Shackling Prison, bored out of the mist that made up her mind. For lack of a better activity, she did the one thing that everyone seemed to do when they're bored.

She texted the Trailblazer.

Xueyi: "Caelus, I need your advice."

Her message was opened quickly, and responded to even faster.

Galactic Baseballer: "Advice? What for?

I hope everything's alright."

Xueyi rocked her creaking body back to lean against the wall.

Xueyi: "Everything is fine.

I have suddenly found myself with nothing to do.

I'm... bored."

Galactic Baseballer: "I didn't know Madam Xueyi could get bored."

Xueyi: "Why not?"

Galactic Baseballer: "... Nevermind. I think I might say something dumb if I keep talking.

So are you looking for something to do?"

Xueyi: "Yes. What do you do when you're bored?"

Caelus' next message bubbled for a good while, almost hypnotic as Xueyi kept her eyes focused on nothing else.

Galactic Baseballer: "Usually I try to do something with the other members of the Express.

Maybe you could reach out to some of the others in the Commission?"

Xueyi: "Hanya is busy, and I cannot leave the Shackling Prison."

Galactic Baseballer: "Oh. Hm."

Another bubbling message. Xueyi decided to nip it in the bud.

Xueyi: "I have already tried reading my books, but it has done nothing."

The Trailblazer stopped typing, then continued.

Galactic Baseballer: "Maybe you could try something new?"

They were just back at square one, but at least Xueyi wasn't staring at the wall anymore.

Xueyi: "Do you have recommendations?"

Galactic Baseballer: "Well, you have that big awl you fight with...

Have you thought about something with needles? Maybe leather work? Or knitting?

There should be videos online if you want to look for some tutorials."

Hm. There was a thought. Xueyi had tried leather work before and found it tedious, but knitting? Knitting seemed more comfortable, and she'd seen some beautiful pieces from foreign traders. Maybe that would be worth a shot.

Caelus thought it was odd when Xueyi didn't get back to him right away, considering that she was known for being more formal than that, but it rolled off his back pretty quick. That was, until about three hours later, when he was sent a photo of a long, yellow knitted scarf with stitches shaped into stars all down the length of it.

Xueyi: "I found some tutorials. Thank you very much for your help.

Next time you come to the Luofu, remind me to give this to you.

(˶ˆᗜˆ˵)"

[edoro]

First library book of the year: Old Country, by Matt and Harrison Query

Genre: horror

Summary: Sasha and Harry, a young married couple, finally buy the house of their dreams in a remote valley near the Tetons... only to find out that their land is inhabited by a spirit. Guided by their elderly neighbors, they deal with each seasonal manifestation of the spirit and their own feelings about it.

Rating: eh... maybe 2/5?

I picked this one up bc it said it was based on a Reddit story, so I figured it'd either be good (I've been known to enjoy a Reddit creepypasta) or entertainingly bad; it was neither. My overall feeling about it is a solid Meh.

The writing and characters were aggressively bland and all felt like stock archetypes. The closest thing any of them had to a personality was Harry's constant aggression, which hit a hilarious yet disturbing high when Sasha uneasily recalled the time he spiked a raccoon into the gutter so hard it died because it startled her. Technically, this is a meaningful character flaw that first leads him to taunt the spirit, earning its wrath and getting his friendly old man neighbor killed, which he then overcomes at the end in order to banish the spirit. But it's just so boring.

The whole seasonal ritual thing sounds very much like it was lifted from a half-assed Reddit post that worked better as a pseudo-listicle and not at all as a full length novel. "When you see a light in the pond in spring, light a fire; when you see a bear chase a naked man in summer, don't let him get you" and so on. There's an attempt at making these moments feel tense and scary but it mostly comes in the form of the characters saying "this is SO tense and scary" in their narration.

Every chapter seems to largely consist of a montage of Harry and Sasha being happy with their haunted property. In the hands of a better writer, this could have worked as a jarring contrast to the sudden intrusion of the spookiness, but instead it just undercuts any horror or tension.

The two of them constantly keep secrets from each other, then get upset with each other and agree - in tedious conversations that bear only a passing resemblance to human speech - to stop keeping secrets, then keep more secrets. This never has any meaningful impact on the plot or their relationship.

They find out that if they try to leave, they'll be killed by the spirit, and agree that it would be unethical to have a child there because the child would be stuck without a choice. Then Sasha finds out she's pregnant after randomly puking one (1) time in the morning and decides to keep the kid and find a way to defeat the spirit.

They have a Shoshone neighbor named Joe whose family has dealt with the spirit for a long time, from whom all the info about it comes (secondhand, because they don't meet him until the last 3rd or 4th of the book.) Somehow in the thousands of years his people have lived in the area and alongside this spirit, none of them figured out that the key to defeating the spirit was radical acceptance of its winter manifestation, which is being haunted by the ghosts of whoever you've killed in a really incredibly lame ghost movie way. Luckily for him, these white people figure it out because Sasha is just so loving and accepting of her traumatized veteran husband and also wants to have his baby SO bad.

It feels like any one of the dozens of highly forgettable Netflix horror movies I've watched while barely sentient. Would not recommend but isn't even bad enough to enjoyably roast.

[theverumproject]

Masterpost

My book series (WIP):

The Bridge to The Awakening (Finished, single part)

Verum I: The Awakening (Finished)

The Bridge to The Robotic Era (Finished, single part)

Verum II: The Robotic Era (Arc 1 finished, Arc 2 WIP)

(More to come)

(Bridges talk about the medicine, technology, space related advancements, earth's nature and the societies of the world. Fun for me to write, but probably boring to read for most. Therefore I recommend only reading it if you like the main story. So read that one first. But I'm a beginner writer, which you can clearly see in The Awakening. I swear The Robotic Era is going to be better.)

Summaries:

Verum I: The Awakening

Luce Balton is a 21 year old woman who grew up in a small town in southern Australia. Her family is one of scientists and that's where she got her interests from. But instead of studying in a university, she cherished the family life too much and decided to become the apprentice of her father, Michael Balton. Michael is a specialist in AI development, working for the government. But instead of keeping quiet about the secrets he holds, he decided to share them with his daughter. She was just a little child when he began to teach her about robotics and AI, but Luce can't remember a moment where she was bored with him. But sadly, this happiness won't last forever. Soon she will be left alone in the place she calls her second home. But how long will this last until one of their creations decides to keep her company?

Characters:

Luce Balton:

Art

Character Introduction Post (The Awakening)

Interview pt. 1: Basic Questions + Appearance (The Robotic Era)

Interview pt. 2: Personality (The Robotic Era)

Interview pt. 3: Friends and Family + Childhood (The Robotic Era)

Interview pt. 4: Love + Conflict (The Robotic Era)

Interview pt. 5: Work, Education and Hobbies + Favourites (The Robotic Era)

Interview pt. 6: Possessions + Spirituality + Values (The Robotic Era)

Interview pt. 7: Daily Life + Miscellaneous (The Robotic Era)

Favourite Song

Spotify Playlist

Dethra:

Art

Favourite Song

Spotify Playlist (coming soon)

Bluctro:

Art

Arushi:

Zri'Kla:

Greyhound:

(More to come)

Species:

Humans:

Robots:

Kotrulians:

Tapzians:

(More to come)

Tag Lists:

Verum II: The Robotic Era release date

Character Information (Profiles and Interviews etc)

Tag Games

Character Art

My Accounts:

AO3 (Most active)

Wattpad (active)

Inkitt (active)

YouTube (Not used at the moment)

Old masterpost (also contains a Wattpad link)