#i will be updating this post with more titles

[miss-noo-na]

Take What You Can Get (Yeonjun x Reader)

Title: Take What You Can get

Featuring: Choi Yeonjun (TXT) x Reader

Rating: Mature/explicit

Warnings: Verbal degradation and name-calling (slut, whore, etc), dubcon because consent isn't verbally given but insinuated. Rough sex/hate-fucking, dirty talk, choking, biting, yearning.

Word Count:  4000

Summary: You have been pining for Soobin, even though he doesn't return your feelings. You can't stand his best friend Yeonjun, but he notices, and he's going to make you forget all about him. Whether you want to or not.

Notes: It's been a long time since I posted something to Tumblr, so I thought I'd do it for funsies. Also to remind everyone that I'm still alive and update on AO3 now (check my pinned post for links) Love you guys <3

You didn’t expect much when Soobin invited you over. Sure, there was always a small part of you that hoped maybe today would be the day. The day he got the hint that you liked him and had for some time. The day he returned those feelings, or at least was curious to get closer. For the sake of your friendship you would never confess to him the crush you had been harboring for so long, unless you got that hint.

But you never imagined that standing in his kitchen he would introduce you to the girl he had been seeing. You had no idea he was dating anyone, especially not someone so pretty. It was early in the relationship but you thought for sure you would have known about this sooner, if not from him than one of your mutual friends. You smiled wide and happy when you shook her hand, even though inside you could feel the weight of the disappointment crushing down on your heart.

To make matters worse, halfway through the get-together they had left. He assured you and their other friends they would be back in a bit, they had something they needed to do together. You don’t know why they hadn’t done it before you bothered coming over, but there you were, alone in his bedroom trying to work out a problem with his computer. He had mentioned in passing that he was having some issues with a program you were familiar with, and it would be great if you could take a look at it while you were there.

“I’d really appreciate it.” He said with a gentle crease in his eyes that made you melt, and you nodded all too willingly. Now you just felt like an idiot, doing his tasks for him while he was out with his new girl doing whatever it was you didn’t want to think about.

You were vaguely trying to solve the issue, more so lost in your thoughts and clicking around idly. The door being nudged open loudly by someone’s foot startled you.

You swiveled halfway in the chair and locked eyes with Yeonjun, who half-smiled at you but not in a kind way. You rolled your eyes and turned back around without a word.

The baggage of pining for Soobin came with the unfortunate add-on of having to be around Yeonjun. From the moment you met, there was something about him that bothered you, and the more you got to know him that something turned into many things. He was arrogant and loud and always needed to be the center of attention. He thought too highly of himself and dominated conversations with his obnoxious presence that he was under the impression was charming to others, but not you. You tried ignoring him at first, but over time started to speak up whenever he was too extra, and cracking jokes and roasts at his expense had him glowering at you from across the room. You bickered like rivals even when it wasn’t that serious. Every time he opened his mouth in a group setting you couldn’t help but roll your eyes just as you had done when you saw him enter Soobin’s room.

“Does he know you’re in here?” He asked as he made himself at home on the edge of Soobin’s bed.

“Of course he does.” You said in a biting tone, trying to focus now.

“Got you doing his work for him, eh?” He asked with a laugh and the sound it of it went down your spine like nails on a chalkboard.

“I’m just doing him a favor.”

“Naturally, you’re always doing him favors.” He said off-handedly, and you fought the urge to turn around. You said nothing.

“Tell me, do all your little errands feel stupid now that he’s fucking someone else?” He asked in a voice that dripped in condescension and you could feel yourself getting hot with anger. Yeonjun had caught on to your crush long ago, far more attentive than Soobin had ever been. It was something he liked to bring up whenever he felt like getting under your skin. Usually in retaliation for the times you told him to shut up and stop pestering everyone.

You continued to ignore him, typing more furiously and glaring at the screen, mentally cursing him out but not allowing it to reach your tongue.

You heard him get up and hoped he was leaving, but instead you felt him behind you, his presence looming over your shoulder. He turned his head and his hot breath ghosted your neck.

“Does it make you crazy thinking about him and her in this room?” He laughed low and it tickled your ear. “I bet you get all worked up wishing it was you.”

You weren’t going to sit here and be mocked, the anger bubbling up inside but also the pin-prick feeling of something else you didn’t want to address. You shoved the chair back, bumping his chest and making him stumble back. You headed for the door, figuring you could do this later when he wasn’t here.

“Hey! Hold on.” He grabbed at your wrist and you snatched it away, turning and glaring daggers into him. He sat back down on Soobin’s bed and he was grinning.

“I’m just messing around.” He said, but it didn’t ease your fury. Then his voice changed, it got a little softer and deeper.

“Come here.”

You blinked, his smile had faded and his eyelids drew down. The way he was looking at you was different. Usually it was smarmy or annoyed, but this looked like….

“Why?” You asked, still angled toward the door.

“Because.”

He gestured to the spot next to him and you hated that you were curious about what he had to say. The day was already ruined, so you relented and went and sat next to him.

“Look, I’m the only person who knows how you feel right now.” He said, surprisingly understanding, but you wondered about his angle. He wouldn’t be the type to comfort you.

“And I think maybe you should take this opportunity to do something about it.” He leaned a little closer. “That I could help with.”

You pulled back and scowled at him. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about letting me,” He pointed at himself, “Make you-“His finger touched the center of your chest, below your throat, “feel better.”

You guffawed at his proposition, but the hysterical laughter was hiding the way your blood started rushing to your ears when you heard him say it.

“You think I’m desperate enough to do that?” You asked.

Instead of being offended, like you might assume, he smirked.

“I do.” He stated plainly. “I think you’ve been following my best friend around like a pathetic puppy and someone needs to snap you out of it.”

Your smile faded at his words and you didn’t know how to decipher the mix of emotions. It hurt, first and foremost. But it hurt in a way that made your breath pick up as Yeonjun stared you down. You wanted him to keep talking.

He put his hands on the bed and moved forward in a sudden motion, making you lean back so far that you fell onto your back and he was now hovering over you.

“I think someone needs to get it through your dumb head that he doesn’t want you.”

He sounded mad. Frustrated by your behavior and intent on letting you know.

“And I know that you hate me,” He said with a wry smile, his eyes taking in the sight of you beneath him for a moment. “So I’m the perfect person to fuck it out of your system.”

Despite yourself and everything your instincts told you, you trembled at his words, your eyes widening and hands going clammy.

“What’s in it for you?” You asked, irked by how weak your voice now sounded.

He laughed, almost gleefully. “Making the bitch who hates me squirm under me is satisfying in its own way.” He cocked his head to the side. “I’ll think about it next time you try to humiliate me in front of our friends.”

Your chest was rising and falling quickly now, as he talked it got harder to deny what it was doing to your body. It took you a moment to recognize that the more he degraded you, the more it turned you on. And even the shame of that revelation was exciting you.

“So,” He started, leaning down and pressing a kiss to the side of your neck, just under your jaw. “Are you going to let me ruin you or what?”

His kisses moved to your throat and then down to your collar bones. You stared at the ceiling, breathing hard and pressing your hands into the covers. You suddenly remembered where you were. This was Soobin’s room and his best friend was kissing down your neck in his bed.

His mouth moved to the crook of your shoulder where his teeth sank into your flesh. Not enough to break skin, but enough to make you yelp in surprise. Your hands shot up to grab his arms, holding on to him. He laughed against your neck.

“Take this off,” He said, toying with the hem of your shirt. You couldn’t understand yourself when you did exactly what he asked without hesitating.

“You might as well take your pants off, too.”

As you worked on removing your clothing, a voice in your head was asking what exactly you were doing, letting someone you couldn’t stand 5 minutes ago strip you down to your underwear. It was overpowered by a louder part of you that needed this. Needed to be taken and consumed and punished.

“You may be stupid,” He said, his tongue swiping over his lower lip as his vision grazed your body, “But you’re not bad looking.”

His half-lidded gaze, plump mouth and imposing form over you made you realize you thought the same of him. Maybe when you first saw him you recognized how attractive he was, but it was quickly replaced by a seething dislike. However here, in the afternoon glow of Soobin’s bedroom and his smoldering eyes, he looked like everything you’d desire.

In one harsh movement he grabbed your leg under the knee and pulled the limbs apart, settling himself between them. He attached his mouth onto your neck once more as his fingertips started a delicate dance down the front of your body, stopping to fondle your breasts through your bra.

“Maybe I should mark you up, huh?” He breathed against your skin before latching his lips to it and sucking hard, nibbling with his teeth. “Make him wonder where you got these from.”

He moved to the other side of your neck and did it again, and without seeing it you could tell he was leaving vicious marks in your skin that would be obvious to anyone.

“Then again, he probably won’t care.” He chuckled. “You’ll want him to. You’ll leave them out for him to see and he won’t give a fuck.” He hissed before capturing your mouth in a searing kiss.

It took you by surprise, and you made a sound against his mouth. However, it didn’t take you long to reciprocate, opening up to him and letting his tongue lap against yours. Your hands found their way over his shoulders, drawing him closer, and he pressed his hips into you in response.

He pulled back but kept close, staring down at you as one of his hands came up and took your chin, his thumb pressing against your moist lips.

“Look at you.” He murmured, pushing up on your chin to raise your head. “Your body is begging for attention. He’s ignored you for so long, hasn’t he?” His voice baby-talking those harsh words and his hardness grinding into you made you whimper. Your brain felt like it was being emptied out and all that mattered was what Yeonjun was doing to you.

“Aren’t you glad I was here?” He smiled, a devious edge to his sweet voice. “To take advantage of a pathetic, touch-starved whore.”

His words were like electricity jolting through you. No one has ever talked to you like this before, and never did the thought occur to you that you might like it.

Because he was right. You had followed Soobin around for ages, hanging off his words and vying for anything you could get. You hadn’t been desired or looked at by anyone else in that time nor did you want to be, until now. Until Yeonjun forced you to take what you had been lacking.

His hand on your chin trailed down your body once more, his large hand cupping over your clothed sex. He squeezed you, hard, and you cried out from the painful ache that it caused.

“I could’ve just stripped you down and fucked you raw and gotten it over with.” He commented nonchalantly. “You would have let me, too. But teasing you is so much more fun.”

You looked up at him with wet, wide eyes, lips pouted and wanting to say something.

“You’re so quiet now. Usually you never shut the fuck up.” He laughed, now gently rubbing his hand over you, feeling your wetness seep through your panties.

“What do you want to say, baby?” He leaned closer and his voice fell to a whisper. “Tell me.”

Some of your deep-seated anger was coming through as you heard him talk without changing pace in his motions. Even in the moment of actually doing something useful, he was still so goddamn annoying.

“I hate you.”

A smile grew over his mouth as his eyes narrowed, and you didn’t know if you detected anger or passion. Maybe both.

“Your mouth says that,” He started, then slipped his hand under the band of your underwear and sank down toward your wetness, his fingers pressing between the folds and stroking up toward your clit. “But your body loves me.”

When his fingertips grazed agonizingly over the sensitive spot, you moaned, your hips twitching.

“See?” He commented triumphantly, and you were too lost in the feeling to argue it.

After teasing you another minute, his middle two fingers sank inside you, pressing to the second knuckle and making your back arch up off the bed toward him. He kissed up your neck to your ear and breathed, making you shiver.

“I’m gonna make you forget all about him.” He said in an unusually serious tone. He curled his fingers up and massaged a place inside you that made your eyes roll back.

Yet just as you were starting to surrender to it, he retracted them, and you whined at the emptiness that followed. He ripped your underwear down your legs as he sat up, then grinned down at you before removing his shirt.

“Stop whining, you’ll get something much better.”

You watched him quickly strip away the rest of his clothing and before you could do anything else, he was grabbing your legs and pulling you down toward him, surprising you with his strength.

You looked down between your bodies, your knees trembling as he took himself in his hand and aligned it with your entrance, but didn’t enter quite yet. Instead, he ran the tip of his cock between your folds, all the way up to your clit and slowly back down again. He repeated the motion as he spoke.

“Do you want me to fuck some sense into you?” He asked, meeting your eyes. “Or do you want to save yourself for your precious Soobin?”

“Shut up.” You whined, not sounding as strong and biting as you usually did when you told him to shut up.  “Just fuck me.”

His eyes that once danced with amusement dropped down into a glare you were familiar with. “Fine.”

He grabbed your hips at either side and sank himself inside you in one fluid motion, pressing all the way to the hilt until he bottomed out inside you. Your eyes snapped open and you grabbed onto his forearms, digging your nails into his skin. It was overwhelming in both pleasure and burning pain but you didn’t want him to stop.

Then he started to move, his hips drawing back only about an inch before snapping back in. He made sure he pulled you flush against him each time, showing you just how deep he could go.

As the grimace melted away from your face and twisted into pleasure, he leaned forward.

“What happened to all that attitude?” He asked, his breath coming out in thick pants. “You sure don’t look like you hate me now.”

You dug your nails even deeper into his skin and he hissed, snatching your wrists and forcing them over your head, pinning you down and never faltering in his rhythm.

“How does it feel?” He asked, squeezing your wrists and breathing down your neck. “How does it feel knowing I’m fucking you into the mattress of the man you love?”

You tugged at your makeshift restraints and knew you were trapped, he was stronger than he looked, but even if you could break free you didn’t really want to. Your face burned in embarrassment, hearing him mock your feelings.

“What would he think about you?” His voice got lower and closer to your ear. “What would he think knowing that you long for him, and you fucked the first person who showed you any attention because you’re just that desperate. “

He punctuated his words with hard thrusts, sweat forming on his brow and temples as his hair fell into his face. He swallowed up your needy moans in a kiss.

“You’re so fucking stupid.” He laughed breathlessly as he pulled away. “Look at what I’m doing to you. You could have had this all along.”

Something about that sentence rattled your brain, and you tried to focus on what he meant, but the way he was driving into you and holding you down made it difficult to concentrate.

“All this time running after Soobin when I was right here.” He growled, and a very real anger clouded his eyes. You couldn’t believe what you were hearing, but he made it very clear he wasn’t joking when his motions became more purposeful.

“I wanted you as soon as I laid eyes on you.” He huffed out a breath. “And you couldn’t stand me.”

You were caught between listening to his confession and trying to hold on to your sanity with what he was doing with your body, and hearing the pure and unmistakable wanting in his voice spurned on your arousal.

“Now look at you,” That deviant smile came back. “You’re mine now.”

He let go of your arms and one hand encircled your throat. He didn’t squeeze too tight, just enough to get your attention and make you moan in approval.

“Isn’t that right, pretty girl?” He asked, and the tiniest hint of praise that hit your ears made you squirm and cry out under him.

“Yes.” You responded without hesitation, rocking against him and letting him grind down into you.

“Yeah? You like me taking care of this aching cunt and making it mine?”

You moaned in response, nodding your head in his hand and gazing up at him with a wanton stare. You realized the power you held in that moment, giving him exactly what you didn’t know he wanted.

“It’s all yours.”

The fire that lit up his eyes was worth it all, and his mouth crashed down on yours to kiss you with a new kind of fervor, grinding down deeper until his pelvic bone was in the perfect place to stimulate you. He knew exactly what he was doing, rolling his hips up and hitting the right spots until you could feel your release building up inside you.

He could see it in your face, and it only made him work harder. “I want you to come undone. I want to break you.” He rasped, his own ecstasy mounting right behind you.

You latched onto his shoulders and let him guide you to it. “I’m so close, Yeonjun.” You said his name in a way that drove him crazy.

“Then come for me, slut.” That sly grin found its way onto his features, “show me who it belongs to.”

With that it didn’t take long, fingers digging into his shoulders as your back arched and your orgasm hit you hard, washing over you in waves. He leaned down and panted in your ear “that’s it, baby,” and “All for me.”

Relentlessly fucking you through it over-stimulated you until you were a babbling, drunk mess. You wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled him down, feeling the vibration of his moans against your collar bone.

“Fuck, I’m-“ He hardly had the time to warn you before it hit him, he slowed down into a gradual, pulsing thrusting motion as he whined out his release in the sweetest way.

He came to a halt and panted against your skin, your limbs all tangled up and chests rising and falling together. It took a long time for your heartbeats to slow down.

He lifted himself up on his hands and looked down at you, softening and twitching inside you still. After the haze of the arousal and the hormones wore off, you felt exposed under his gaze. You wondered if he was angry at you.

But there was a softness in his eyes that worried you more than anything, and you reached up to push his hair back so you could see him better. You locked eyes for a long moment and said nothing.

Finally, he slipped out of you and came to lay down next to you. You grabbed at the nearest cover and pulled it over your body. When you looked over, there was a small smile tugging at the edge of his mouth.

“You can’t hide from me.” He said in a tired, husky voice.

“I can try.” You said, tucking yourself down into the cover, concealing part of your face. He rolled to his side and pulled them up, joining you underneath. Before you could speak again, he reached out and held your cheek in a surprisingly tender motion, and placed an even more tender kiss to your ravaged lips.

“I really didn’t mean for it to go that far.” He said in a near-whisper under the covers. You could only kind of see his face, and his dewy eyes and pouted mouth looked delicate.

“That’s hard to believe.” You whispered back, even quieter than him.

“Well I didn’t expect you to give in so easily.” He chuckled, and you felt yourself get hot with embarrassment.

“Did you mean what you said?” You asked curiously, knowing this was probably the only time he’d be honest about it. Who knows how either of you would feel once the adrenaline wore off completely.

“About you?” He said, and before you could confirm he nodded. “Yeah.”

“You could have just told me.” You offered, and he laughed louder this time.

“My pride wouldn’t let me do that.  Not with how you were always yearning for my best friend.” He sighed and rested his head on his arm.  “Also you hated me, remember?”

“Hate is a strong word.” You offered.

He rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Either way…”

He trailed off and you were both quiet for a moment.

“How do you feel about me now?” He asked, and you thought about it for a moment.

“Hmm, you’re slightly less unbearable now.” You said playfully, and luckily he laughed, too. He reached over and pulled you over by the waist, making a surprised squeak come out of you.

“Well, we’ll have to do this a couple more times. Just to make sure.”

He kissed you, and for the first time in a long time, someone other than Soobin made your hands shake and your heart beat faster.

[msklassickilla]

Delirious | J. Uso|R. Reigns Four

Summary: When Titania buys an old typewriter from a closing thrift store, she thinks it’s just a vintage gem—until the words she types start coming true. However, the typewriter doesn’t just bring fantasies to life—it twists them. Giving Titania way more than she bargained for.

Pairing: Titania Marshall (Black OC) x Jey Uso x Roman Reigns

Author’s Note: This story is another AU thing. So, it might align, or it might not. I will try my best to keep it current enough. Nonetheless, it’s mash up of a few things: That one episode of Goosebumps. That one episode of the Twilight Zone. And that movie by the same title, Delirious featuring John Candy. I’ma make it work. Plus, I like mystical spooky shit with a bit of Jerry Springer type mess.

Warning(s): Will be updated each chapter. None for this.

Disclaimer: This work of art is fictional in nature including the original characters created by me. I do not own any of the existing characters or lyrics from songs referenced in this story (if any). All rights belong to their respective owners with the exception of my original characters. This work is purely for entertainment purposes and is not intended to cause harm.

Four

The familiar opening riff of Monday Night Raw’s theme music filled the living room as Titania and Mia settled onto the couch, surrounded by the remnants of their takeout dinner. Titania hugged a pillow to her chest, trying to ignore the gnawing ache in her stomach.

She wasn’t sure why she’d agreed to watch tonight. Maybe part of her was hoping Jey wouldn’t appear on the screen. Maybe she could convince herself that he wasn’t real—that the typewriter hadn’t worked as seamlessly as it seemed.

But then Jey's music hit.

Titania’s breath caught in her throat as the crowd erupted, their cheers mingling with a smattering of voices. Jey strode down the arena steps, dressed in his ring gear, his expression lax and confident. He didn’t need anyone else by his side anymore—Roman, Jimmy, and Paul Heyman were all on SmackDown, and while Sami Zayn was somewhere backstage, this moment belonged to Jey alone.

He paused once he was standing on one post of the ring, soaking in the energy of the crowd. The camera zoomed in on his face, highlighting the determination in his eyes, and Titania’s pulse quickened.

“Whew,” Mia said, nudging Titania’s arm. “Your man looks good tonight. And you’re telling me you don’t swoon every time he comes out?”

Titania forced a small smile, her chest tightening. “Yeah. He does.”

As Jey made his way to the ring, the commentators hyped up the tension between him and Bron Breakker, who had made his presence known in just a short time since being drafted.

“This match is about more than just wins and losses,” Wade Barrett said. “This is a statement. Jey Uso has something to prove—not just to Bron Breakker, but to the entire Bloodline he came from.”

The arena lights dimmed, and Bron’s music hit, the crowd erupting in a mix of cheers and boos as he stormed down the ramp, his confidence radiating off him in waves. Titania gripped the pillow tighter as the tension in the air grew palpable.

Mia leaned forward; her eyes glued to the screen. “Oh, this is gonna be good. You think Jey’s gonna take him down?”

“Of course,” Titania said, her voice quieter than she intended.

The bell rang, and the match began with an explosive start. Jey darted around the ring with his usual quickness, his strikes landing with precision, but Bron’s raw power gave him the upper hand early on. The two men exchanged punishing blows, each one trying to assert dominance.

Titania’s heart raced as she watched Jey struggle against Bron’s relentless offense. For a moment, it felt like he might lose, but then Jey shifted the momentum with a perfectly timed counter, sending Bron crashing into the turnbuckle. The crowd roared as Jey followed up with a thunderous superkick that nearly took Bron’s head off.

“Your man’s on fire!” Mia said, throwing a fist in the air.

Titania smiled faintly, but her mind was elsewhere. Seeing Jey like this—strong, confident, larger than life—should have made her proud. But instead, it made the distance between them feel unbearable. He was out there living his life, thriving in his world, while she was here, watching from the sidelines.

As the match wore on, Jey landed his finisher—a devastating Uso Splash from the top rope—and pinned Bron for the victory. The crowd erupted, the announcer declaring Jey the winner as his music blasted through the arena.

“He’s so good,” Mia said, shaking her head. “How are you not screaming this from the rooftops? If I were you, I’d have matching shirts made by now.”

Titania forced a laugh, but her chest ached. She wanted to see him, to feel his presence, to remind herself that he wasn’t just some untouchable star on her screen.

Later that night, after Mia had gone to bed, Titania sat alone in the dimly lit living room, staring blankly at the TV. The house felt oppressively quiet, the absence of Jey’s presence weighing heavily on her.

Her gaze drifted toward the stairs. She could feel the pull of the typewriter even from here, its promise whispering in the back of her mind.

She shook her head, running a hand through her hair. “Don’t,” she muttered to herself. “You don’t need to.”

But the ache in her chest didn’t subside.

The next morning, Titania stood at the front door, watching as Mia hauled her overnight bag to the car. The crisp morning air carried the faint scent of dew, and the sky was a soft, cloudless blue.

“Sure, you don’t wanna stay a little longer?” Titania asked, half-hoping Mia would change her mind.

“Nah, I’ve gotta get back to reality,” Mia said, slinging her bag into the back seat. “But don’t worry, I’ll be back soon. I have to check up on you, after all—you’re terrible at keeping me in the loop.”

Titania laughed softly, though it felt hollow. “I’ll try to do better.”

“You better,” Mia teased, pulling her into a hug. “And tell your man I said hi. Next time, I expect to actually see him.”

Titania froze for a fraction of a second, then hugged Mia back tightly, forcing a smile. “I will.”

As Mia drove off, Titania stood in the driveway, watching her car disappear down the street. The morning felt too quiet now, the silence pressing against her chest. She exhaled slowly and went back inside, shutting the door behind her.

The house was eerily still. For the first time in days, she was completely alone, and the weight of it was suffocating.

She tried to distract herself with chores—folding laundry, reorganizing the bookshelf in the living room, even scrubbing the bathroom sink again—but none of it helped. Her mind kept drifting back to the typewriter, the thought of its power gnawing at her like an itch she couldn’t scratch.

She hadn’t heard from Jey since she’d seen him on Monday Night Raw. No texts, no calls, nothing. She knew he was busy, knew this was probably normal for him, but the silence felt unbearable.

By late afternoon, Titania found herself pacing the living room, her thoughts swirling.

It’s fine, she told herself. He’ll come home when he can. You don’t need to interfere.

But the ache in her chest didn’t go away.

That evening, she sat on the couch with a bowl of cereal, aimlessly flipping through channels on the TV. The house felt emptier than ever, the silence so loud it was almost oppressive.

Her gaze drifted toward the stairs.

----

Half an hour later, Titania was sitting in the spare room, the typewriter in front of her.

Her hands hovered over the keys, trembling slightly. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t use it again. She’d promised.

But the longing in her chest outweighed the guilt. She wanted to see Jey. She wanted to feel his presence in the house again, to hear his voice and see his smile.

“It’s just one line,” she whispered to herself, as if saying it aloud might make it true. “One harmless line.”

Her fingers moved almost without her permission, typing the words:

Jey came home in the middle of the night, and by the time I woke up, he was already making breakfast

She stared at the sentence, her pulse pounding in her ears. For a moment, she thought about ripping the paper from the typewriter and throwing it away. But she didn’t.

Instead, she pressed the final key and sat back, the weight of what she’d done settling over her like a heavy blanket.

“It’s fine,” she murmured. “It’s fine. Just this once.”

But as she left the room and climbed into bed, a knot of guilt twisted in her stomach. She tried to ignore it, telling herself that she wasn’t doing anything wrong.

Still, the typewriter’s pull lingered in the back of her mind, whispering promises of control and ease that she couldn’t quite shake.

The faint scent of coffee and the sizzle of something cooking woke Titania before her alarm did. Her eyes fluttered open, and for a moment, she thought she was dreaming. The warm, comforting smells wafted up the stairs, blending with the quiet clatter of plates and pans.

Her heart skipped a beat.

She swung her legs out of bed, barely bothering to throw on her robe before padding down the stairs. As she reached the kitchen, the scene stopped her in her tracks.

Jey stood at the stove, flipping pancakes with one hand and sipping coffee from a mug in the other. He was wearing a fitted black T-shirt and sweatpants, his damp curls sitting nicely on the top of his head. His every movement was casual, comfortable, as if he’d been doing this every morning he was there for years.

“Morning, babe,” he said, flashing her a grin. “Hope you’re hungry. I went a little overboard.”

Titania’s gaze shifted to the counter, where a stack of golden-brown pancakes sat next to a bowl of fresh-cut fruit and a jar of syrup. Her chest tightened as a wave of guilt washed over her.

“I... didn’t know you’d be home,” she said softly, her voice catching slightly.

Jey chuckled, setting the spatula down and turning to face her. “What, you thought I’d stay gone forever? Tampa was cool, but it’s good to be home.”

Titania forced a smile, wrapping her arms around herself. “You should’ve told me you were coming back.”

“Wanted to surprise you,” Jey said, stepping closer. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, his lips warm and familiar. “Figured I owed you some uninterrupted me and you time after being on the road so much.”

Titania’s breath caught, but she nodded, her smile tightening. “Thanks.”

Jey turned back to the stove, his tone light. “Go sit down. I’ll bring you a plate. You look like you could use some food.”

She obeyed, sinking into one of the kitchen chairs as her mind spun. He was here, just as she’d written it. His presence was seamless, his affection so genuine it made her chest ache.

When he brought her a plate, she muttered a quiet “thank you” and started eating, though every bite tasted bittersweet. Jey filled the silence with stories from his trip, casually mentioning meetings with the creative team and bumping into some of the NXT talent while in Tampa.

“Oh, and Bron tried to give me some attitude backstage after our match,” Jey said, shaking his head with a smirk. “Kid’s got potential, but he’s still wet behind the ears. Thinks he’s hot stuff just ‘cause he’s got a few wins or whatever.”

Titania blinked, her fork pausing midair. “You talked to Bron?”

“Yeah, nothing serious,” Jey said with a shrug. “Just put him in his place a little. You know how it is.”

She nodded absently, her heart thudding. He was talking about things she hadn’t written—things that had happened off-camera, in moments she hadn’t controlled.

Jey leaned against the counter, crossing his arms as he studied her. “You good? You quiet this morning.”

“I’m good,” Titania said quickly, forcing another smile. “Just a bit sleepy still.”

He nodded, though his expression was still laced with concern. “Well, eat up. You’ve got me all day, so no excuses for staying cooped up in here. I’m taking you out later.”

Her stomach flipped. “Out? Where?”

“You’ll see,” he said with a grin, finishing his coffee. “Just be ready by five.”

Titania nodded again, her pulse quickening. The idea of spending the day with him was thrilling—and terrifying. She’d wanted this, hadn’t she? To have him here, to be with him?

So why did it feel like she was sinking deeper into something she couldn’t escape?

Titania barely had time to overthink Jey’s plans before five o’clock rolled around. He kept the details vague, offering only a playful smirk when she pestered him for clues. By the time she stepped outside to join him, she was greeted with the sight of his black SUV parked in the driveway, its engine softly purring.

Jey leaned casually against the driver’s side door, dressed in a nice shirt and shorts. His dark curls framed his face, and his grin was boyish as he opened the passenger door for her.

“Hop in,” he said. “You trust me, right?”

Titania raised an eyebrow, her heart fluttering as she slid into the seat. “Do I have a choice?”

“Not really,” Jey teased, closing the door before circling around to the driver’s side.

The car ride was a mix of banter and comfortable silence. Jey flipped through the playlist on his phone, landing on a mix of R&B and hip-hop that made the car feel warm and alive. Titania found herself relaxing despite the constant hum of anxiety in the back of her mind.

After a short drive, Jey pulled into a secluded park, the golden hues of the setting sun casting a soft glow over the trees. He parked near a small lake, where a picnic table sat under a cluster of willow trees.

Titania blinked in surprise as she noticed the cooler in the back seat. “You planned this?”

“Of course,” Jey said, grabbing the cooler and a blanket. “Thought you’d like a quiet spot. No crowds, no noise—just us.”

The simplicity of it caught her off guard. For someone who lived his life under bright lights and deafening arenas, this moment felt oddly intimate.

----

They spent the next hour lounging by the lake, eating sandwiches Jey had packed and laughing about everything from the ridiculous fan signs he’d seen at shows to Mia’s over-the-top commentary from the last time she visited.

“Man, she’s got jokes,” Jey said, shaking his head. “She said you ‘landed me’ like it’s a wrestling move. What’s that about?”

Titania chuckled nervously. “She’s just... Mia. She never stops teasing me.”

“Well, she’s not wrong,” Jey said, grinning. “But you didn’t land me. I landed you.”

The statement caught her off guard, and her cheeks burned as she looked away. “You’re full of it.”

“Not even,” Jey said, leaning back on his elbows. “Look at you. Smart, talented, gorgeous... I’d be an idiot not to make you mine.”

Titania’s heart skipped, his words hitting her harder than she expected. She stared at the rippling water, her mind racing.

“Besides,” Jey continued, his tone softening, “this life can be... a lot. Sometimes it feels like everyone wants a piece of me. But with you, it’s different. It’s just... easy. I don’t have to perform. I can just be myself.”

Titania’s breath caught. She glanced at him, and the vulnerability in his expression made her chest ache. For a moment, the typewriter felt like a distant memory.

“You don’t have to perform with me,” she said quietly. “Ever.”

Jey smiled, his gaze warm as he reached over to squeeze her hand. “I know.”

----

Later that night, back at home, Titania sat on the couch as Jey sprawled next to her, his head resting lazily against her lap. They were watching a movie—something forgettable that neither of them was paying attention to.

Jey shifted slightly, his voice low as he said, “You know my next show’s in Richmond, right? It’s only like, what, an hour away from here?”

Titania’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“Yeah. You should come,” he said, glancing up at her with a grin. “I want you to see me in action, live. It’s way better than watching on TV.”

Her chest filled with a mix of excitement and nerves. She nodded slowly, a smile tugging at her lips. “I’d love to.”

“Good,” Jey said, leaning back into her lap with a satisfied sigh. “You’re gonna love it. I’ll make sure of it.”

Titania ran her fingers absentmindedly through his hair as he settled in, her thoughts drifting. The day had been perfect—everything she could have wanted and more.

But as the movie played on, her mind wandered back to the spare room, where the typewriter sat waiting. She couldn’t help but wonder if she could make their time together even better, smoother, more perfect.

The temptation was there, whispering in the back of her mind, and it scared her.

The house was quiet again, the kind of deep stillness that made Titania’s thoughts louder than they had any right to be. She stood at the sink, washing the last of the dinner plates as Jey’s laughter echoed faintly in her mind. He had gone to bed early, tired from their day together, leaving Titania alone with her thoughts.

The night had been perfect. Too perfect.

She dried her hands and leaned against the counter, staring blankly at the kitchen window. The reflection of the darkened room stared back at her, and she felt the pull of the typewriter growing stronger with each passing second.

Titania had promised herself she wouldn’t use it again, but the day’s events had rekindled a familiar desire—the need for control, for assurance that nothing could go wrong. Jey’s invitation to his show in Richmond thrilled her, but it also made her stomach churn with nerves.

What if she embarrassed herself? What if she said or did something that didn’t fit into the seamless narrative the typewriter had created?

What if she wasn’t enough?

Her gaze drifted toward the stairs, and she clenched her fists, willing herself to stay put. She didn’t need the typewriter. Jey was already here, wasn’t he? He was real, tangible, warm. She didn’t need to rewrite anything.

But the nagging voice in the back of her mind wouldn’t let go.

----

A little past midnight, Titania found herself standing in front of the spare room. She hadn’t even realized her feet had carried her there until her hand was on the doorknob, the cool metal sending a shiver up her spine.

The room smelled faintly of dust and paper, the air thick with the presence of the typewriter. It sat on the desk, gleaming under the faint light of the hallway, like it had been waiting for her.

Titania stepped inside, her heart pounding as she shut the door behind her. She hesitated for a moment, staring at the machine as if it might spring to life on its own.

“You don’t need this,” she whispered, but her voice sounded hollow even to her own ears.

Her fingers brushed over the keys, the smooth metal cool against her skin. She told herself she was just looking, just thinking. But the familiar weight of the typewriter pulled her in, its promise of perfection wrapping around her like a velvet chain.

The notebook she used for her fanfiction ideas sat nearby, its pages filled with notes, sketches, and stray thoughts. She flipped through it absently, her mind swirling. Maybe she could write something small, something harmless—just to ensure the day of the Richmond show went smoothly.

No, she thought, slamming the notebook shut. This is dangerous. You know it is.

She pushed back from the desk, her breath shallow, and stared at the typewriter like it was a living thing. The temptation was suffocating, its pull relentless.

With shaking hands, Titania turned off the light and left the room, shutting the door behind her. She stood in the hallway for a moment, leaning against the wall, her chest heaving.

It wasn’t over. She knew it wasn’t.

Titania didn’t sleep well that night. She tossed and turned, her dreams a tangled mess of flashing arena lights, cheering crowds, and the rhythmic clatter of typewriter keys.

When morning came, she awoke with the same lingering ache in her chest, her thoughts a jumble of fear and longing.

Jey greeted her with his usual warmth, but even his easy smile couldn’t dispel the storm brewing in her mind. As they sat together over breakfast, laughing and talking about nothing in particular, Titania felt the pull of the typewriter like a shadow at the edge of her thoughts.

It would always be there, she realized, whispering promises of control, tempting her to rewrite the world just a little more.

And deep down, she wasn’t sure she could resist it forever.

----

Want to join the taglist, let me know!

Taglist: @theusotwinzcom @yana3sworld @mikaelsonharem7 @isabella-2025 @bebesobrielo @jstarr86 @jeypunkk @usoholic

Want to read from the beginning, click here

[androxys]

A Catalog of Collections - Reading Batman from 1986-2011 in Trade/Omnibus Formats

So here’s the thing about Batman: he’s got a lot of comics published about him. Like, a lot. DC Comics has been publishing a comic under the Batman title continuously since 1940, and that doesn’t even begin to touch his history in the Detective Comics title (published since 1939) or any of the many other stories that bear his name.

If you want to read Batman comics, it can be intimidating! I get it. That’s a lot of single comic issues to find and read. This is an updated guide to a list I made a bit over a year ago, which aims to catalog collections of the Batman title published between the Crisis on Infinite Earths story (which concluded in 1986) and Flashpoint (which was in 2011). This era is called, with some interchangeability, “New Earth,” “post-Crisis,” “pre-reboot,” or “pre-Flashpoint.”

You may look at that and have a few questions. Just the Batman title? And why only a 25 year span? The first answer is practicality. If I tried to list out every Batman story, we’d be here forever. We’re going to start with his main, self-titled comic and move from there. As for the time period, Crisis on Infinite Earths was a company-wide effort to give characters new histories and stories. This ushered in a new status quo for Batman that set the stage for some of his most iconic stories. Flashpoint was another one of these company-wide reboots, completely resetting Batman (and the whole DC universe) in The New 52. A lot of what we now consider “classic” Batman stories come from this period in between the two resets. This is not to disparage current comics, but merely to comment on the fact that once an era has ended it’s easier to evaluate… and to collect into trade.

Because the (subjective) truth is that collections make it easier to read comics. Why track down five to twelve individual parts to a story when you can buy one book that puts it all together? This is doubly true if the story crosses over with other comics. The trouble is, some stories and their collections are quite famous, while others are less so. That is why this guide exists.

Ultimately, this catalog aims to help present the most complete list of collections of the Batman titles, published between 1986 and 2011, that I can provide. I subscribe to the fourth law of library science, to save the time of the reader, and I hope this list can help make the density of Batman more approachable.

The full list is currently available on my Dreamwidth. I'm currently fiddling with the format so that tumblr will let me post it here too.

[riacte]

Hey so 17 rounds of unhinged Treebark moment polls and I haven’t been updating them since Wild Life / Rats so there’s definitely more. Live laugh love Treebark 💚❤️ the fact that they didn’t talk regularly outside of Rats / Life series makes whatever they have between them even more ridiculous and insane. Straight up long distance platonic situationship communicating via liking clips posted by his mods and yearning for each other under a fanart post and watching a Twitch clip because it’s titled “where’s Ren” and singing Joy to the World when Martyn replied and Ren saying he would take Martyn out on a date and Martyn’s “goddammit Ren” when he listened to Ren sing and

ROUND 3 | MATCH 1

[laurentidal]

Hey Lauren! Do you have a schedule and/or process? You have stories lined up weeks in advance, while I'm struggling to figure out what I'm doing Tuesday. What's your secret?

I'm so happy you asked as it gives me a chance to talk about my favorite piece of software in existence, Obsidian.md. I apologize because where some people probably just have a "I'll post this today" mentality, I am mentally ill and need to build complex systems to keep my brain in check.

Obsidian is how I organize absolutely everything in my life, including my bills, my law school notes, and of course my stories and publishing schedule. I don't mind giving you a little peak behind the curtain of my absolute organizational mania (nor do I mind giving everyone a tiny preview of the things in the hopper).

I have a second blog where I keep all the images that I like that I might one day incorporate into a story, tagged to high-heaven so I can find the thing I'm looking for easily (say, topless and outside). Then once it's ready to work on, I save it to my Obsidian vault.

This is what my workspace looks like where I'm writing:

I typically start with a picture and let the story grow out of it. It's much harder to match a picture to a story that's already grown. Thus the in-depth tagging in my storage blog. I rarely edit, which I KNOW is a bad habit, but it's not one I really intend to work on. I fix typos when I see them though. (Or when people point them out to me.)

All the data about a story is logged in the front matter so it can be analyzed by the vault. Then, based on the Status, and the Publication Date, it's put into the scheduler that's run by an Obsidian plugin called Dataview, which has changed my life (not an exaggeration):

Blue is for anything already out. Green is for stuff finished and in the queue to be published. Yellow is stuff that's done but not scheduled yet. Orange is stuff I've started but am not happy with. Red is stuff that has a title and a picture and nothing else. (Black is stuff Tumblr hid. Sad.) There's also White, which is for copies of my old stories that I've managed to recover from other people's blogs.

The other columns are the Original Publication Date, the Notes (last I checked) and the Rebloggability (calculated by how many times I've reblogged it already and how long it's been since that happened). And there's a special area for the multi-post stories.

I also use Google Calendar:

More color coding. Green for reblogs. Yellow for new posts. Orange for reposts of stories that were on my old blog. Blue for chapters. And Grey for Special.

That's it as far as my process. But if you remember all that frontmatter on the story... Obsidian, Dataview, and another plugin called Charts can team up and give me some dazzling data analysis.

There's about thirty graphs on my Analysis page, so I won't share all of them, but here's what you freaks are into:

I also have some compelling data that you all have short attention spans:

Because that's the most goddamn perfect reverse exponential function I've ever seen, and also the reason I posted zero long story updated in January.

So that's THE PROCESS and by way thereof, THE VAULT. Hope you enjoyed this deep dive into my particular brand of bullshit. I know here in this corner of the world we like spirals, but to me, the sexiest shape is a little box with a little piece of data in it.

[lemonidae]

Coming-of-age BL Manga

Koimonogatari by Tagura Tohru

When Yuiji accidentally overhears his classmate Yamato confessing to another friend that he's gay, his perspective shifts. Seeing Yamato in a new light, Yuiji does his best not to let prejudice color his view, but he still finds himself overthinking his classmates' interactions now. He especially notices the way Yamato looks at one particular boy: Yuiji's own best friend. Even though he tells himself he shouldn't get involved, Yuiji finds he just can't help it; watching Yamato's one-sided love draws him in a way he never expected. At first, it's empathy, knowing that the boy Yamato has his sights on is definitely straight and has no idea. But as his own friendship with Yamato develops and the two of them grow closer through a mutual study group, Yuiji comes to truly care about Yamato as a person, regardless of his sexuality. He only wants Yamato to be happy, and to be able to express his true self.

Status: 2 Volumes (Ongoing)

Tagged: Drama, School Life, Slice of Life, Coming Out, Friendship, Insecurity, Unrequited Love, Romance

Kieta Hatsukoi by Hinekure Wataru

“Aoki, I didn’t know you thought about me that way.” Aoki has a crush on Hashimoto, the girl in the seat next to him in class. But he despairs when he borrows her eraser and sees she’s written the name of another boy—Ida—on it. To make matters more confusing, Ida sees Aoki holding that very eraser and thinks Aoki has a crush on him!

Status: 9 Volumes (Complete)

Tagged: Comedy, Romance, School Life, Bisexual, Misunderstanding, Romance

Hatsukoi Note by Amekiri

Shouya, a high school boy whose heart has never known romance, comes across an internet diary filled with wistful whispers of love toward the writer's same-sex crush. A photo posted to the page provides a hint as to the blog's owner: Tsubame, a fellow classmate known for being a lone wolf. Shouya realizes that his friend Ryuu is the object of the diary writer's affections, so he attempts to play matchmaker…but where will his own feelings take him in the process?

Status: 1 Volume (Complete)

Tagged: Drama, Romance, School Life, Yaoi, First Love, Misunderstanding

Smells Like Green Spirit by Nagai Saburou

Mishima, a student at a school in the countryside, is bullied by his classmates. The reason is because he's seemingly gay. In reality, Mishima does like guys so he doesn't resist their bullying, and instead, finds solace in secretly cross-dressing. One day on the rooftop, Mishima finds the lipstick he'd lost before in the hands of Kirino, one of the bullies… and Kirino was about to put on the lipstick that Mishima used on his own lips. This is the story of young boys looking for a place they can really be themselves…

Status: 2 Volumes (Complete)

Tagged: Drama, Psychological, School Life, Coming Out of the Closet, Countryside, Cross-dressing, Enemies to Friends

CW: Attempted Rape, Bullying, Homophobia

Doukyuusei by Nakamura Asumiko

Hikaru always thought his classmate Rihito was kind of a snob, until he stumbles across Rihito secretly practicing a song in an empty classroom. Hikaru agrees to become Rihito’s music tutor, and with each lesson the two boys grow closer. But when Hikaru realizes that he’s fallen for Rihito, will they stay classmates or become something more?

Status: 1 Volume (Complete) Has multiple sequels

Tagged: Drama, Romance, School Life, First Love, Opposites Attract

Blue Sky Complex by Ichikawa Kei

Narasaki only wanted a place where he could sit and read books in peace, but was blackmailed by his teacher into supervising a delinquent called Terashima while working at the school library. As they spend their days in silent but close proximity, they begin to feel drawn to each other. And then...

Status: 10 Volumes (Ongoing)

Tagged: Drama, Romance, School Life, First Love, Opposites Attract, Yaoi

Usagi no Mori by Enjo

Shunta and Tamaki are childhood friends with a year of difference, but Shunta feels something different towards his friend, an impure, not correct, dirty feeling. As this feeling grows stronger, will the relationship between the two friends also change ...?

Status: 3 Volumes (Ongoing)

Tagged: Drama, Romance, School Life, First Love, Childhood Friends, Psychological, Childhood Trauma, Yaoi

Monotone Blue by Nagabe

Hachi the cat finds most things monotonous, but at the top of his list is high school and all that comes with it. But when Aoi the lizard--a quiet, high-achieving transfer student--arrives, Hachi catches a glimpse of a brighter, more colorful life. If Hachi can help Aoi open up, unlocking new feelings in the process, maybe his life won't be so bland, after all.

Status: 1 Volume (Complete)

Tagged: Romance, School Life, Slice of Life, Anthropomorphism, Romance

This list on MB | more manga recommendations

last edited 19/dec/2024

Recommendations are always appreciated ^^

[strangersteddierthings]

Porcelain Steve - Part 7

Part One🦇Part Two🦇Part Three🦇Part Four🦇Part Five🦇Part Six🦇Part Seven🦇Part Eight🦇Part Nine

((TW for this part; period typical slurs and internalized homophobia. Read the tags before clicking readmore if you want the details))

Steve has been a porcelain doll for seven weeks when disaster strikes.

"What is that," Jeff says, because even though the words are in an order which would suggest that it's a question, the tone of voice Jeff uses decidedly is not questioning.

"What is whaaa-AH! Nothing! It's nothing!" Eddie, who was torso deep into his closet throwing things around to find his backup amp cord, turns to look at what Jeff was talking about, and is now launching himself across his room to stand between Jeff and Porcelain Steve. Porcelain Steve, who Eddie had lain on his bed, propped slightly on a pillow, headphones carefully perched on his little head, hooked to a cassette player currently playing the first hour of last week's Top 40 countdown that Eddie had taped for him (all three hours of it, leaving out the chatter of the radio show host. He'd had to use two tapes to get it all).

"Nothing sure looks a lot like a doll in headphones, Munson," Jeff has an amazing poker face but Eddie's certain he can see a bit of judgement underneath the carefully blank expression Jeff is wearing.

"I don't know what you're talking abo- hey! Hey, no, no, don't!" Eddie tries to bodily block Jeff when he moves forward and the two end up wrestling, a match that Eddie almost wins, if not for the hazard that is his messy room. He gets Jeff walked almost to the door before he steps wrong on something, ankle rolling and sending him down sideways. He clutches at Jeff but can't make purchase and Jeff, the bastard, does fuck-all to try and catch him. Instead, Jeff leaps out of arm's length, then lunges onto the bed as Eddie collapses to his floor.

Eddie frantically tries to stand and, in his haste, ends up with his feet tangled in a pile of dirty laundry and that sends him crashing down again, this time forward onto his hands and knees, so he gives up on standing and crawls the few short feet to the bed, finally looking up to see that the damage has been done.

Jeff has picked up Steve, holding him inches from his own face, eyes squinted in suspicion. Eddie is frozen, horrified and afraid, and can't bring himself to do anything as Jeff examines Steve closely, turning him around, poking his torso, flipping him upside down to examine his shoes more thoroughly. It's only when Jeff reached for the shirt, pinching the hem of it between two fingers that Eddie kicks back into action.

He lunges up, one knee on the bed, leaning over to grab Steve and yank him from Jeff's grip. His first instinct is to throw Steve over his shoulder, out of sight out of mind mentality, but as soon as he does, he realizes his mistake and twists, lunging to catch Steve in midair. He does manage to catch Steve, but it sends him bouncing off his dresser and almost back to the floor before he manager to regain his balance, where he proceeds to cradle Steve to his chest, which is heaving from the adrenaline, wrestling match, and subsequent dive after Steve.

Jeff is giving him a concerned look but something else piques his interest; Jeff reaches over and picks up the headphones, holding them up to one ear. His face goes through every emotion a human could possibly experience in less than fifteen seconds as he listens to whatever track was at the forty-ish minute mark on the Top 40 countdown.

Slowly, Jeff lowers the headphones, letting them drop to the bed before he gives Eddie a new, more judgmental, yet infinitely more concerned, look. "Eddie. What. The fuck."

Honestly, he's not sure there's anything he can say in response.

"Why- I don't... are you okay, man?" Jeff sounds both scared for Eddie, and scared of him, at the same time.

"I'm fine," Eddie manages to squeak out.

"Eddie," Jeff says seriously, "this is not fine. This is- this is insane behavior. You know that, right?"

"I've no idea what you mean," Eddie doesn't even know what he's defending himself from but his default response to anything is to defend himself. He grips Steve tightly around the torso with one hand and then moves both his hands to be behind his back so Jeff will stop staring at Steve.

"I mean this fuckin' insane shrine you have dedicated to Steve fucking Harrington. How did you even get a doll that looks like him. Did you- did you make that?"

Fuck. Holy fuck. What can he say to defend himself here? Is there a single way for him to come out of this not sounding deranged? If he agrees, let's Jeff's drawn conclusion be the truth, then that's all but confirmation to Steve about his big fat crush, so when Steve's back to being Steve he'll never look at Eddie again. Jeff might think he needs mental help, but he'll be here for Eddie. If he tries to deny the accusation, then he'll need an explanation. He'll have to tell Jeff something that make him seem less like a creepy stalker, but what? He can't tell the truth, not without letting everyone know he's going to tell Jeff. There's a whole other secret he'd have to let out to even have a chance of Jeff believing him.

Jeff must take his silence for acceptance or guilt, because he's speaking again. "I.... man, this is not healthy. Please tell me you aren't, like, hoarding a lock of his hair or his clothes or something."

Involuntarily, damningly, his eyes dart to the closet, where several of Steve's sweaters hang from when he'd borrowed them and never returned them. And it's not like Steve doesn't have several of Eddie's own articles of clothing, like his battle vest and a few shirts. But Jeff doesn't know they easily, willingly, swap clothes, so his eyes go wide and dart towards the closet, as if he can pick out which pieces belong to Steve on sight.

Actually, he probably can.

"This really isn't what it looks like," Eddie says because he has to say something. Being silent is too incriminating.

"I don't think you're aware of what this looks like," Jeff says, wiggling himself off of Eddie's bed to stand at the foot of it. "Of all the boys in Hawkins.... I knew you liked Steve but this is.... creepy. That doll looks so much like him that I recognized it. Does Steve know you're in love with him, or is this like a way to process your crush without having to-"

"Jeff!" Eddie yells, mortified. He can feel his whole face heat up, knows he must be bright red. Because Jeff just said, out loud and for Steve to hear, the thing that Eddie very much hasn't even said out loud to himself, even if he knows how he feels deep down.

Jeff must know he's overstepped some invisible boundary he wasn't even aware of because his face immediately shows regret. He takes a step forward and Eddie takes a step back.

Immediately, Jeff stops his forward momentum. "Shit, I'm sorry, Eddie. I'm sorry."

When Eddie answers, his voice sounds like he's been eating gravel, "Just, can you go wait in the living room? I'll be right out, and we can talk, or whatever, but can you just..."

A nod, and then Jeff is gone, closing the door behind him.

With shaking hands, Eddie brings Steve back to the front of him. Looks down at him. He's not even aware he's crying until he watches his tears mark Steve's tiny polo. He can't keep holding Steve. Can't keep looking at him. Not when- not when his best friend just outed him in the worst way possible. And Eddie can't even be upset or hurt about it because Jeff didn't know. He's teased Eddie about his crushes before, and in the safety of his own room, there was no reason for Jeff to have to watch what he was saying.

Even knowing that Steve is okay with Robin, loves her anyway, without the ability to confirm that Steve doesn't hate him right now, Eddie's going to freak out. But he can't. Jeff is waiting in the living room, and the band is waiting back at Gareth's. This was just- they were supposed to just grab the amp cable and get back, a fifteen-minute job at most, and now.

Now Eddie is staring down at Steve, willing himself to not have a panic attack.

"I'm sorry, Steve. I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have heard it like that, it s-should have come from me. It should- you-I'm sorry," Eddie gently underhand throws Steve onto the center of the bed. He lands face up and Eddie sinks to the floor because he can't stand anymore, and he can't really breath.

Steve knows Eddie's a fucking faggot now, and that he wants Steve, and there's no way he'll get to keep the friendship they had before this. There's no universe in which Steve isn't creeped out by this information. There has never been an instance where a straight boy found out about his crush on them and didn't abandon him. Not always cruelly, he'll admit. He's had friends that learned and just... slid from his life with no words and no fuss. Eddie just never spoke to them again because they never came back around, but they also never outed him.

That's what will happen with him and Steve. He'll quit inviting Eddie around, or calling when he's bored, and eventually it will get to the point that Eddie only sees him at BBQ's that Joyce drags him to.

Fuck. FUCK!

He's not sure how long he's on the floor but eventually, he finds the will to get back up and resume digging through his closet to find the amp cord. It doesn't take long, he was ridiculously close to finding it earlier, it seems.

Before leaving his room, he picks back up the cassette player and headphones. Silence comes from them, so he pops the tape out before flipping it to the B side and popping it back in. He puts the headphones around Steve's head again and presses play, doing his best to not actually look at Steve. He'll just have another breakdown if he does.

He trudges out of his room, closing the door behind himself before taking the short walk to the living room, where Jeff waiting on the couch, elbows on his knees, fingers steepled under his chin, eyes faraway as he stares towards the wall in front of him.

"Hey," Eddie says, to get his attention.

"Hey," Jeff says, sitting up straight and turning towards Eddie. "I'm sorry. Whatever I did, I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing? I'm the fucking psycho here," he sighs, leaning sideways against the kitchen counter, arms folded across his chest, hand clutching at the amp cord just for something to ground him.

"Forget that, whatever I did, or said, or whatever, you were- when you yelled my name. You looked terrified. Of me," Jeff almost whispers the last sentence, and if not for the stark silence in the trailer, Eddie wouldn't have heard.

"Not of you, Jeff," Eddie whispers back, but his voice doesn't stay quiet because 'quiet' isn't a thing Eddie does easily or often. "Of... of myself, and these- of how I feel- I'm a goddamned faggot and now that Ste- when Steve finds out I'll lose him! Like I've lost every fucking person who ever even suspected I was a fuckin' queer!"

Silence stretches between them, enough to make Eddie fidget, dropping his crossed arms to twist the amp cord about anxiously with both his hands.

"Look, man, I don't know what's, like, the appropriate thing to say so I'm just going for the honest thing. You got me. You'll never lose me. And all those other assholes that you think you lost? You're wrong. They lost you. And if Steve Harrington is gonna be another one of those, then you aren't losing him. 'Cause he was never really in your corner to begin with."

If this were anyone else, with the exception of his uncle, he would be able to hold it together better. But it's Jeff. His best friend. Who never believed Eddie committed unspeakable horrors over Spring Break last year. Who didn't question the strange, new friends he suddenly had afterwards; who accepted as the only explanation a softly spoken 'they saved me' and that was enough. Who had said 'ok, cool' in response to Eddie telling him he was gay, years ago now, and continued trying to find out if Eddie had a secret relationship, switching girlfriend for boyfriend like it wasn't a big deal (Eddie did not have a secret relationship; his good mood that week was the result of snooping for his birthday present and finding the guitar hidden under his uncle bed).

It's Jeff. So, Eddie does the most metal, manly thing he can and bursts into tears, blindly reaching for Jeff and pulling him off the couch so he can bear hug him and sob into his shirt.

"There, there, you big baby," Jeff rubs his back soothingly, "let it out. Then pull your sorry ass together, because Gareth and Brian are going to think we died in a car crash on the way here if we take much longer."

"Ah, fuck," Eddie manager to say around the sniffling he's trying to get control of, "you're right."

"You good, though?"

"Uh, I will be."

Jeff nods and steps back. "How about this. We go to practice, and then you can come to my place tonight and we can like, hangout and talk. If that's what you want."

He's already nodding as he says, "yeah. That would be good. I- uh, I have something to do after practice, but yeah, after that I'll come over."

Eddie tosses the amp cable to Jeff after they climb into the van and head off.

Halfway there, Jeff says, "you know Gareth and Brian are in your corner, too. If you ever feel like telling them one day."

"One day," Eddie agrees, "but today has already been... a lot."

Practice goes well, with some ribbing for their tardiness allowed. If Gareth and Brian notice Eddie's been crying recently, they keep it to themselves. Which is good, because Eddie cannot handle one more thing today.

A promise to meet up with Jeff later and Eddie's back home.

Back to where he left Steve, who will be laying in silence on his bed because it's been well over two hours since he and Jeff left, and the tape only held an hours' worth of music on each side. Back to the nightmare of not knowing if Steve hates him now, or if Eddie's, and this is the most likely scenario, being a bit overdramatic.

His uncle is home, so he greets him, asks after his day, gets told dinner is Fend For Yourself Night (which just means leftovers or a TV dinner), and gets asked about Steve. Because of course he does.

"You sure he went on a vacation willingly with those parents of his, and he ain't actually kidnapped and trapped somewhere?"

That's a little bit too true. If only Wayne knew. "Well, no. I'm not sure. All I know is what he said when he left."

Wayne gives him a look. One Eddie is used to seeing, that says 'I know more than you think but I'm waiting for you to tell me' and Eddie's a little afraid of what Wayne thinks he knows. So, instead of prying that box open, Eddie just says he's tired and goes to his room.

Steve is exactly where Eddie left him.

Suddenly, without reason or logic, Eddie is angry. He's so pissed at Steve for being gone for this long. For having transformed in the first place. For not being able to assure him they'll still be friends, regardless of Eddie's stupid crush.

He snatches Steve off the bed, hand clamping around one of Steve's arms and his torso so he can hold him up with one hand. Steve's face, permanently stuck into a blank expression, looks back. Even knowing that Steve sees and hears through this thing, Eddie's so angry at the doll. If Steve hadn't been turned into this stupid thing, if Eddie wasn't so helplessly in love with him, this wouldn't have happened. Eddie could have taken his own time telling Steve, instead of hearing his deepest secret spilled easily from Jeff's lips. Instead of this not knowing what Steve is thinking, or how he feels. Is he recoiling in disgust at the fact Eddie's making him look at his face? Or is Eddie being awarded the same kindness as Robin, a quiet acceptance that won't change their friendship?

Eddie doesn't know that answer and he hates it.

He's so angry with himself because he should know better. He's forcing his own insecurities onto Steve, about acceptance and caring, when nothing Steve's done since they've become friends is prove that he'll always be Eddie's friend and not even the apocalypse could change that.

"I'm going to hang out with Jeff, so you're gonna be alone a bit longer. Or maybe I should drop you off at Robin's when I go," Eddie goes to toss Steve back on the bed when something pinches his palm. It's a startling sharp pain, quick to fade, but it's surprising enough for Eddie to let go.

Eddie watches, horrified, as he falls to the floor. He twists in the air, landing with a dull thump and cracking sound on his left arm before falling onto his back.

"Shit. Shit! Fuck, Steve, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to," Eddie is crouched, already in the process of reaching for Steve when he freezes.

There is a crack on Steve's left arm, a line that starts above his elbow on the inside of his arm and runs down and across his arm to his hand, where Steve's pinky finger is gone. Looking slightly to the side, Eddie can see the small porcelain piece that Steve is missing laying on the ground next to him. Eddie's own hand is hovering in the air above Steve, shaking.

This can't be- how did- Eddie wracks his brain. Was the crack there already? Did Eddie cause the crack when he bounced off his dresser earlier? When did it happen? Does that fucking matter when it's Eddie who broke a piece off him? If Steve didn't hate him before, he's got to now. Eddie doesn't have time to panic about this, he's got to- El. El can talk to Steve. Find out if he's okay. What if breaking him-

Eddie launches himself up and to his dresser, grabbing at the Walkie up there. He pulls the antenna up, clicks it on and tries not to actually shout as he says, "Code Red! Code fucking Red!" He lets off the talk button, counts to seven in his head, enough time, he reasons, for someone to respond before he repeats the process. "Code Red!! Code Red!"

He repeats this process for three minutes with no response. Where the fuck is everyone!? How is he supposed to- Oh! The phone!

He tears down the hall and to the phone. He must look a right state, because Wayne looks very concerned and is halfway to standing up when Eddie gets to the phone beside him. He yanks the phone up and dials the number for the Byers-Hopper household, holding up a shaking finger to Wayne, a silent plea to give him a moment.

It rings and rings and rings before the answering machine kicks in. Eddie presses down on the disconnect button before dialing the Wheelers' number next.

"Hello?"

"Mike! Code Red! Where the fuck is everyone and why aren't they answering!?"

"What?"

"Code Red! Where's Nancy. Put Nancy on."

"Dude, slow down, what's-"

"I broke St-it. I broke it and someone needs to get El here now. Code Red does not mean ask questions, Mike! It means Code. Fucking. Red."

"Shit, shit, right! I'll get Nancy and we'll get everyone- just- we'll be there soon."

Eddie slams the phone down and has to meet his uncle's eye now.

"Eddie. What is goin' on?"

Eddie inhales a breath and can feel his lower lip quivering. "It's- can we talk about it later? I promise I'm not the one hurt, or in trouble, or- it's not me, ok. I just-"

"Yer shakin' like a leaf boy. What's got you so spooked?"

Eddie just shakes his head and flees back to his room, slamming the door shut between him and his uncle. He can't bring himself to cross the room to Steve. He slides himself down the door to sit on the floor, pulling his knees up to hug.

"I'm so sorry, Steve. I'm sorry."

[felassan]

^ Notes on today's EA earnings conference call, for Q3 2025.

-> Prepared Remarks | Earnings Release | Earnings Slides | Webcast | Official Transcript (includes Q&A section of call)* <-

* (post will be updated with link to the Official Transcript with Q&A section of the call once that becomes available)

The rest of this post is under a cut due to length.

Mentions (of DA:TV, DA, ME5, ME and/or BioWare) in the Prepared Remarks -

Andrew Wilson: "However, Q3 was not the financial performance we wanted or expected. We know as a leader in global entertainment, great titles – even when built and delivered with polished execution – can sometimes miss our financial expectations. So let me provide more context on the quarter and share actions taken to build momentum as we head into the new fiscal year. Our Blockbuster Storytelling strategy is built on three strategic objectives: First, create an authentic story and experience for the core audience; Second, build innovative, ground breaking features; and third, emphasize high quality launches across both PC and console. In order to break beyond the core audience, games need to directly connect to the evolving demands of players who increasingly seek shared-world features and deeper engagement alongside highquality narratives in this beloved category. Dragon Age had a high quality launch and was wellreviewed by critics and those who played; however, it did not resonate with a broad-enough audience in this highly competitive market."

Stuart Canfield: "Now, turning to the quarter. In Q3, net bookings was $2.22 billion, down 6% year-over-year. Dragon Age: The Veilguard underperformed, highlighting the competitive dynamics of the single-player RPG market, and EA SPORTS FC 25 started strong, but softened through the holiday period. We saw minimal impact from FX within the quarter. Within total net bookings, full game was $633 million, down 3% year-over-year, and live services and other was $1.58 billion, down 8% year-over-year. On a trailing twelve-month basis, live services are 74% of our business. Let me start with Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Historically, Blockbuster Storytelling has been the primary way our industry brought beloved IP to players. The game’s financial performance highlights the evolving industry landscape and reinforces the importance of our actions to reallocate resources towards our most significant and highest-potential opportunities."

Stuart Canfield: "Now, turning to guidance. Two weeks ago, we updated our FY25 guidance. I want to outline the assumptions underpinning our outlook. First, our American Football business remains on track to surpass $1 billion in net bookings for FY25. Second, we’ve revised our expectations to include lower contributions from Dragon Age: The Veilguard."

There were no mentions during the Q&A section of the call.

and there were no further mentions in the call in general.

DA:TV did also appear in the Earnings Slides which accompanied the call, in the following slides:

the next conference call is the Electronic Arts Q4 and FY 2025 Earnings Conference Call. it will take place on Tuesday May 6th 2025. I think they usually take place at 2pm PT.

[source, two]

the next EA earnings conference call is currently scheduled to take place on February 4th 2025. this call will be for Q3 2025. [source]

[blitzwhore]

Okay, here they are! My Stolitz Spotify playlists 🎶

[narugen]

suddenly thought about how reno, similar to mina when she first enlisted - was thrown into a situation where they were known to be gifted/talented and had to put their lives at risk right off the bat.

except. mina clearly and obviously looks out for reno and places him in the division with a captain whom she KNOWS will nurture and look after him well. because mina herself understands what it’s like to be thrown into the battlefield with one big weapon for the first time…

and she doesn’t want reno to go through the same fear she did… it also helps that unlike mina who was alone, iharu was with him 🥲

mina you are SO SO SO KIND!!!!!!!!! giving reno the support that she never got…

[its-me-seven-eleven]

update: he got out

[sentientcave]

Mood board for my latest project. Little bit of it below the cut.

You eat the lunch you packed and pull off your sweater, the noon sun warming you up enough to not need it, at least for the moment. You putt along to a new spot and try fishing again, this time catching three good sized fish. Surprising, considering the time of day, but sometimes you get lucky. You're thinking about heading back home when you spot a flash of white under the water.

You grab your camera, determined to be ready. And then a grey shape launches out of the water and into your boat, nearly capsizing it. The white orca sluices through the water next to your boat a moment later, regarding you disdainfully with one bloodshot eye. He flicks his tail as he dives again, soaking you and your passenger.

Your seal friend makes himself comfortable at the prow of the boat, entirely too pleased with himself.

"You're on thin ice, mister!" You tell him, turning back the way you'd come. Thanks to him you missed your photo and nearly went for a swim in deep water. You're pretty sure he couldn't help you out of that situation even if he wanted to, especially with a hunter swimming just below. You certainly don't want four inch teeth biting you in half.

Of course, you don't want to see your friend get eaten in front of you either. You know its the way of the ocean, but he's your little buddy.

The white orca cuts across your path again. You stop your engine, heart hammering, and grab your camera. He disappears into the depths for a moment, and then jumps a little ways away. If you didn’t know better, you’d say he was showing off. You get several quick snaps that you know will be gorgeous— Water droplets catching the sun, his ghostly white body stark against the backdrop of the dark ocean. You grin at the seal, and yelp when something thumps the bottom of your boat, rocking it harshly.

Then the white orca (he needs a name, so you land on Ghost) surfaces next to you, terrifyingly close, and spits water at the seal.

“Holy shit,” you breathe, adjusting your lens for the close contact, camera shutter clicking away as you shoot pictures. Ghost eyes you, and then spits water a second time. The seal looks deeply offended, but not concerned, even with his hunter bobbing in the water a few feet away. “Aren’t you a pretty boy.”

He is pretty. A juvenile, maybe, now that you see him up close— He’s a bit small for an orca, but he’s all alone out here, no pod to speak of, and a juvenile wouldn’t survive on it’s own. As if he can hear your compliment, he creaks at you.

The seal barks back. He seems offended by Ghost’s presence. Understandable, since Ghost was trying to eat him earlier. You get a few funny snaps of the two of them regarding each other over the rim of the boat, having a conversation that you have no way of understanding. You feel a bit insane. A bit like you’re going to wake up laying in the bottom of your boat any minute, and this will all be a funny dream.

[concernedbrownbread]

Hi I read your This Unbearable Tragedy and I’m having a blast! And yes please I would like to hear your thoughts on your fic

OMG thanks for asking!! Sorry for the late reply. I had so much to say that I wrote wayyy too much and then had to cut it down, lol.

(Also for those reading the fic rn, Chapter 3 is delayed to next weekend.)

So, the main things that I immediately thought of when I started planning a fix-it was "there's not enough Ben in s4" and "why would they set Allison and Reginald up to parallel each other and not follow through?" and also "that is NOT where I saw these characters going". In essence, I thought that s3 was setting up a certain narrative with all of this and then was like ???? when they went (haha) off the rails. So I'll talk about those three points below. SPOILERS for the fic and s4. It's a long post!

Before I start: one of the major points of this fic (and s4 ig) is that timelines are spilling into each other. That doesn't just mean artifacts. It means people. The Keepers get memories of other timelines. Why shouldn't Ben and Reginald?

Character Arcs

Yeah ... I think the general consensus was that the characters weren't themselves in s4. I actually had no problems with the set-up in ep 1-2, but then ... Five and Lila happened. And the narrative seemed to hate Diego, reduce Luther to a himbo and not much else, and for some reason try very hard to make Reginald a dad to Viktor. Klaus, Allison and Claire had a kind of nice sideplot but I didn't love it. It tortured Klaus for no real reason and made Allison his saviour? And for what?

Anyway, for my fic, I start off the characters the same with some subtle differences.

We don't see Diego at his job. His job is to be a dad. That's his whole thing, that's the best part of him. He's a brother and he's a father, and the narrative will reward him for that

Lila starts by screaming. Can you tell she's NOT okay? She deserves a break and a breakdown, and she'll get both I swear. She is NOT a house wife because she simply wouldn't be. She loves working. I did almost make Diego a househusband though

Side note on Lila's parents: they don't exist because why on earth would Allison think of that and not think of bringing Sissy back? It's clear her fantasy timeline is selfish.

Luther is a stripper still but again, his job is a side note. His first scenes is with Klaus (which, again, was a relationship set up in s3 and never explored??). He's trying damn hard to keep his family together and I want people to appreciate that!!

Allison's first scene is still the studio, but I wanted to expand it to include Klaus. Her story is still of love.

Also Klaus has his own place because he has goddamn agency in this narrative. He and Luther deserve to have a home of their own, and they'd make hilarious roomates imo.

Ray of course, exists

Five is interesting to me because while it makes sense for him to be in the CIA, I can't see him staying with the CIA. This will be explored in ch5. I have a really cool piece written for him.

Viktor my beloved <3 I have no notes, I just want to say I love him. I will of course not let him near Reginald unless to beat Reginald up.

Anyway, I'm going to write a whole separate post for the characters. You opened the Pandora's box anon!

Ben (and Klaus)

I gotta say ... I tried, I really tried, to like Jennifer. She's just such a non-character. We know very little about her, her trauma barely gets explored, the Squid is stupid because all it does is exist and then Ben is like "hehe I have tentacles too! Means we're connected" WHAT?

I was excited for Jennifer. Curious about the Jennifer Incident. Very vindicated when I learned Reginald killed them because lets face it, that's super in-character. But I just ... couldn't get behind Jennifer. So I scrapped her.

Look, if there was anyone that Ben was going to be soulmates with, it was Klaus (platonically).

I mean, isn't that what we learned over two seasons? That Ben and Klaus are inseparable?

(I also don't get the whole Durango thing. TUA has never been all that science-y but at least they tried, but this season they didn't care at all. They really just threw in matter/dark-matter and pretended it was something.)

Anyway, I also don't understand why the fact that Ben was DEAD in another timeline is never bought up properly. In fact, Ben is barely bought up by the siblings? After they discuss his death, they all go off on their own. Viktor's the only one who seems to care (which is fine, I love Viktor and seeing him try to reach out to Ben was nice). Five and Diego are fighting each other during their fight against Ben??? Doesn't make sense - Five saves Ben in s3, Diego hugs Ben so tightly in s2, WHERE. IS. THE. PAYOFF.

(I think that is really what I hated about s4. There is no payoff to all that was built in s1-3. They bring in whole new narrative points without concluding the old ones, and then everyone dies. The end. UGH.)

Anyway, MY BEN needs his Klaus. His memories are a little janky, because timelines, but there has always been one constant. There has always been Klaus. I think even in childhood, they were close (and I'll try to explore that more in the memories). More than that though, Ben needs his FAMILY.

And he might deny that they are his family, but they are. And they will do so much to help him. Including, but not limited to, BEATING REGINALDS ASS (/j)

Allison and Reginald's choice

Okay, the final scene in s3 where we see Allison & Ray and Reginald & Abigail made me think that s4 was going to take this further. Allison and Reginald both made a selfish choice - not in resetting the timeline, but in directly going against the wishes of the loved ones they magicked into the timeline. Ray in s3 is very clear that though he loves her, and will always love her, his place is in Dallas 1963, where he has people he cares about. A life he cares about. Abigail is a bit more subtle, but I remember thinking that it was clear that she wanted to die/was content with dying. I was a pretty casual fan then so I don't know if this was true, but that was the vibes I got from s1, and I was pretty happy that s3 confirmed it just ... not in the way I wanted? I don't mind she destroyed the world because she wanted to die - it's clear Abigail and Reginald think themselves above human lives. I just wish they explored it more.

And again, this parallel was something I got from just the ending of s3. It wasn't a deepdive or anything. I feel like it was such an obvious choice for s4 to go "What happens if you can't let go of the person you love?" And then ... they don't even mention Ray properly. Damn.

I just don't understand why they didn't do it? They set it up so perfectly. UGHHHH.

The main reason Ray exists in my fic is because Allison has to reckon with the fact that she really did pull Ray out of his time, out of his life. And I want her to realise how awful a choice that was. At the same time, I want Reginald to face the exact same thing and choose to do the opposite - hold onto Abigail tighter. Chapter 3 is going to explore a bit more of Allison and Ray, while further down the line we'll see more and more of Abigail.

(ALSO OMG!!! Abigail and Five parallel each other in wayyy more interesting ways than Reginald and Five. I cannot WAIT to write that. But this is more a headcanon hehehehe.)

Other Notes

I think s1-3 set up a lot of things that I assumed was going to be explored and wasn't. I'm going to try and touch upon all of them

the Jennifer Incident felt lacking. s1-2 really were so good because there was a slight mystery to it all, and when there wasn't, there was a ton of dramatic irony - ofc we knew Viktor was the bomb, but it was interesting to see the family figure out that mystery. In the same way, ofc we know Ben is the bomb, but I really though s4 would allow the family to actively search for why and how to stop him. I'm more of a angst & fluff writer but I shall try to write some semblance of mystery here.

Marigold. I will explore. I have Thoughts. chapter 3 will answer more on why it was found by Ben in particular.

Relationships that were set up in s1 will be revisited because as the "last season" I expected it to be. Ofc, Klaus and Ben is the big one, but also Klaus-Diego, Viktor-Allison, Allison-Luther, Five-Viktor, etc. Some new ones will be there, especially with Ben who had little interactions (on account of him being a ghost) and with Lila.

Five continues to be old man on this side of crazy. Sometimes he has good advice. Other times his ideas are unhinged. Early chapters he's mellow because life is normal now but when things go to shit ... oh boy let's NOT forget how paranoid this guy is.

Lila is also a little crazy. Good for her.

Commission!Five is explained more than just a throwaway line in the Five Deli. Five Deli and the Subway is explored more too ofc.

DOLORES MENTIONED BECAUSE SHE IS GODDAMN IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTANDING FIVE. Not even as a "love story" (Five's love story is his familial one), just as a part of his psyche. She is mentioned in EVERY season. She deserves to be mentioned here.

Pogo. I will not say more.

Reginald. Is Reginald.

Anyway, I have a lot more to say but I'll stop here. Sorry this is so long! Thanks for the ask <3

[thatonefreemanversefic]

ITS THAT TIME AGAIN EXCEPT 2 DAYS LATER!!

Sorry for being late, I am the pinnacle of health I swear (me when I lie)

Anyways, Goodbye Black Mesa East!

[requiesticat]

Sorry for not being online much. Dealing with some bad stuff irl right now, but trying to push through it. Found a job, dealing with housing issues

Awhile back, I said I was thinking of writing a Starbound fic. Caved and did just that

[timoothy]

[ID: A title that reads: It‘s A Loop. Next to it is a yellow goat. /ID END]

SUMMARY:

It's quite a day: Nearly getting hit by a truck, drenched in hot coffee and then asked to help get rid of a dead body. Thank god, Ted doesn't have to relive that day ever again. Right?

Or: Ted Spankoffski finds himself in a timeloop. And he's not alone.

to quote Emma Perkins in the 2018 hit musical The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals: "It's just a fucking loop?!"

CHAPTER 1: The Goat On The Intersection