#if he is still alive this would make him 29 in tv show still too young he doesn't deserve being called elder

[nthflower]

I realised elder maxson is the same age as me now this is so fucked up.

They put some 20 year old as head of their organisation because nepotism.

Another very common brotherhood of steel L

[lovestuckyhatemarvel]

My bastard boy cat was a bastard child to my old lady cat and just kneaded a blanket while yowling as if he’s the one who was put upon. Anyway, here’s Stranger Things Season 4 Episode 6. Let’s see what’s dumber: the show or my cat.

1.) Patrick’s corpse looks too goofy for me to feel bad for Jason right now.

2.) “Eddie is a vessel for Satan.” Lmao this was a dude who like last episode swore he didn’t believe in the Supernatural. Not to tell him his business but I would not be jumping to Satan even when I was a kid who believed in that shit.

3.) Also, maybe the cops should be worried about a teenager who already hunted down Eddie once when he’s being like ‘EDDIE IS A VESSEL FOR THE DEVIL’. Like I’m gonna be real with you, small town cops will put you in psych ward against your will for less.

4.) I need everyone to understand that even though America’s military fucking LOVES torture, torture does not work. It does not work. It will get you a false confession long before it will get you a real one. Part of the problem though is that media fucking looooooooves torture. Like this isn’t bullshit ‘media makes you violent’ nonsense. Congress literally cited the show 24 during talks about whether torture works. Because it always worked in the fictional bullshit garbage TV show 24.

5.) The shot of El walking down a hall with a team behind her while Brenner talks about how she had a LITERAL STROKE is hilarious.

6.) To be clear, you do not repair broken or dead connections in your brain. Once those are dead, they’re dead forever. They do not come back. You create NEW routes.

7.) Can we talk about how Kali has not been mentioned once? Did the Duffers forget she exists? Like Brenner sucks but he’s not an idiot, so he should be aware that someone is killing people from the fucking place.

8.) Sneaky Eddie steals a walkie with his tongue out.

9.) I love that Robin talked about Eddie’s doe eyes.

10.) The cops releasing Eddie’s name and photo as a ‘person of interest’ in this town based on Jason’s stupid testimony that sounds insane is B-B-B-Bonkers.

11.) Poor Eddie is like, very close to a breakdown and I do not blame him.

12.) Why can’t they just tell Argyle that Suzie’s family is Mormon.

13.) Okay no one ever mentions people are being bonkers in Suzie’s house. Also there are so many kids.

14.) Argyle has a mega crush on Eden that people also never mention.

15.) I’m glad Joyce and Murray survived their plane crash but how did they do that with zero injuries.

16.) Oh, the traitor is still alive too.

17.) I will say that leaving someone in the middle of nowhere tied to a tree is actually killing him. Lmao Like not to get into ridiculous semantics, but just because it wasn’t directly 100% by your hands doesn’t not make it murder.

18.) Yuri decides to help them though because the show can’t actually have either of them do anything terrible.

19.) Oh Antonov is like, catholic or some shit.

20.) What is with this feast?

21.) Hopper was doing SOMETHING on the floor during this rando telling people about upside down monsters.

22.) Hopper was the first dude to figure out the last meal shit????

23.) has anyone edited this plinking scene with El to put a horse into it?

24.) Brenner saying One didn’t exist is hilarious. Like, no kids, we just started at 2 for funsies. Like maybe just say he died or something.

25.) Oh now they finally mention Kali, but still no mention or attempt from anyone actually in charge. Just a memory of a mention.

26.) “We should have just told her the truth”. Sirs, I don’t think you actually know the truth.

27.) When exactly did Steve practically invent Skull Rock as a make out spot?

28.) Lucas is so goddamn sweet.

29.) Why would Robin of all people hint that Nancy and Steve should get back together???????

30.) Robin and Nancy are cute.

31.) Dustin’s dads calling him a butthead is great.

32.) this town hall is bullshit.

33.) Oh god, Jason and his stupid crew. I hate his stupid face. Also suddenly he’s not giving details. Probably because no one would actually believe him. Why doesn’t he just say ‘vessel for Satan’?

34.) Oh suddenly some of the people in the crowd realize their kids are accused cult members.

35.) Jason I wanna beat you silly.

36.) WHY THE FUCK HAS NO ONE CUT HIS MIC? WHY HAS NO ONE ARRESTED HIM FOR ATTEMPTING TO INCITE A GODDAMN RIOT?

37.) Jesus Christ, Powell, you are 5 minutes late and a dollar short.

38.) why are they lying to Susie oh my god.

39.) I love Eden.

40.) Karen, don’t call the cops, oh my god.

41.) “The thing I do now, apparently. I ran.” This implies that this is a new development for Eddie.

42.) Dustin’s gate reveal.

43.) Steve pointing out they can’t put Eddie in danger via a walk in the words.

44.) I’m gonna be real with you, technically Eddie’s statement is nonsense since the Shire isn’t burning into after everyone gets back from Mordor.

45.) IDK who needs to hear this but putting extra black people in the show just for most of them to be background or killed is like, not actually representation.

46.) It’s actually kind of nonsense that Henry is so obsessed with El in the past.

47.) Yuri has a point. He doesn’t need to need to do anything to them at this point. Either they succeed or they die.

48.) Ohhhhhhh Murray is now Yuri and Yuri is now Murray. That’s smart. Maybe. If they’d actually established that no one knows what Yuri looks like, which they didn’t do that first.

49.) Antonov is kind of right about hope. Also, people can absolutely defeat a demogorgon. Hopper should know that. So man I hope this is a distraction or something, because damn, otherwise what are you doing?

50.) Oh Hopper and Antonov got taken out.

51.) I also don’t know how they got a demogorgon here.

52.) Oh, Hopper did have a plan. Good job, bud.

53.) Okay I know what the internet is and I know how I got access to it in the 90s, but I just realized I don’t know how Suzie’s household has it in the 80s.

54.) Oh, Eden and Argyle were getting high.

55.) Maybe one of you two cops could have actually done something about Jason before he became a riot inducer. Maybe when he accused Eddie of being an agent of Satan.

56.) Robin would put Nancy in charge.

57.) “Miss you already.” Robin, you’re the queen of my heart.

58.) What’s with the bully group of kids?

59.) For real why do these kids fucking hate El?

60.) El literally does not know what happened?

61.) Nancy watching Steve and Robin watching Nancy and Eddie watching Steve. Also, Max approves of Steve’s chest hair, almost guaranteed.

62.) Merman Steve Harrington. He can hold his breath for at least a minute.

63.) Max distracting the cops.

64.) damn he really does get just yanked across the ground.

65.) Nancy jumps in. Dustin gets caught by the cops. Robin follows. Eddie calls it stupid and then follows seconds after.

66.) Steve’s first time in the upside down. And he gets to fight mutant bats with an oar and immediately get his ass kicked as he’s strangled. There was like, definitely a version of this where he died.

[finelinevogue]

Can you do one where Harry take his children and YN to one of his concert and their just dancing around singing along on stage with Harry.

i love this concept so much!! i kinda of wanna make it sad though soooo it’s gonna be harry’s final show :/ hope you enjoy;

oli - 29, felix - 27, belle - 24

The concert had been amazing, but unfortunately it was coming to its’ end now.

The final show.

That’s what Harry had decided to call it; a clever play on words with reference to his first ever solo single. The last 50 years had been a rollercoaster for Harry, from growing up just a kid in Cheshire, to going on the X Factor and winning the hearts of millions and from being in the most successful band of the decade to going solo and still being absolutely beloved. Times had changed, though. Harry had changed. He had a beautiful family of 3 now, excluding his wonderful wife. His children were his universe, no question about it, but they were getting older now - Harry was getting older. He was 50 this year and with that in mind he’d decided to retire. Retiring had involved a long conversation with you, along with a bottle of red wine, about whether it was the right decision or not. But it was - is.

You had suggested he put on one final, massive show, to celebrate his life and his achievements along with all that the fans have too. Tickets were open internationally and it was being streamed on various TV outlets for those who couldn’t attend. The tickets sold within 47 seconds. 47 seconds. It was being held in the Olympic Stadium in London, because it was Harry’s home and it held the most number of people he could genuinely allow.

The concert had started with ‘Fine Line’ songs, which merged into HS1 songs with a few One Direction songs as well. The entire set list had been composed by the fans with various polls on social media, with the concert supposedly lasting 2 hours (although with support artists and a few extra surprises it was more likely going to be 3!)

It had been beautiful so far. Magical. Unforgettable.

Every chance he got, without making it grossly obvious, he looked at you. He'd told you to stick your thumbs up at him every time he caught your eye, so he knew that you were okay - and every time, you did.

The concert was coming to an end now, which everyone was dreading. How could +30 years feel like it'd only been thirty minutes? You were devastated, so you could only imagine what his fans were thinking.

"Hey!"

The end Kiwi, for the second time, strummed throughout the arena and you knew it was time for the final song. His final song.

"Mum, is this the end?" Belle asked you, from where she was standing next to you. You had been dancing together all night and gotten progressively more tired. Your feet hurt. Your throats burned. Yet, as always, it was so worth it.

"Yes, Belles, it is." You tell her, and she pouted sadly. "Dad won't want to see you sad love, okay? He can still sing to you before bed?" You teased her, reminding her of a time when Harry would do such a thing, not wanting her to be all sad. It was supposed to be a celebration, but even you could admit that is was pretty hard-hitting.

"Really mum?" She asked.

You booped her nose annoyingly, before answering. "Every night if you want him to."

The lights changed from their green tone, thanks to Kiwi, back to a bright, white light. It beamed on Harry, making him look even more like the angel that he is. He dragged his microphone back to the centre stage and took a deep breath for beginning a speech he'd told you he'd prepared.

"So this is it, my friends." He laughed sadly into the microphone. He brushed his hair back and took out his in-ears to hear the audience. They were all awwing and crying, but what else did you expect? Their favourite artist was retiring - who wouldn't be crying a river?

"I, um. I'd like to take a bit of time to thank certain people." He coughed, something he always did after performing Kiwi due to his asthma. You thought it was lovely that he'd planned a speech to thank his management and crew. They did so much work backstage and you definitely didn't think they got enough credit for their hard work.

"Okay. I've made a little list..." Harry pulled out a tiny bit of crumpled paper from his pocket. "Just in case I forget anyone." He joked to himself, but made everyone laugh anyways. "So I guess first off, I should start with you lovely people." He pointed around the whole stadium, showing he was talking about the fans. "What you have done for me is indescribable. I think to myself, everyday, am I worthy of even being here—"

"Yes!" An army of agreement echoed around the arena, making Harry stop, blush and smile to himself.

"Well thank you! Um. You have been the best fans ever, and I know you will continue to be. I know you don't owe me anything, but all I ask you to keep loving yourselves and treating people with kindness, because I know I can count on you lot to do that, for me." He sniffled at the end, making you bite your lip to prevent the tears from falling for you. He looked so vulnerable right now, but you knew he'd be feeling on top of the world.

"Jheez." He sniffles again. "That's one thank you down and i'm already crying." He looked to his band to share the joke with.

“Dad’s such a wuss.” Oli laughed, holding his arm around Beas waist, making the people around you chuckle in agreement.

“Shut up you - Mr-tears-in-your-eyes!” You pointed out, laughing as he flipped you the bird - which then got him a hit off his grandma Anne.

All of Harrys family and friends were here, in a special cornered off section. It was such a thoughtful thing for Harry to do. All his family, and a fair few of yours, were sat down along with Harrys closest friends. Everyone was sharing laughs and drinks, whilst using every inch of space to dance along to your husbands boastful music.

"Secondly, my touring family. From Jeff and Ben, to Sarah's Kitchen, Adam, Mitch, Sarah, Charlotte and Nyoh, not forgetting everyone backstage and behind the lights, music and cameras. You've all been the greatest. Everything you do is second to none. You're all talented, warm-hearted, people whom I will carry in my heart forever. Thank you." You noticed members of the crew and band starting to tear up now.

"Moving on to my boys. We've been through it all, lads, and I couldn't have asked for four better brothers than you all. Louis. Liam. Niall. Zayn. Thank you." Everyone cheered ten times louder, maybe because this was as close to a One Direction reunion as the fans were ever going to get, but definitely because Harry had mentioned Zayn. You saw a girl faint at the mere mention of all the boys in the same sentence. The boys lifted up their beers to Harry, stood close by to where you were standing.

"I guess I should say thank you to the women who made all this possible. Mum. Gem. Thank you for signing me up all those years ago. Thank you for believing in me. You've made me the - crap, sorry! - the man I am now and I love you both." Harry prayed to them both, whilst bowing, and swiftly wiped away the tears afterwards. Anne and Gemma, on the other hand, were proudly crying.

"Ol, Fix and Belles. You rascals make me get out of bed every morning and give me more of a purpose in life. You four give me so much joy and happiness. I love you all, even if you do drive me up the wall on an early Saturday morning! Thank you, my loves." You stood close to all your children, giving them the support they needed in this moment. Belle was crying against your chest, the ever-so-emotional woman she was. Felix was stood up, with Heather, with his drink raised to his dad. Oli was to your side, trying to remain cool and stoic, but you still caught the tears that ran down his face.

"Now." The audience calmed down again after awing over your babies. Harry cleared his throat before beginning again. "This evening keeps on reminding me of a very special person in my life. Someone who is my everything and that's my beautiful wife, Y/N." His words make your breath hitch in your throat. You never expected him to say anything about you. I mean, what had you done?

"Mum." Belle called out to you, in affirmation that this was real.

"She's more than just a wife. She's a lover. She's my muse. She's my best-fucking-friend, apologises for swearing but sue me. I was hesitant to let go of all this, at first. What would I do with myself now? You know? People tell me i'm 'happiest on stage', and for a time that was true. Until I met Y/N. She's made me realise that family makes me the happiest. She makes me the happiest." He jumped down off stage, taking the microphone with him. He ran his hands along the fans in the front row, but had no intention of stopping until he met you.

You felt Belle leaving your side, but you were too captivated by Harry to fully understand what was happening.

"So what am I going to do now, you ask? Well..." Harry cheekily smiled at you. "I'm going to make her the happiest woman alive, just as she makes me the happiest man." You began to cry again and the chorus of thousands of fans clapping and screaming surrounds you, only to all stop when his lips meet yours. He tasted like a combination of salty sweat and mint, but he was home. After a minute of crying, kissing and 'i love yous' , Harry ran back to the stage before Jeff could shoot him.

"Thank you all. All my love." He said whilst adjusting his microphone. "Please sing along if you know the words." He asked, full well knowing every single person will be screaming out the lyrics to him.

"Just stop you're crying it's the sign of the times. Welcome to the final show. Hope you're wearing your best clothes."

[littlegodzilla]

That awkward moment when you met Norman Reedus. NormanxFemReader 1/6

Hi!

Here I come with another thing.

I can say this is a 'request' from @srhxpci because she gave me the idea, I had something similar in my mind time ago but never had the time to write and when she gave me the idea I was like "C'mon I going to do this!" So...finally it will be a mini-serie maybe 5 or 6 chapters, I'm not sure yet.

so, thanks for the idea!!

I hope you all like it!!

That awkward moment when you met Norman Reedus. 1/6

Norman Reedus (45) Reader (29) 'Request' from @srhxpci : They work together, they became friends, and then lovers, there's a gap age and I add a little smut (sorry I can't not do that). Warning this chapter; None. some misunderstanding. Summary: You were part of the cast of the series, but your first meeting with Norman didn't go too well, now after many years, you can say that you are very good friends. Norman wants to invite you to his own show, why not? it will be fun! N/A: Non canon of the TV show. taglist: @phoenixblack89 @browneyes528 @pncnsc @lilythemadqueen @purple-serenity @twdeadfanfic

1. The Beginning.

"Daryl!" You called out to him grabbing him by the arm. The hunter turned to you, biting his lip nervously staring at you waiting for you to say something. "Promise me one thing... promise me you'll come back alive..." You pleaded squeezing his arm with your hand, your other arm in a sling.

"I can't promise ya that." He replied hoarsely, a growl vibrating at the end of his sentence.

"You don't have to go, you know that..."

"This is my fault, I have to go." He jerked and let go of your grip ready to leave.

You hesitated, it was only for a second, but you finally ran up to him as he was about to leave the room. You held his arm again and when he turned to look at you you stood on tiptoe and kissed his lips.

It was a very slight gesture, you just pressed your lips against his feeling them vibrate on your partner's with hesitation and embarrassment. You slowly broke away to look at him, your mind completely blank, dread running through your mind reflecting in your eyes. You saw him make a very discreet grimace before grabbing the back of your neck and leaning over you to kiss you again. A little more intense getting your brain to 'click' again. When you broke apart your sentence was burning on the tip of your tongue, but he stepped forward.

" I'll be back. I promise" He whispered in a whisper before breaking away, adjusting the crossbow on his back and disappearing out the door.

"CUT!"

The director's voice echoes through the prop room and Norman pokes his head back through the false door he came out of with a smile on his face.

"Did it look good?" he asks amused seeing the affirmative gesture from the rest of the crew and walks over to you.

"Thanks for saving the scene." You say to the man who is still smiling at you amused and shrugs shaking his head. "I've suddenly gone blank..."

"It's the effect of kissing Norman Reedus. It happens to all of you." He struts off laughing at your offended gesture and snort a laugh.

"Yeah, right, if you call that a kiss..." You try to prod him and he catches you in his arm sticking out his tongue ready to lick your face as he always does to tease you. "No, Norman! NO!" You struggle with him, but it's impossible, his bicep nearly choking you. Neither of you stop laughing.

"Come on guys, give us the stage, you have forty minutes break." You are informed and the two of you get out of there so the rest of the team can continue working.

NINE YEARS EARLIER.

You were nervous, not quite sure where the hell you had gotten the courage to find yourself right there in the middle of the huge queue waiting to enter the building.

It was an audition for the next season of one of the series that was all the rage at the time. The main cast was almost complete but they needed new people for several recurring characters that would appear for the first time in the story. You were interested, you liked the story, you had seen the first few seasons and when you heard there was an audition where you lived you plucked up the courage to apply.

You looked around and saw that there were many girls your age and even younger, they were also much prettier than you, which made your spirits decrease, but when you realized it was your turn, you were at the door and they were asking your name. With a stutter you introduced yourself being guided to a room where there was a table with several people taking notes, waiting for you. The nervousness became much more intense in you, but you stood before them introducing yourself once again, attentive to their indications.

"You tell us your name, age and the character you want to play, okay?" One of them said to you turning on a camera they had on the table.

"Okay..." You nodded and introduced yourself. "I'm twenty years old and I'm coming for the role of Julie."

They nodded letting you continue. Julie was an original comic book character, Tyreese's daughter, but in the show they were going to put a different spin on it, they weren't looking for a person with any special characteristics, just an age range of 18 to 25. They gave you some guidelines of what you were to do, so you took a deep breath, laid out the scene in your mind and picked up the stick of a broom to use as a weapon and felt your eyes fill with tears before you started.

"Okay, that's enough." You heard one of them as you finished your interpretation. You got up from the floor wiping your tears and repositioning the broom again. "Since we have your details, when we are done with all the casting if we are interested we will call you."

"Great, thank you so much for the opportunity." You said goodbye with a fond smile and walked out feeling your heart hammering hard in your chest.

You walked out of the building and it seemed like the line was much longer now, you walked away wishing the rest of the people still there luck and looked at your watch. You still had time to go home to take a shower before going to work.

You really had nothing to lose. You hadn't studied anything related to theater or representation, so you doubted they would want someone like you in a series that was on everyone's lips, but you had to admit that you had fun auditioning.

You took off your white jacket when the shift was over and rubbed your eyes hard, feeling like you were about to fall over. Sleep had taken over you several hours ago, you had a double shift and it had been a hard day, too many people to deal with in a short time and you alone, but it was over and you didn't have to go back until the day after tomorrow afternoon. You said goodbye to your boss with a friendly nod and left the pharmacy to go home and sleep until it hurt.

The next day you were startled by the ringing of your cell phone. You looked around not knowing where you were until you discovered the phone vibrating on top of your bedside table. You sat up and answered it without looking at the screen.

"Hello?" you mumbled, rubbing your eyes.

"Honey, I didn't wake you up, did I?" Your mother's voice shook you for a moment, what time was it there? You frowned looking at the screen of your phone checking the time, ten o'clock in the morning.

"No, mom, I just didn't expect you to call him."

"Your brother gave me a watch so I would know what time it was there and since you had a night shift last night and didn't tell me anything..."

"I was out very late and it would be early morning there, I wasn't going to call." You explained clearing your head completely and getting out of bed yawning. You needed a coffee.

"A message at least, you know I like to know you're okay." She protested offended and you couldn't help but smile understanding her concern, you were her youngest daughter and you had thrown yourself into the world at barely 20 years old, it was normal for her to be scared.

"I'm fine mom, work is going well, there are hard days, but it's usually quiet and I don't do a lot of double shifts, which is fine." You informed her as you brewed the coffee pot and made yourself breakfast.

"But...?" your mother's voice sounded concerned and you stopped in your tracks.

"But?"

"Yeah, you don't sound very convinced, it sounds like there's something you're not telling me."

You were surprised. You sighed smiling against the phone, you hated that motherly sixth sense I had.

"It's nothing, well... nothing important, it's silly actually, but..."

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing! Really, it's nothing, it's just that well... yesterday I went to a casting..."

"A casting? Are you going to change your job?"

"No, no, a casting for a TV show." You bit your lip and waited. Your mother was speechless on the other end of the line, you knew what was going through her mind, you knew the face she was making at that moment, she wasn't happy, the fear that something bad could happen gripped her, nervousness and doubt playing tricks on her. "Mom." You called out to her to get her to react. "Don't freak out, okay? I'm not going to quit my job, it was just a test, I had time before I went to work and it was close to here and..."

"Tell me you're not going to do anything crazy, please." She replied at last with a frightened tone.

"Of course not, seriously, mom it was just an audition, I'm not giving up my job for anything."

"What if they call you wanting you to act?" she asked her voice sounded intrigued now and you laughed.

"It's an important series, I highly doubt they'd waste their time with someone who has no idea." You laughed taking the coffee pot off the stove and grabbing the milk from the fridge. "And if it happened I'd already think about what I'd do..."

"What show is it? Maybe we'll see you next season." She joked and you felt some relief that your mother's tone was already calmer.

"I doubt it, it's about zombies and the dead and stuff, mom, you guys don't like them." You scoffed listening to her protests.

Talking to your mother was always intense. You had a lot to catch up on, you could spend hours glued to the phone. You loved sharing those moments with her, knowing how everyone was doing there, your sisters, your brother, all your nieces and nephews. You would tell her about your job, living in a huge city like that, if the apartment was nice, if you had problems with your neighbors, if you had a boyfriend.

"No, Mom, there's no boy." That was the quintessential phrase when the question at hand came. "I don't have time for that."

"You should go out more!" Was what she always told you to which you wanted to add that if I had more hours in the day, maybe you would.

After the long hours and chatter, you hung up the phone feeling your ear burning. You finished preparing your breakfast by sitting on the wide window sill of your living room window that you had arranged with cushions to settle there and watch the people strolling down the street. You loved watching the crowds coming and going from one side to the other, the cars, the bicycles... you had never liked crowds in cities or crowds of people, but you had to admit that from a safe distance and without the anxiety of feeling in the way, it was fun and pleasant.

It was your day off, you didn't have to leave the house, you could spend the day watching people running from one place to another, but since your mother had woken you up, you took the opportunity to leave the whole house clean and tidy. It was not a very big apartment, a living-dining room, a small bathroom and your bedroom, you had two large windows, one in the dining room and one in the bedroom, which heated the house while the sun was streaming through them leaving the place warm for when the light was gone. So you finished early giving you room to spread out the rest of the morning on other tasks.

It had been several weeks since the last time you talked to your mother, the last news was that one of your colleagues had become a mother and you had to replace her position in addition to taking charge of your own guards, which meant more hours and some more money, but also that you would end up exhausted every day, lying on your couch trying to pull yourself together and not fall asleep right there.

Once again it was your cell phone keeping you awake, you sit up seeing on the screen a number you didn't know, you felt your heart skip a beat before you picked up the device and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hello!" they asked for your name and when you said it was you your voice trembled a little. "We're from the TWD audition you auditioned for a few days ago."

"Oh, right, do you guys know who you're going to pick already?" if you were nervous before now your hands were ice cold.

"Yes, that's why we were calling you, the role of Julie, the one you applied for, we're finally going to give it the original comic book line and we've found a person who fits the parameters much better."

"Yeah, sure, I understand." You nodded even though they couldn't see you, you didn't fit a lot of Julie's stuff. "Thank you so much for letting me know..."

"The thing is, we have other options that maybe might fit you."

"Oh, really?" she surprised you by sitting up better on the couch biting your thumbnail.

"Yes, we'd like you to come in tomorrow around seven to practice some new dialogues, see how you get along interacting with others."

"Sure, there would be no problem, around seven?"

"Yes, same place as the previous audition."

"Perfect, in that case I'll see you tomorrow, thank you very much for the opportunity."

"Thanks, see you tomorrow." They said goodbye on the other end and you hung up at the same time.

You looked at your phone and leaned it against your chest, your gaze lost in nowhere, your heart hammering in your ears, your breathing ragged, you were in shock.

What were you supposed to do?

You couldn't call your mother, that was out of the equation, if the woman found out you were going to take another test without knowing for sure they were going to give you the part you knew her nerves would be shot she would shoot up the last time you talked to her, however you needed to talk to someone, so you called one of your sisters. She rang the dial tone twice before she picked up.

"Uh, hi, what's wrong?" your sister's voice relaxed and tensed you at the same time.

"Nothing, why should anything be wrong? why is it that when I call you you think it's because something's wrong?"

"Well... you don't call me during business hours, I know the store is mine but you've always respected that and besides... you're defensive."

"I'm not!" you protested and then you both remained silent. "Okay, maybe a little..." You muttered at last and she laughed on the other side.

"What happened? what did you do that you don't want mom to know about?"

"Well... I haven't really done anything yet, but..." you sighed hating that your sister knew you so well.

You told her about the casting, about the little audition you applied for, the part you had wanted to play, your conversation with your mother and that you had been called back for another audition to play another part, that you had to be there early the next day and you were a nervous wreck.

"So what are you scared of? don't you want to go?" she asked after a few seconds.

"No, I mean yes, I want to go, I lose nothing by trying again...."

"The 'no' you already have, what if you get caught in the end? I could take advantage and use you as a store lure."

"Uhm okay, I can see you're really worried about my future if I quit the job and then I'm out on the street." You said wryly, but you appreciated that your sister wanted to cheer you up, at least in her own way.

The talk with your sister made you feel a little better, but it didn't take away the nerves of having to go all the way to the new audition and hope they liked what you were going to do. As your sister had said, you already knew they could say no, if in the end they wanted you to be part of the cast for that new season, you had a lot of things to think about. Mainly about whether you were going to risk it all to jump into the acting world, something you had never thought could happen to you.

Just like the first day you were there the nerves became more intense as soon as you got to the door and gave your information, the man made you follow him to the room where they were waiting for you, again three people with a camera pointed at you. You greeted them all with a shy smile waiting for them to give you the necessary guidelines. They put you on stage giving your imagination the situation you were in, gave you a small script with which you interacted with one of them and you went through the scene.

"Okay, that's enough." They said to you like last time and you handed them back the little script they had given you and stepped back a couple of steps.

"Thank you very much, it's been fun." You smiled a little.

"You defended the role we gave you very well without a lot of annotations, a little static, but that can be solved with practice." They commented and you nodded again, you didn't think you'd ever show up for an audition like that again, but it was good to know your skills weren't too bad. "The official recording is in Georgia, I think you already knew this, we start next month, if you give us the details of your manager or agent, we will contact him when we have everything ready." They kept saying and you between opened your mouth in surprise.

"Wait, what?" you stammered trying to process what that meant.

"The paper is yours, if you're really interested, of course" Said another one of those still at the table, looking at you with a raised eyebrow.

"No, of course it is, it's just that I don't... Thank you very much, I... I don't have anyone... I actually introduced myself and..." God you wanted to crawl under a rock seeing their surprised faces.

"No problem, we can take care of that, for now give us an e-mail where we can send you your full script so you can go practice your character before we get everything going." The person who had interacted with your character during the interpretation spoke to you again and you nodded.

"Fine." You walked over to the table to leave your details, they explained a bit more about how everything worked and shook your hand with a gentle shake.

"Welcome to the TWD family." They said and you felt your eyes fill with tears of disbelief and excitement.

The conversation with your family went through different mood swings and mixed feelings; first there was surprise, then confusion, followed by your sisters' excitement and joy as your mother went into a state of denial and fear, your father was still processing the information. Of course it was nothing that you had expected before, the conversation with your mother that you had had before that had already had doubts and fear on her part, but now it was real, you were seriously considering leaving your stable job to embark on an acting career that you had never pursued, that no one in your family expected you to ever pursue. Yes, you had enjoyed some plays as a child, even as a teenager you were in an amateur company in your town to get rid of your stuttering and fear of crowds, but it was never anything serious, you never really thought of turning it into a full time job.

There you were with your script in your hands, shaking like a leaf as it was thicker than you thought and from what you could appreciate your character was going to stay alive at least all that season, which meant you would spend at least half a year out of New York City, you couldn't keep paying rent to keep it for yourself in case you had to go back there, maybe you could find something else later. You weren't sure how much money you would make in those months either, it was the least important thing, but if you wanted to stay in the US afterwards you needed to at least have a small cushion until you found a new job.

In case you didn't stay in the show, of course.

You decided to take the risk, maybe it wasn't forever, maybe it was crazy, but you could go on, you were still young, you could find something when it was all over, even if you had to go back home you weren't ashamed, you never said that city would be your final destination, that you would stay there forever.

Probably the worst part of leaving New York was the trip, having to take a flight to your next destination was the worst step you had to take, leaving your job and the apartment you had rented were the least of your problems, you left everything there, except for a half size suitcase with some clothes, your precious objects and your laptop, the rest stayed at home, you didn't need it, you had savings, you would buy what you needed as the days went by. The production company had told you that someone would be waiting for you at the airport when you arrived to take you to the specific place where the series would be shot. You had never gotten along well with airplanes, you liked them, you admired their ability to hover in the air, to make trips that used to take months just in several hours now, but your claustrophobia and your terror of heights did not make the trips pleasant for you, you remained in tension during the whole process of takeoff and landing, the trip in between was calmer, you only felt a little anxious, but if the plane did not have to make any sharp turns or you entered a turbulent area, everything was fine.

At the airport as you were told someone was waiting for you, with a huge black car they took you without many details to the city where you would spend the rest of those months, coming and going from the recordings, they had put you a small trailer where you could leave your things, a nice caravan equipped with everything you needed to make your life more comfortable in those days. Well, at least you didn't have to look for an apartment for the long weeks when you needed to shoot scenes too early or too late at night, or when they stretched throughout the day and you finally had to stay there to sleep.

Your nervousness started to become more and more palpable, now you were already there, it was a damn reality, you were not dreaming, you could see people moving from one side to the other, everything full of cameras, cables, people talking through microphones glued to their ears, others in suits talking on the phone with someone as if they were discussing about the decisions of a world war. Everything looked confusing and chaotic, for a moment you wanted to disappear from there when you felt a touch on your arm that made you let out an exclamation of surprise discovering one of the women you did the casting with and unconsciously you felt calmer, at least a familiar face.

"Hi! I see you've arrived safely, how are you?" she asked you in a friendly way picking up your suitcase starting to walk with you towards your little caravan, you weren't even sure where it was.

"Fine, a little nervous and... recovering, the flight has been... intense." You joked and saw her laugh nodding her head.

"I'm glad, I hope you guys didn't have too much trouble with the road." She insisted and you shook your head. "As you can see here since early morning people are already very intense, we've been rolling since very early." He informed you and you opened your eyes wide discovering some of the main characters moving around the cameras, practicing for the next scene.

"Now I'm really nervous..." you whispered and heard her laugh louder, she stopped in front of what would be your house from now on and opened the door letting you in first.

"Don't be overwhelmed, the first days are always harder, but you'll manage to adapt, you'll see." She encouraged you and you really hoped things would go as she said. "Did you take a look at your script?"

"Yes, I was going over it a lot, I didn't expect... I didn't think it would have so much text." You came clean seeing that she looked at you again amused and shrugged.

"She's a recurring character, she's going to have several major starring scenes, after that we'll see how she evolves for the following seasons."

"Okay..." you smiled nervously taking the script out of your bag playing with it between your hands.

"Until this afternoon we don't need you to record anything, so if you want you can take a walk around the place, meet the people and talk to your colleagues."

"That would be great, thanks." You nodded and she then received a call on the walkie she was carrying, looked at you apologetically and wishing you good luck she left your caravan.

Alone again you allowed yourself to let out a nervous chuckle, your eyes roaming the entire caravan, every detail etched in your mind. It didn't differ much from a common caravan you would find in a camping, a small living room next to the entrance, kitchen, a bathroom that you didn't know if you would be able to use and at the back your room, the largest area of the whole place, the mattress was thick and looked comfortable, you doubted you could sleep there, at least the first few days.

You decided to give yourself a little time to yourself, you called your family to tell them that you were settled in, that you had arrived safely and were making some time putting your things in the room and getting familiar with your new 'home'. Your mother bombarded you with a thousand questions, many of which you yourself were not yet able to answer, as you had not interacted with anyone else except the woman who had accompanied you there and whom you had met before.

When you were done with your suitcase, storing it in the built-in closet of the room, you said goodbye to your family and decided it was time to stop being a coward and walk around the recording set to get to know your new workplace and especially your new teammates.

You took a deep breath trying to temper your nerves as you exited the trailer and headed to where everyone was now crowding around.

On the way to the set you passed several people who were in charge of the cameras, wardrobe, some make-up girls, you also discovered several interns running around taking care of too many things at the same time. You introduced yourself to other colleagues who were also waiting for their time to shoot their scenes, it was easy because they were also starting there that same day as you so the nerves you felt were shared. You peeked your head to see what they were shooting then discovering an outdoor scene, a fight of the initial group with a few walkers, they were well studied movements, with short phrases, some screams, chases, but finally everyone was safe, fake blood and viscera decorated the whole place, but people seemed happy and amused.

There were some hugs, jokes between them, possibly the reunion between some of them was today the first day and they had barely managed to talk and they had to start shooting as soon as possible taking advantage of the daylight hours and that the sun was having mercy with all of you. It was going to be hard to shoot in summer, you were convinced of that.

Little by little people were dispersing, moving to another side of the stage to shoot some scenes closer, individual conversations between several characters, the staging introducing new members of the group. Without realizing it you stood there alone, watching the place, with your head everywhere and nowhere, mumbling something between your lips, but not really saying anything, behind you you thought you heard footsteps, but your brain didn't process it until they were accompanied by a voice.

"Are you lost?" He sounded hoarse, curious and even with an amused timbre. You turned around discovering a middle-aged man, with straight brown hair, black sunglasses, several strands of hair caught between the glasses and his ears, which peeked through his hair like a lion, he was wearing clothes full of fake blood and his skin glistened with sweat.

"N-no, sorry, I was... Sometimes my mind gets disconnected from the world, sorry." You stepped aside wanting to let him pass. You knew who he was, not only because you had seen the show, but because his character was on everyone's lips.

"Do you suffer fromany disease?" he asked you with an amused tone and you were suddenly offended.

"Would that be a problem? I'm not going to infect you with anything, don't worry" You couldn't bite your tongue in time, you saw his eyebrows shoot upwards, over his sunglasses and you regretted what you had just said.

"My character in the show maybe is a redneck, but I'm not an asshole, you know?" he replied with the serious tone and you lowered your head with shame.

To be Continued...

I hope you liked it!

I'm sorry if there is something wrong, I don't understand about castings, and act, or those things, it just was part of my imagination. As always sorry for my english!!

I'll see you in the next story!

[dynyamight]

meet cute number 47 is interesting!

send me a writting ask

47. Texting the incorrect number but continuing the conversation.

“You got all that, right?” Shinsou asks, readjusting his stance, so others can leave their classroom door easily.

Midoriya hums absentmindedly. He’s still quickly jotting down the last few digits onto his planner. “And, you said tomorrow morning, around 7? At the library?”

“Yeah,” Shinsou shrugs, “Or anytime really. The deadline isn’t until next month, you know.”

“I kinda just want to get it done, as soon as possible.”

Shinsou breathes out a snort. “Figured you’d say that much. Just make sure you got my number. Repeat it, if you need to.”

“No time.” Midoriya drops his bag to the side, shoving his now closed notebook inside. “Thank you! I’ll text you later tonight!” He offers hurriedly, before taking off down the campus halls.

Shinsou’s warning falls deaf to his rushed mind.

He has to run the entire way, in order to graciously catch the last bus for the hour. Sweaty and flushed, Midoriya slumps into his seat in relief. Fortunately, he was able to cop a seat for himself, settling by the window and his backpack right next to him.

Staring out, Midoriya tries to remind himself of the rest of his priorities he needed to do.

He still needed to start on Doctor Chiyo’s online Physiology exam, and gather his notes for the open book portion. It was a bit bothersome to handle tests online, but if the rest of class prefers it, there’s nothing Midoriya can do about it.

Speaking of which, Ochako had requested for copies of those exact same notes, since apparently she barely writes anything during lectures. He wants to suggest to her to just simply take better notes, but alas, he will gladly help her out.

And, finally, Midoriya has to collect reliable, approved research articles for his and Shinsou’s debate, in their argumentative project in Communications. Being assigned “PRO SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE”, while being the most uninvolved people on the internet, Midoriya and Shinsou had a lot of work to do.

Not to mention it was already 18:00 by the time he reached the school’s dormitories. And yet, he needed to shower, make dinner, water his plants, and watch the newest episode of his favorite drama, airing tonight.

University was eating him alive.

Thankfully, he’s able to complete half of his list.

He finishes the exam with a 98%, and quickly snaps the pages of his notes over to Ochako and Iida, making sure to highlight the main topics questioned in the exam. Ochako sends a ‘thank you’ gif, and Iida texts a long, yet endearing message of gratitude.

Midoriya doesn’t have time to shower, instead blasting the TV volume loud, as he waters his indoor plants at the same time. He overwaters them a little bit, busy glancing back at the screen for too long. But, at least he’s able to watch the episode. He pouts when it ends on a cliffhanger, almost drowning his bonsai tree in frustration.

He’s only able to warm up a plate of leftovers, and read through only one research article, by the time it’s already blinking 21:30 on his phone. Sighing, Midoriya closes his laptop and grabs his cell phone instead.

An all nighter wasn’t preferable. But, if Shinsou is working overtime at his late night job, Midoriya supposes he can stay up and keep looking through more articles, until he has at least the required ten.

Flipping open his planner, Midoriya inputs Shinsou’s number into his phone. He adds his name, a contact photo of him sleeping, and finally taps a quick message.

(21:38) < You working?

When Shinsou doesn’t respond right away, Midoriya simply sets aside his phone on his desk. Stretching his arms, he sighs in defeat, now expecting Shinsou to be stuck at work.

He’s never worked at a restaurant, but he bets Friday nights can get pretty busy. And, Shinsou always complains that group outings and dates tend to stay over, even after the place is supposed to close. And, Midoriya trusts his word.

So, by the time his phone dings, Midoriya has been clicking through more articles on social media, bookmarking a few to go over later, as he went.

He lifts his phone, and with a bright screen, a message stares back at him.

shinsou hitoshi (21:58) > Who’s this

Oh, he did forget to specify. But, Midoriya smiles, having a small prank in mind. There was no harm in teasing his friends, let alone Shinsou, who definitely needed a good laugh, now and then.

(21:58) < It's the cutie from your communications class ;)

shinsou hitoshi (21:58) > So, no one

(21:59) < Haha! I guess you’re right about that

(21:59) < Anyways, it’s Izuku! You still working late, Hitoshi?

shinsou hitoshi (21:59) > This ain’t Hitoshi

Midoriya's face drops, blinking. Oh god, did he mistype the number?

(21:38) < Wait, you’re not???

Another text pops up, shortly after.

shinsou hitoshi (22:02) > You got the wrong number

Embarrassment burning his entire face red, Midoriya wishes he could delete himself from the world.

(22:03) < I’m so so so so sorry!

(22:03) < God, I thought I wrote down my friend’s number right

(22:03) < But, I was in this stupid rush to get on the bus that I didn’t make sure

(22:04) < And, listen, if I had missed that bus, I would’ve had to wait

(22:04) < Not like a few minutes wait

(22:04) < Like, a whole two hours wait!

shinsou hitoshi (22:05) > I didn’t ask

Deleting the conversation, Midoriya erases the new contact completely. And instead, he looks back to his planner, and retypes the numbers in his phone onto a new conversation.

Hopefully, he has typed the correct series of digits.

(22:07) < Hey, Hitoshi! It’s Izuku

unknown (22:08) > ...

unknown (22:08) > What the actual fuck

unknown (22:08) > You've still got the wrong number, you goddamn idiot

Slamming his phone onto his desk, Midoriya grabs a pillow off his bed and shoves it in his face. The temptation to scream sounds awfully pleasant, but it’s too late at night to do so. His dorm neighbors would definitely wonder what the hell is wrong with him.

What’s wrong? Oh, he has completely done one of the most dreaded imaginary scenarios in his head; text a complete stranger. Twice.

What was he supposed to do now? Never text back? Delete it? Block it?

How is he supposed to contact Shinsou now?

His phone dings again.

Lifting the pillow off his face slightly, Midoriya eyes his phone warily from his swivel chair.

That definitely wasn’t supposed to happen. Another text from the same stranger sounds a bit unheard of.

After a seconds-long hesitation, Midoriya lifts his phone and opens it once more.

unknown (22:13) > Double check next time

unknown (22:13) > You can fucking wait the two hours, dumbass

Midoriya grows a little irked. He has a bad feeling that his stranger isn’t too friendly, to say that least.

There was literally no reason to text back something so rude.

(22:14) < Well, that wasn’t nice

unknown (22:15) > Wasn’t trying to be

(22:15) < ..Are you always like this?

unknown (22:16) > Pretty much

(22:16) < That’s sad

unknown (22:17) > What’s fucking sad is that I was woken up from my sleep

unknown (22:17) > Because a damn moron didn’t write down the right number

Midoriya winces. He hadn’t even thought about the other person’s predicament, let alone if he had interrupted anything.

(22:20) > I really didn’t mean to do that, I’m sorry :(

unknown (22:22) > Yeah whatever

(22:24) > You should try to go back to sleep, then

unknown (22:25) > I was

unknown (22:25) > But the same moron from before keeps texting me

(22:27) > Who?

(22:33) > Oh.

(22:33) > It’s me, huh?

unknown (22:34) > No shit

(22:35) > Right, of course. My bad!

(22:35) > I’m going to just stop now

unknown (22:36) > Thanks

(22:36) > For the umpteenth time, sorry! ><

(22:37) > Okay, Okay! I’m stopping now, for real

Midoriya desperately needs to call it a night.

After going through his nightly routine, he slips under his bedsheets, exhausted. He sets an alarm for 5:00 on his phone, hoping Shinsou will show up at the library, regardless of the missing confirmation text on Midoriya’s end.

He keeps his phone on awhile longer, swiping through his professors’ emails, before a surprising text notification pops in front of him.

unknown (23:01) > FUCK YOU FUCK YOU

(23:02) > …

(23:02) > What was that for??

unknown (23:04) > I CAN’T SLEEP

unknown (23:04) > GOD, I CAN’T GO BACK TO FUCKING SLEEP

unknown (23:05) > AND IT’S YOUR FAULT

(23:06) > What do you expect me to do????

unknown (23:07) > HAHAHAHA OH DON’T WORRY

unknown (23:07) > IF I CAN’T SLEEP, NEITHER CAN YOU

unknown (23:08) > AND IF YOU TURN YOUR PHONE OFF I WILL SEND HELLFIRE

(23:09) > Wait

(23:09) > No, please

(23:09) > My alarm is on my phone, I need it on

(23:10) > I need to go to an important meeting for a group project at 7:00!

unknown (23:10) > Aw, really? :0?!

(23:11) > Yeah! I really do!

unknown (23:11) > Sike. I don’t fucking care

unknown (23:12) > Hope you eat shit tomorrow

(23:13) > ..Why are you like this?

(23:13) > I could literally be a twelve year old, for all you know

unknown (23:14) > I doubt fucking twelve years do group projects

unknown (23:15) > But whether you’re a damn infant, or grown adult, I hate you

(23:16) > I wouldn’t say I hate you. That’s too harsh

(23:16) > But, wow, you are very unlikable :/

unknown (23:17) > That’s the fucking nicest thing anyone has said about me

(23:18) > It wasn’t supposed

(23:19) > Nevermind.

(23:19) > Do you have any friends? Just might as well ask

unknown (23:21) > Surprisingly yeah

(23:22) > Oh, so you also agree. That it’s a surprise

(23:22) > At least you’re self aware :0

unknown (23:23) > Yeah, they are annoying as hell

unknown (23:24) > But, also pretty good people, I guess

(23:25) > Pretty good or pretty dumb?

unknown (23:26) > SHUT IT

unknown (23:27) > Only I can make fun of them

unknown (23:27) > You. Don’t.

(23:28) > You’re right, I shouldn’t have said that

(23:29) > I’m sorry :(

unknown (23:30) > You like apologizing, huh

(23:29) > There’s a lot to apologize for tonight

unknown (23:30) > Still, you don’t have to say it every damn minute

(23:32) > You probably don’t ever apologize

unknown (23:33) > Fuck no

(23:35) > Right, of course

(23:36) > Well, you know what I need to do tomorrow

unknown (23:37) > Unfortunately

(23:38) > What about you?

unknown (23:39) > I’m covering a shift at my shit job at the ass crack of dawn

(23:40) > Unnecessary visual, but I digress

(23:40) > Uh, where do you work?

unknown (23:42) > No. I don’t even know your damn name

(23:43) > I told you?? It was in my first text

unknown (23:44) > Yeah, I ain’t scrolling

(23:48) > Well, it’s Izuku. Midoriya Izuku :)

unknown (23:49) > Great. I still ain’t giving you mine

(23:50) > ?? Is there anything I can know about you??

(23:50) > You know more about me, than I do about you

unknown (23:51) > You know I hate you

unknown (23:51) > That’s plenty

(23:52) > But, I have been staying up for you :(

unknown (23:53) > Because it’s your fault I can’t sleep

(23:54) > You aren’t feeling sleepy yet?

unknown (23:56) > ..Are you

(23:57) > I asked you first

unknown (23:58) > I asked you second

(23:59) > That

(23:59) > Look, it’s almost midnight

(24:00) > Oh, now, it’s actually midnight

unknown (00:01) > I have fucking eyes. I can see the time

(00:02) > And we BOTH have places to be tomorrow

(00:02) > So, let’s just sleep. Call a truce, please

unknown (00:03) > What about my petty retribution

(00:04) > PLEASE LET ME SLEEP

unknown (00:10) > FUCK

unknown (00:10) > FINE

unknown (00:11) > I STILL CAN’T SLEEP BUT WHATEVER

unknown (00:12) > HOPE YOU FUCKING OVERSLEEP TOMORROW

The rest of the night, Midoriya hears his phone go off, but he doesn’t bother to open the messages. Fortunately for him, the time staying awake quickly catches up to his body, the moment he shuts his eyes. And, in an instant, he falls asleep, heavy.

However, he’s jolted awake by the ringing of his phone, the tone alerting him of an incoming phone call. Banging his head on the headboard, Midoriya blindly grabs and answers his phone. “Uh, H-Hello?” He blurts quickly.

“Tch.” A low voice emits, “You owe me, Deku.”

Click. The phone call ends.

Confused, Midoriya hurriedly rubs his eyes open. Running his messy curls through his fingers, he lifts his bangs up, in order to correctly look at the time.

The time was 5:10. And, his 5:00 alarm had been off the entire time.

And, instead, that same unknown number from last night was his saving grace.

[smells-like-mettaton]

For the sensory prompts, how about Number 29 (The smell of burning wood) with Burgerpants, Mad Mew Mew, and Seam?

Rating: T Word Count: 1872 Read on AO3: here

---

The stupid Ice-E’s employee was so stupid. STUPID. STUPID!! Why did Kris have to leave him here, too? This world was supposed to be HERS!! Her new life! Her cool life!!

How was she supposed to have a new, cool life when the stupid orange cat kept following her around and calling her his girlfriend?

“Y’know, I was going to be an ACTOR… but this place is WAY cooler than going to college! And it’s free!” The guy grinned. His mouth was too full of teeth.

What was his name again? She’d looked it up so she could catfish him on her cousin’s behalf, but then she’d immediately banished it from her memory. That had been rash. It was way easier to make fun of someone if you knew their name.

Whatever. Whatever! The bird monster running the cafe was easy cuter, and more elegant, and actually worth her time. “Swatch,” their diamond-shaped nametag read.

She tried not to get caught staring at their cool orange-and-rose glasses. Could she get a pair of those? They might clash with her new pink outfit, but it would be worth it.

“I bet they don’t even have TV here yet,” the Ice-E’s employee was still blabbing on, despite the fact that she wasn’t even pretending to listen. “This town looks older than dirt.”

He sipped his red ButJuice. She hoped it tasted like butt. He hadn’t bothered to order one for her with the money Kris had left them. If he rambled long enough, she could probably sneak the leftover “Dark Dollars” out of his pocket.

Her magical transformation had come with magic staff. Right now it was hidden under her skirt, but if if she could reach under the table with it, and “accidentally” bump his leg so the money fell out…

Nah, that sounded too complicated. She should just bonk him over the head and be done with it.

Meowsers, was he still talking?

“Once I show them all the fancy stuff we have in our world, I’ll be a big shot!”

Glass shattered behind the cafe’s counter. Maddy looked up, seeing Swatch holding the remnants of the wine glass they’d been polishing.

“Excuse me.” They swept the shards into a trash can with a cloth.

“Huh.” The orange cat stared. “What a weirdo.”

“Says the guy who fell in love with a few jpeg artifacted pixels of a bikini,” Maddy muttered.

“I didn’t quite catch that, sweetheart.”

She flashed her sharpest smile. It looked way more menacing with her new catlike eyes, she imagined.

“Oh yeah? Catch THIS!”

She chunked his glass of ButJuice at his face, where it blew up in a loud and fiery explosion. The Ice-E’s employee’s chair fell backwards and crashed in another explosion.

“Wow, this world IS cool!” Maddy beamed.

Swatch sighed.

“Oh, uh. Sorry?” That was the proper response if you blew up something in someone’s house, right?

Swatch seemed cute and nice. They probably didn’t deserve to clean up even more glass. Or pathetic catboy.

“Don’t be blue,” they said though. “That particular master was…”

“A stain on the face of the earth? The Angel’s greatest mistake? Not deserving of the proud title of Cat?”

“...Annoying.”

Maddy shrugged. “Okay, that too, I guess.”

She poked the unconscious Ice-E’s employee with her foot. When he didn’t move, she swiped the money from his pocket, blew a kiss to the cafe owner, and dragged him out the door. She left him around back, next to a few trash cans full of stale macarons and green satin ribbons. The catboy’s tail twitched, so it wasn’t like he was dead or anything. Probably. Most monsters couldn’t move if they were dead, right?

Whatever. Whatever!! She was here to enjoy her new life, not worry about some jerk who’d insulted her cousin!

The Castle Town was dark, lit only by a few cyan lanterns, but it was alive in a way that Hometown never was. Maybe that was just because in Hometown, she’d hardly been alive. Just a ghost, a shadow ignored by pretty much everyone but her cousins.

But here, she was practically a celebrity! The townsfolk called her “Master Lightner,” and waved happily.

(Except those who didn’t have arms, like Nubert. His smile was more than enough to make up for it.)

The fame wasn’t what she was after, though she knew her cousin would’ve loved it. Maybe she should try to bring him here. Then he could strangle the Ice-E’s employee himself, ha!

ANYWAY! She loved this place because of her new body!! She looked just like Mew Mew from her favorite show Mew Mew Kissy Cutie. Through this body, everything looked brighter, and she could smell things, and taste…

Taste! She hadn’t even tried out her new taste buds yet!! She’d been so busy with that stupid cat, she hadn’t actually tried any of the cafe’s food. The thought of going back and embarrassing herself in front of Swatch made her wince.

Well, there were other shops and restaurants around here. Let’s see, what direction smelled the best…?

Her nose wrinkled as she caught the scent of… something burning? She’d never had a nose to smell with before, but that’s what her subconscious thought it was. She crossed the street towards the tent-like structure the smell was coming from.

“Well, well! What have we here?” the shopkeeper said when she ducked inside. The shopkeeper’s orange button eye spun in surprise. “Another Lightner? Ha, maybe this will be as much chaos as… well, never mind that.”

A smile stretched across the tattered catlike face. Was this shopkeeper even a monster at all? Or something like a stuffed toy brought to life?

“Anyways. I’m Seam, pronounced Shawm. And this is my little seap.”

Maddy frowned.

“You just said your name. Why’d you tell me how to pronounce it? I’m not stupid.”

“Ha ha ha! It’s nice to be called out on that again… Let’s just say it’s not for your benefit.”

Like that made any sense.

“Are all cat monsters so weird?” she grumbled.

Seam shrugged. “I don’t know. Perhaps you could tell me?”

She blinked. Right. She was a catgirl now—and as far as anyone here knew, that was all she’d ever been.

“I’m the good kind of weird.” She bared her new set of pointy teeth. “What kind of food do you got?”

“Food? Ha, no one comes to me for food anymore… but I’m grilling a batch of Darkburgers, if that interests you.”

Her mouth watered.

“Burgers! I always wanted to try burgers!” She slammed a fistfull of Dark Dollars down on the counter. “Give me all the burgers you’ve got, mew!”

“Well, I was going to save one for myself, but who am I to refuse a Lightner?”

She couldn’t tell if Seam’s smile was accusatory or sincere. She bit her lip. Was she already ruining her new life by being a dummy?

“Give me most of the burgers you’ve got. Please. Mew.”

Seam laughed again and disappeared into the back of the tent, where the burning smell came from. That left Maddy to shuffle in front of the “seap” alone.

Which left her too much time to think.

Kris hadn’t told her why they’d left her and that Ice-E’s guy here. Their little goat friend had told her that she and the catboy had rooms in the castle, but she’d been too enthralled with the town to check it out yet.

She could walk. She could look like herself.

But that meant that for the first time, people would really, truly see her. Swatch saw her dunk on the catboy. Seam saw her act like a dummy over a few burgers. These people were her new neighbors, and maybe even… her new friends?

She hoped they could be friends. She’d never actually had friends before.

(And she never would, if she kept acting so stupid.)

“Most of the Darkburgers, as requested.” Seam set the tray down on the counter. The bottom was so hot, it started to sear the wood the counter.

(Sear. Would Seam pronounce that “shawr”?)

“Thank you. Thank you!!” She beamed, then licked her lips. “Oh, right. The money—”

“On the house. Just this once.” Seam’s grin stretched a little wider, pulling the purple stitches tight. “It’s not every day I get to meet such a talkative Lightner. In fact, you remind me a bit of…”

Seam stared off into space.

“What? What?? WHAT??”

“Myself. In my younger days.” Seam’s grin waned, the shopkeeper’s ears drooping a little. “Ah, to be full of such energy again…”

“Try a burger!” She pushed one of the crispy-looking sandwiches towards Seam. “Food gives corporeal—uh, food gives most monsters energy, right? RIGHT??”

“Ha ha ha… I suppose they do, miss…?”

“Maddy,” she said before chomping down on a burger of her own.

Oh. Flavors exploded in her mouth. Most of them tasted like fire smelled. The meat was crunchy, and the bread was somehow soggy—but it was still the best thing she’d ever tasted.

Seam’s head tilted.

“It’s not THAT bad, is it?”

“Huh?” She swallowed, then felt the tears running down her cheeks. “No, it’s good! Good!! GOOD!!! SO GOOD I CAN’T TAKE IT!!”

She collapsed against the counter, sobbing from the heavenly taste of burnt burger. Stupid. Stupid!! Did she lose her head when she got a body? Did all corporeal monsters experience emotion this strongly?? Or were Seam’s burgers really just that good???

“Ah… if you say so.” Seam patted her shoulder consolingly. “I have some tea you can wash it down with, if you’d like.”

She nodded, rubbing the back of her hand across her wet face.

“Sorry. Sorry! I don’t know what came over me…”

“Never mind that. The souls of Lightners always shine brighter in the dark.” Seam produced a kettle from somewhere and poured two teacups. “We need that kind of light. Even if it hurts to look too closely.”

“You don’t make any sense.” Maddy accepted her cup and took a swig.

OW. Hot, hot, so hot! She spit it back in her cup. She’d known the corporeal bodies could feel heat, but she had no idea it HURT so much!

“Ha ha! It helps if you blow on it.”

“Is this a prank?” Maddy scowled. Why would blowing on something make it less painful?

“Believe me or don’t, it makes no difference to me.” Seam smiled.

Maddy grumbled, but blew on the tea. Steam clouded her vision, but when she took another careful sip, it wasn’t so hot.

“Wow.” She stared into the dark cup. “It… worked?”

“That’s one perk of living this long. You pick up a couple of things.”

Seam sipped from the other teacup, pinkie held out elegantly. Maddy copied after a bit of fumbling. Corporeal hands were hard. Things didn’t just float around in her ectoplasm; she had to keep her grip balanced exactly right.

She could feel the warmth through her fingers, though. Like the tea was alive.tha

(And finally, finally, so was she.)

“Maybe all cats are a little weird,” Seam decided. “I think I rather like it that way.”

Maddy smiled back. If that was true, Seam was definitely the good kind of weird, too.

[inkribbon796]

Lost in a Lightning Storm Ch. 2: Far from Home

Summary: You shouldn’t talk about people, and not expect them to find out.

Chapters: 1, 2

While Henrik and Anti were talking to Tubbo and Logan, and then subsequently went off to Nate’s house to do some research, Mare went to go find Anti.

Anti was cackling with the Duke on some rooftop, who had escaped arrest after the chaos he had created. The two chaos-loving criminals were laughing and joking.

“Anti! Your boyfriend is getting too brave, you gotta[1] do something!” Mare said as he leaned over a massive air conditioning unit to get into the glitch’s face. Anti was lying on his back on the rooftop.

“Ooooooohhh~ You have a boyfriend?” Remus gave a huge smile, turning on his stomach and kicking his feet up like they were a bunch of pre-teens at a slumber party. “And you didn’t tell your best friend? For shame.”

“Shut up,” Anti kicked him in the face. Then he turned back to Mare. “I don’t got[2] a boyfriend.”

“Oh, yeah, then what the hell is he?” Mare bit back.

“None ‘a yer fookin’ business,”[3] Anti spat back.

“M’kay,[4] whatever,” Mare rolled his eyes. “Point is, he’s trying to find you.”

“I’m right here, let ‘im[5],” Anti scoffed, still lying on the ground.

“No, the old you, the human one,” Mare warned.

“Why?” Anti spat.

“I don’t know, humans are dumb,” Mare spat. “He’s your problem, you deal with him.”

“Fook[6] you!” Anti spat and stormed off.

Directly after he stormed off, he realized that he hadn’t asked Mare where Henrik was. But it was too late to storm off. Mostly because he overheard Remus trying to weedle information out of Mare. Anti was too in his own head to admit to even himself that he was embarrassed.

So he went out to find Henrik. Except he wasn’t at the hospital . . . and Logan didn’t seem to know where he was. He wasn’t at the hospital either so Anti ran around for a little bit and found them in Nate’s house.

For a couple moments, Anti debated on how upset Mare would be if he barged into his territory. Then he figured that if Mare didn’t want him to trespass, he shouldn’t have told him to take care of Henrik . . . and Anti had been in Nate’s house before on multiple occasions.

So Anti tripped about three alarms to get into the house and Nate and Henrik watched him stroll right into the living room where they were.

“Don’t yeh[7] two know not ta[8] talk about someone behind their back?” Anti layered on the glitching and blood as much as he could.

“You are certainly getting better at zat[9] effect,” Henrik complimented.

“You bleed on my carpet and I will stab you with a soul splitter,” Nate threatened.

Anti pulled out his knife, completely offended that they weren’t screaming in terror.

Nate helped up a stake, the wood was etched with runes and spell writing. “Anti, I don’t want to explain to the rest of your friends why you’re in pieces.”

“Why the fook are yeh diggin’ inta my personal shite?”[10] Anti demanded.

“Because zer is much I do not know about you, und I vish to correct zat,”[11] Henrik told him, Nate was on his computer, still looking through old census records and newspaper reports.

“I’m right the fook[6] here,” Anti spat.

“I cannot recall a time ven ve have ever talked about any’zing,”[12] Henrik told Anti pointedly.

Anti glared at him, his nose scrunched up like the demon was about to pull his lips back in a snarl. “Why, though? No point in lookin’[13] fer[14] a dead man.”

Henrik stood up, really studying Anti’s expression, “If it makes you uncomfortable, I can stop.”

Anti sputtered for a moment, “I don’t care.”

“I am serious Anti, if all zis[15] investigation makes you uncomfortable or vas[16] a traumatic experience, I vill[17] stop.”

A myriad of uncomfortable feelings, that Anti refused to unpack or acknowledge, prickled under his skin and boiled his blood. He absolutely refused to be afraid of some past specter he could barely remember. Anti was better than some human who’s only contribution to the world had been dying so that Anti could be brought into the world.

So instead Anti just scoffed, some derisive, forced laugh, “Whate’er yeh two arses wanna dig up some dead bitch that did me the favor ‘a dyin’, go ahead. Here, I’ll e’en help.”[18]

Henrik watched for any sign that Anti was joking or would destroy Nate’s computer. “If you are certain.”

“Oh yeah,” Anti dismissed. “What did yeh shitebags find?”[19]

“Well,” Nate stalled as he watched Anti walk over, he stayed braced with his stake. “Don’t break my stuff.”

“I won’t,” Anti smiled. “Come on, we got some loser ta[8] find.”

“That “loser” is also a past version of you,” Nate pointedly reminded.

“Watch it, meatbag,” Anti warned. “If he wanted ta[8] stay alive, he shouldn’ta[20] died.”

“Eloquent,” Henrik commented.

“Shut,” Anti hissed back.

“Do you remember your country of origin?” Nate asked. “I’ve got several different deaths from lightning storms and factory accidents from the past 150—”

“I ne’er[21] worked in a factory,” Anti huffed, before mentally stalling because he couldn’t remember how he knew that, just that he did.

“Really?” Nate commented without even blinking. “That helps narrow it down. Means you only could have died from lightning if you’re as old as Mare says you are.”

“Mare needs ta[8] learn ta[8] keep his trap shut,” Anti scoffed.

“You were right there when he told me that, and you didn’t say anything,” Nate reminded.

Anti looked away from him, “I don’t remember this, it didn’t happen.”

“Anyways, do you remember where you came from?” Nate turned back to his computer. “I know the Septics first met you in Ireland, but are you from there too?”

“Been ta a lot ‘a places,”[22] Anti shrugged. “How am I supposed ta[8] know?”

“Well it vould[23] make it easier,” Henrik reminded.

Anti rolled his eyes, “I woke up in Australia. I hitched a ride on several hosts until I got ta[8] Ireland. I don’t know if I died there, my first ten years were a blur.”

“You are Australian?” Henrik was staring at Anti.

“No.” Hunching his shoulders up defensively, Anti glared at the doctor, “Maybe? I can’t remember. What’s it ta[8] yah[7]?”

“No, it’s not a bad thing,” Henrik rushed to say. “I just . . . it is a good thing.”

Nate and Anti just stared at him, neither of them sure which direction to take that comment, but Henrik wasn’t looking Anti in the eyes anymore. He was glancing at Anti though, a lot.

But with a country narrowed down, Nate was able to eliminate several different possible candidates. Until there were five people left, four men and one woman. Mostly because it wasn’t unheard of for gender changes to occur when a human became a demon.

“Okay,” Nate said. “We have: Caleb Carson, Hannah Laverty, Brendan O’Heyne, Angus Collins, and Joe Morrin. Does anyone sound familiar, I don’t see any pictures so . . .”

Anti’s brain felt clouded, like there was something wrong but he couldn’t place it. He felt the urge to stab something and run. Like he was in danger.

“Anti? Are you alright?” Henrik asked, there was a look on Anti’s face that the German doctor hadn’t seen on him before.

Anti’s attention drifted towards one of the names in particular. He had no memories left of that person.

Much of that person was gone now, eroded away by time, but snippets remained. Being arrested for something . . . feeling disgusting inside afterwards . . .

. . . Feeling sick as the boat wouldn’t stop shaking the world around him . . .

. . . The heat of the sun burning his skin, almost hot as the anger that burned inside of him . . .

. . . And then a deafening CRACK as he felt like his body was exploding with pain. And how they’d just . . .

“They left me there,” Anti remembered, his form glitching erratically. “They left my fookin’[24] corpse ta[8] rot!”

“Anti‽” Henrik called out but the two humans watched Anti violently shatter apart in a discorporation.

Nate surged up immediately and took out an amulet necklace. One he had once’s a while ago to safely carry Mare around. But he used his magic to scoop up as much of Anti’s aura as possible to keep him from fracturing.

“Vat[25] happened?” Henrik demanded.

“He must have remembered something,” Nate tried to calm Henrik down as he was casting spells to see how violent the discorporation was, “I don’t think it was a good thing.”

Henrik snatched the necklace away, looking at it. “Vill[17] he be alright?”

“He still seems to be in one piece, but it might take a while for him to reform,” Nate warned.

“I zink ve should stop,”[26] Henrik looked over at Nate’s laptop. “If I had known his reaction vould have been zis violent I vould have stopped ven he confronted us.”[27]

“Yeah,” Nate agreed and watched Henrik put the necklace on. “Be careful with him, an injured demon’s a more dangerous one.”

“I vill[17],” Henrik promised, and gathered up his stuff with a stiff thank you for Nate’s help and the doctor went over to his apartment with the necklace. Anti took a couple of days to reform, but he didn’t talk to Henrik. The demon would escape the necklace and then slip back in whenever Henrik was distracted or busy.

After almost a week since the incident at Nate’s house, Henrik decided that, if Anti wasn’t going to talk to him, Henrik would talk to Anti. He started out small, complaining about the coffee machine at the hospital, about how muggy the weather was.

Then, one night, while Henrik was sitting on his couch, watching some TV show, or at least had it on in the background while he was staring down at the necklace in his hands, the doctor decided to be a bit more blunt. He watched the gem, saw almost like glitchy lightning crackling underneath the surface. “I must admit, part of ze[28] reason I went digging vas[16] to get a reaction out of you.”

There was a pause to the energy in the necklace. But after a bit the glitched lightning continued as if nothing had happened.

“If you do not vant to talk about zis matter, I vill not force you,”[29] Henrik told him. “But I had hoped to get a violent reaction out of you, not to actually harm you. For zat[9] I am sorry.”

Anti’s aura shot out of the necklace was just staring at Henrik. “Why was that what yeh were goin’ fer?”[30]

“You have tried to kill me und[31] my friends many times, und[31] I vanted[32] to get you to attack me,” Henrik admitted.

“Why?” Anti scoffed, plopping down on Henrik’s couch. “If I wanted yeh[7] dead, I would’a[33] done it already.”

He took glared at him. “Zat[9] is exactly the problem, you have zis[15] odd stalking infatuation but you have tried to kill me in the past. Not to mention you utterly ruined Average’s marriage und[31] his ability to visit his children.”

“The fooker was gettin’ cucked an’ e’eryone knew it,”[34] Anti dismissed.

“She vas doin’ no’zing of ze sort,”[35] Henrik defended heatedly.

Anti looked away angrily.

The two sat in angry silence for a little while, before Henrik sighed, taking off his glasses to massage the bridge of his nose before carefully putting them back on. “Anti, vat do you vant out of zese interactions ve have?”[36]

The glitch demon decided he would rather talk about literally anything else, but his only other option was talking about his former human life and he wasn’t sure which made him look worse. “I like it when yeh[7] get angry at me.”

“Is it simply ze[28] anger or ze[28] attention?” Henrik asked, genuinely trying to understand.

Anti still wasn’t looking at him, deciding that he’d rather take the human talk. “My name used ta[8] be somethin’[37] else.”

“Vich[38] do you prefer?” Henrik asked.

“Anti,” Anti told him hesitantly.

“Zen[39] you are Anti,” Henrik agreed. “As you said, zat[9] man is dead, und[31] you are here.”

Something in Anti’s chest tightened, he didn’t like it. He didn’t like even the reminder that he was human. But he started leaning over towards Henrik. It was just a little bit of a lean, not enough to even get near Henrik. So the doctor closed the distance for him, lightly resting his shoulder against Anti’s.

“I zink zat you like the attention, vich I am more zen happy to give to you,”[40] Henrik smiled at him as Anti still refused to hold eye contact with him. “Und ven you know vat you vant, you can tell me in your own time.”[41]

For the rest of the night the two of them sat in almost near silence. Anti wasn’t ready to admit anything, but still tantalizingly close all the same. Anti getting closer and close to Henrik until the doctor was pressed up against the side of the couch and Anti was leaning against him. Anti sat next to Henrik as the doctor just ran his fingers through his hair. Anymore and Anti would have started hissing and pulling away. But as he leaned into the touch the glitch decided that he liked this attention.

Henrik occasionally looked over at Anti, smiling at him.

And if, as he scratched his fingers across his scalp, heard him give out very quiet purring sounds, the doctor decided not to tease the glitch demon about them . . . at least not yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Post A/N: Anti in his AU used to be a man by the name of Angus (Jack’s “survivalist” character he made super early in his channel and in this AU Angus was arrested and sent to Australia where he subsequently died from a freak lightning storm, and then cue villain arc.

Side note: Henrik likes Anti’s Australian accent, he likes it a lot! No I will not back down from this extremely unpopular headcanon.

Accessibility Translations:

1. have to

2. have

3. None of your fucking business

4. Okay

5. him

6. Fuck

7. you

8. to

9. that

10. Why the fuck are you digging into my personal shit?

11. Because there is much I don’t know about you, and I wish to correct that

12. I can’t recall a time when we have ever talked about anything

13. looking

14. for

15. this

16. was

17. will

18. Whatever you two assholes want to dig up some dead bitch that did me the favor of dying, go ahead. Here, I’ll even help.

19. What did you shitbags find?

20. shouldn’t have

21. never

22. I’ve been to a lot of places

23. would

24. fucking

25. What

26. I think we should stop

27. If I had known his reaction would have been this violent I would have stopped when he confronted us.

28. the

29. If you do not want to talk about this matter, I will not force you

30. Why was that what you were going for?

31. and

32. wanted

33. would have

34. The fucker was getting cucked and everyone knew it

35. She was doing nothing of the sort

36. Anti, what do you want out of these interactions we have?

37: something

38. which

39. then

40. I think that you like the attention, which I am more then happy to give to you

41. And when you know what you want, you can tell me in your own time.

[seriouslysam8]

For the ask game, would you please answer questions numbered 2, 8, 14 (all of your titles have such cool names), 18 (I hope Abditory isn't one of them as that story rocks), 21, 24, 29, 30, 33, 34, 44, 51, 62, 76, 82, 85, 88, 90, and 98.

Sorry for asking so many, but I love your work! Entombed gave me so many feels! I found your stories because author Breanie said to read them in her author's notes. Best rec ever! Thank you for answering.

Wow, that is a lot of asks! Thank you so much for wanting to know so much about little ole me. I think I hit them all in this and my apologies if I missed one. Let me know if I missed one. @breaniebree is awesome and my writing BFF. She is amazing, and I love her.

2) What fandoms do you write for and do you have a particular favourite if you write for more than one?

So, I’ve written for The X-Files, Supernatural, and Harry Potter. I currently only write for Harry Potter. I would say Harry Potter has always been the most fun.

8) Where do you take your inspiration from?

Random shit. Brontide came to me because I was browsing the HPFanfiction subreddit looking for a story suggestion and someone asked for a story where Harry was addicted to Felix. Only one unfinished dimensional time travel story was listed. It idea sparked me to write my own version. Entombed came to me because I was rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer where Buffy was buried alive. I knew I wanted to bury Ginny alive. As I stated in the author’s notes of last Kalopsia chapter, I drew inspiration from the Djinn storyline in Supernatural. I write about things I know, too. I have young kids at home so I like writing the Potter children as young because I can mimic their mannerisms in my writing. I’ve even asked my kids to say certain words to emulate their speech pattern in my writing if I’m writing that age group.

14) How did you come up with the title for the XXX? You can ask about multiple stories.

I HATE coming up with titles. My newest trend has been to literally Google “unique words”. There are a ton of Pinterest accounts who make fancy word and definition pictures. I scroll through all these little unique words and pick out ones I think fit a story. Sometimes I Google a unique word for BLANK and see if I can get a cool version of that name. @breaniebree actually helped me with Entombed.

18) Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them?

Sadly, I would put Abditory in this category. Never say never though. I think about it from time to time. Honestly, I abandoned it due to such a negative response I was receiving and the lack of positive response. I became discouraged. It wasn’t even negative response due to my writing, it was literally a bunch of “why would you waste your time writing a story about the biggest plot hole in the books? JKR butchered the whole SK storyline and it’s unbearable to read.” So, basically, my reviews and PMs were filled with JKR hate over that plot point in the books. They heavily outweighed the positive reviews I received. Honestly, I think that’s why a bulk of stories get abandoned - lack of positive reviews or enthusiasm for a story. If I didn’t get so many great reviews for my stories, I don’t know if I’d be able to finish them or continuing writing new ones. Fanfiction is free, (as it should be) but it’s a lot of time and hard work. A little appreciation goes a LONG way. So, my advice, review everything you love reading and encourage writers to keep writing. I always say in my authors notes that reviews make me want to write and inspire me. That’s the truth. The moment I stop getting reviews will probably be the time I take a writing break again.

21) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?

@breaniebree. I mean she’s dedicated years to a single story with so many plot lines and characters that I’m amazed she did it. She’s a fantastic writer, and I definitely consider her my writing BFF. I feel like I’ve learned a lot from her and enjoy talking about writing with her so much. I’m so glad we’ve become friends.

24) How do you feel about writing smutty scenes?

Horrified. Anytime I get a little steamy in my stories, it goes immediately to @breaniebree who usually adds way too much smut and then I cut it down to still be somewhat PG-13 in order to appeal to a wider audience.

29) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like?

I feel like Kalopsia isn’t getting as much love as my other stories. I’m way behind in my normal review count per chapter. I wonder if it’s just the confusing storyline or if it’s just not as fun to read? But I was definitely worried it wouldn’t get the love I thought it deserved when I started writing it and it’s lived up to that expectation.

30) In contrast to 29, is there a story which gets lots of love which you kinda eye roll at?

Cronus Rising. People still recommend it occasionally and I still get random reviews. I’m like, “why????” Its horribly written and a stupid plot line. I literally was getting back into writing after not writing for a good five years, so it’s abysmal. I’ve often wanted to rage delete it.

33) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten?

When someone tells me I should write an original novel and they’d buy the hell out of it. I do have some original novel ideas floating around (one I’ve been writing since I was like 15), but crippling fear of rejection from publishers have stopped me from ever actually finish an original novel.

34) What’s the harshest criticism you’ve gotten?

I got some criticism in Brontide for having drama for drama’s sake with no real purpose or goal for said drama. I felt my drama served a purpose, drove the story along, and I add a lot of fluffy and cute family moments. I feel like in real life, when you to your loved one is going through sometime, it feels like nonstop drama and bad news and like a dark cloud just follows you. I wanted to emulate that in real life. So Harry’s POV was often drab because HE was the one going through something horrific and it was all doom and gloom for him.

44) What is the last line you wrote?

“You never think I listen to your ramblings, but it’s kind of hard to block out, mate.”

51) From one to five stars, how would you rate your writing? (No downplaying yourself!)

Um... I’d say a 3. I think I have some good and unique plots for stories but sometimes I struggle on how to execute those on paper effectively. I struggle with descriptions, action, and showing rather than telling. But I do think I’m good at dialogue and capturing a character’s personality. So, 3.

62) Tell us about a WIP you’re excited about.

A lot! I have a Teddy/Victoire stalker story in the works that I’m excited about. I have (this is going to sound weird) but an outsider rom-com planned where Ron/Hermione breakup right before Hinny’s wedding and Hinny struggles to get them back together before the big day. I have a Potter family vacation fluff/comedy story planned. I have a game night one-shot planned. I have a short story about Luna’s wedding. So many that I want to write and don’t know which one to write first!!

76) Is there anything you’ve wanted to write, but you’ve been too scared to try?

I’d say no. I’ve always tried to write my ideas down. Some I’ve never finished because inspiration peters off and some I plan on finishing once my newest big project is done.

82) Summarize a random fic of yours in 10 words or less.

Harry goes through some shit, and Ginny is his soulmate.

85) Ramble about any fic-related thing you want!

I don’t understand why people don’t ship Harry/Ginny more. I don’t understand the Harry/Daphne obsessions (like just why???) or the Harry/Hermione ship at all. I always see people asking for story recommendation and they specific say “no Harry/Ginny”. They are literally perfect for one another and they are soulmates.

88) If you could ask one other fanfic author three questions about their writing, writing process, or works, what would they be and who would you ask?

@breaniebree .

1.) How do you organize all your charts? Send me the ALL the charts. Because I don’t understand how you keep everything straight!

2.) How do you write so much? You’re like a little writing machine in a cute little package.

3.) Where do all the ideas come from? In a dream? Just thinking? Driving? Do you write everything out in your head like meeee? Can I have some of your writing mojo?

90) How do you process and deal with negative reviews?

I obsess over them. I analyze them. I may get bummed out and not write for a few days. If you don’t like what I write, then don’t read or review. It’s a hobby. I do this for free. I’m not asking you to critique me. Give me a nice review or ask me a question, but don’t be cruel or mean because you can hide behind a keyboard and be a bully to make yourself feel superior.

98) If you had to give up either snacks and drinks during writing sessions, or music, which would you find more difficult to say goodbye to and why?

Music. I grew up with three older brothers. My house was always rowdy and loud and obnoxious. I need it to be loud. I can’t stand the silence or focus when it’s silent. I need music to help me think and write. When I’m home alone, I always turn on the TV or music, because I can’t stand when it’s silent. I think I’d go insane.

[forevercloudnine]

new 52 riddlebat ship meme

(@heroes-etc picked me out a lot of questions and we’re still going. This set is from this ship meme.)

1. Who makes the first move and how?

Ostensibly it would be Edward, if putting together a subtext-laden citywide scavenger hunt that threatens the lives of hundreds counts as “making the first move.” But there’s a limit to how much deliberately obfuscating any expression of your feelings can be considered making any move at all. He also doesn’t seem to really know what he wants from Bruce — in “Alone,” he’s quick to say that he designed the puzzles to lead Batman to him on purpose, but doesn’t have an answer when questioned on what he wanted Batman to do other than catch him.

So even though Edward is technically the instigator here, he places the burden of actually doing something entirely on Batman. Which is difficult, because Riddler’s increased brutality in the New 52 makes him like the last possible version of the character Bruce would choose to pursue. BUT Scott Snyder made Batjokes practically text in this continuity, so obviously New 52 Bruce does not have a problem getting overly emotionally involved with supervillains who have unrealistically large body counts. In fact, the brutality may work to Edward’s advantage here; if he caused enough damage, maybe Bruce would kidnap him and keep him in the Batcave the way it was revealed he was keeping the Joker in Dark Days: The Casting #1. 

What could be more romantic than being imprisoned in the batcave? Well, probably a lot of things, really. But in this case, having a lot of quality time together in which Riddler is not actively murdering anyone is probably the only way that these two could work out what they have going on between them. 

Edward could also earn his way down there by figuring out Batman’s identity, which he’s clearly pretty close to in Batman Annual #4. There’s only so much mental distance between “Bruce Wayne is obsessed with the death of his parents and his drive for justice and revenge has led him to bring Batman into existence, making him responsible for everything Batman has ever done” and “Bruce Wayne IS Batman,” especially when Bruce Wayne does things like climb museum exhibits to leave through the skylight or pull off a trickshot that ruins Riddler’s whole evil plan directly in front of Edward’s face.

And if he DID figure it out, New 52 Riddler would probably be less courteous about its secrecy than Joker is. (Not that Joker is THAT polite about it, given that he keeps trying to use the information to either kill Bruce’s whole family, or... I don’t know... whatever he did with Wayne Enterprises in Joker War. Wait, is THAT why Bruce was keeping Joker in the Batcave in Rebirth?) 

So just to review, I am *checks notes* arguing that Bruce would instigate a romantic relationship by kidnapping Edward and imprisoning him against his will. Yes, that sounds about right for DC’s current continuity.

6. Who would they ask if they ever had a threesome?

If Riddler DOESN’T know Batman’s secret identity, then he would want to have a threesome with Bruce Wayne. Batman Annual #4 suggests that he might have already been a bit obsessed with Bruce even before suspecting his involvement with Batman, given that he talks about how watching Bruce in the tabloids growing up was everyone’s “favorite tv show” and reminisces about learning a lot of information about Bruce’s life that way, including stuff that wouldn’t have made it to the news, like Bruce anonymously setting his teacher’s yard on fire as a teenager.

It’s actually almost a Batman Forever vibe, or it would be if New 52 Edward wasn’t so much less endearing. Is his childhood fascination with Bruce part of why he got a job working for Bruce’s uncle at Wayne Enterprises as an adult, or was that just a happy accident in his preparations for Zero Year? Either way, he’s clearly obsessed with Bruce now, and he’s definitely under the impression that Batman knows him well. So as long as he didn’t know they were the same person, he would probably try to arrange a ménage à trois (wouldn’t that be awkward).

If he DID know they were the same person, then unfortunately Edward would definitely try and instigate a threesome with Joker. I’m not saying it would work, I’m just saying that all of the War of Jokes and Riddles reads like Edward trying to insert himself in the middle of Batjokes and getting rejected by both of them repeatedly.

Joker wasn’t interested the first time Riddler came on to him (or the second time, literally in the same office, Edward please learn how to read a room), so he probably wouldn’t go for it if Edward tried again. But if The War and Jokes and Riddles demonstrated anything, it’s that Edward doesn’t know how to take a hint, so he’d probably try again regardless. And then blame Bruce when it doesn’t work, probably. I always thought it was dumb when Riddler hyped up the oh-so-horrible thing that Batman did to him in the War of Jokes and Riddles in Batman #19, only for it to turn out that Bruce just, like... almost stabbed him.... but didn’t. After Riddler had ALREADY betrayed him.

But it makes more sense that Edward is being such a dramatic bitch if you’re instead interpreting “I still remember what he did” as just a summary of the conga line of rejection that Riddler received over the course of that arc from both sides of Batjokes.

(TWOJAR as helpfully summarized by @heroes-etc​)

11. What do they hide from one another?

I don’t think they can really hide anything from each other, actually. I mean there’s the obvious “Batman is hiding his secret identity” and “Riddler is hiding evil scheme of the week #39.” But Bruce is the “World’s Greatest Detective” as per usual, and Edward is actually not that far behind him in this continuity (even if his delusions can cause him to project and misinterpret his findings, i.e. assuming that Bruce purposefully went bankrupt so that Riddler and the other Arkhamites would have to live in Wayne Manor and be reminded of him every second of every day). Batman Annual #4 has a great example of this where Edward reveals that he knows about how Bruce tried to treat his paranoid vigilante compulsions with shock therapy when he was a teenager. No one but Alfred and the doctors know about that — and I’m just assuming that Alfred knew, it’s not something that was stated in Zero Year.

Bruce obviously solves pretty much every riddle that Edward puts in front of him, but he picks up on the stuff that Riddler is purposefully trying to obscure too. Whether he was researching Edward ahead of time (likely) or just so good at snap psychoanalysis he should have a job at Arkham (possible, Zero Year was written by Scott Snyder), his summary of Edward’s life during their first interaction as Batman and Riddler in Batman #31 is clearly too accurate for Edward’s comfort, as it ruins what had previously been excitement on Riddler’s part that Batman was still alive. 

So good luck to both of them at hiding absolutely anything from each other. The best they can hope for is if WHEN the other person finds what they’ve been hiding, they misinterpret either the information or the reason why it was hidden from them in the first place. Both of them are always willing to jump to the worst case scenario (which, given who they’re dealing with, fair enough), so I’m sure the resulting miscommunication would be both extremely entertaining and highly likely to lead to city-wide destruction.

27. Why do their friends get annoyed with them?

Does New 52 Riddler even have friends? He and Scarecrow claim to have respect for each other in Detective Comics ft. Scarecrow #23.3, but it’s in the context of Scarecrow lying and manipulating all the rogues in the lead up to Forever Evil, and it comes about three panels after Riddler passive aggressively mocks Jonathan’s childhood trauma at the hands of his “daddy.” (Rude, Edward. Rude and gross.)

If they are friends, then the reasons why Riddler dating Scarecrow’s arch nemesis would annoy Jonathan are pretty self-explanatory. Also Edward is clearly the kind of person who would taunt the rest of the Arkhamites with any privileges earned/information gleaned from getting closer to the Bat. When I was younger my mother would always warn me not to waste emotional energy on girls who ditch their friends to prioritize their relationship as soon as they get a new boyfriend. Well, Riddler is that girl.

Bruce’s friends and family obviously also have nearly infinite reasons to be annoyed with Bruce for dating a supervillain (shoutout to Duke Thomas, who was unfortunate enough to have Riddler’s Zero Year during the most formative time of his childhood), but Barbara Gordon would doubtlessly be more pissed than most. Riddler deciding that he’s in love with Batgirl out of the blue (despite them never having met before?) when he finds out that Batman’s marrying Catwoman was already irritating, but I can only imagine how much MORE annoying it would be in the context of Riddler later hooking up with Batman.

If Barbara ever found out about them hooking up, she would immediately have war flashbacks to Batman: Prelude to the Wedding pt. 3. She has a great memory so unfortunately she probably has perfect recall of having to spend an entire evening listening to a pre-recorded monologue of Riddler philosophizing about why he’s not bitter that Batman and Catwoman are getting married and how he’s still straight even though he’s never felt lasting attraction to a woman. And then she would rightfully go apeshit.

29. Why do they fall a little bit more in love?

Thinking of how this question could possibly be answered from Bruce’s perspective made me laugh out loud, which is probably not a good sign given that I’m 4/5 of the way through writing a ship meme for him and Edward. But Riddler is just. So much in the New 52. Okay, I’m taking it seriously now. WHY DOES HE FALL MORE IN LOVE. Well, the fastest way to Bruce’s heart (other than being an attractive woman with dark hair, green eyes, and ambiguous morals) is to assist him in his crusade against crime. While that doesn’t initially seem like something Edward would do (as we see in Batgirl vs. Riddler, he seems to think the key to romance is “mixtapes”), he does go out of his way to give Bruce information about a Gotham-wide criminal conspiracy in Batman Eternal #39. He doesn’t appreciate that Batman’s current opponent is actively trying to wear him down — he wants to fight the Bat at his best, when he can think clearly. So he gives Bruce information he needs to solve the mystery.

Edward seems to also be under the impression that this would endear him to Batman, because he gives Batman a series of riddles that lead Bruce right to him so that they can talk in person. And then gets very surprised when Bruce subsequently arrests him. You’re still a criminal, Edward. This is like the first favor you’ve ever done him. Do it a dozen more times and then MAYBE you’ll start getting the free passes he’s been handing out to Harley and Ivy. But Bruce DOES save him from an avalanche after this, even though in the past Bruce has left him to die out of apathy (The War of Jokes and Riddles) or actively tried to kill him (also The War of Jokes and Riddles). So Edward IS winning him over, just very, very slowly.

Riddler pretty obviously just enjoys having someone to talk to that he feels is “on his level.” Even though he’s already arranged for Bruce Wayne’s assassination by the first time they meet in Batman #39, he obviously enjoys conversing with someone who can and will unravel his riddles and double meanings, to the point that afterwards he musingly wishes that they’d have an opportunity to talk again. Obviously they do, but it’s no thanks to Riddler. You can just NOT assassinate someone if you think they’re hot, Edward.

It’s what seemingly endears him to Batman too (at least, until Bruce ruins the mood by calling him an attention whore in front of all of Gotham). Though it’s basically always bad news for him, Edward clearly enjoys any time that Bruce or Batman exhibits his intelligence. 

[alexiswritingstuff]

My opinions on the Newt situation.

(WARNING- POSSIBLY VERY LONG.)

Hey guys, the title already gives you an introduction to this post so I’m just gonna dive into it.

If you’re not aware of the situation, basically James Dashner (the author of the Maze Runner trilogy) responded to a series of Tweets and informed everyone that he believes Newt is gay.

Quote from one of the tweets:

‘Newt has become more and more real to me, I do believe he is gay. Romance was never a big part of the series, but it feels right.’ 

Before I continue on with my thoughts, I want to state that I am completely fine with Newt being gay. If he is that’s really cool and I’m glad there are more characters that can be known for being a part of the LGBTQ+ community, but-

I am however a little uncertain with this because of that fact that he’s only saying this now and has never presented with the point that this was a thing in the first place.

It’s been about almost 3 years since the last movie came out and about 5 since the last book came out, I also know that he has just came back with Crank Palace. But in that time frame Dashner has never said anything about it.

It kind of makes me a little upset in away because if he is just saying this to be ‘exclusive’ or just to please fans in some way, then it takes away from the actual feeling of Newts character if that makes sense.

I have lived through so many movies and Tv shows queerbaiting audiences, or them being ‘too scared’ to write about it because they are afraid of the ‘backlash’ that they would get from it and I’m honestly sick and tired of it, especially when you compare it to the movies and shows that actually do hold and present LGBTQ+ representation. 

(I am apart of that community by the way.)

Obviously it is Dashner's character and he can do whatever he wants with it because its his, but I just feel like he could’ve at least addressed this earlier when the character was actually still alive and you could genuinely work with that information. (Sorry)

I’m also a little confused because there was a little scene thing around the scorch trials era where it was the characters getting asked questions and Newt starts talking about Aris and implies that he is a little jealous of him because of his maze situation:

‘There was this one lucky bastard stuck in there with nothing but girls’

https://youtu.be/P3vh7GSDB7I   - time stamp- 1:29

Now I don’t know if Dashner was talking about book Newt or Movie Newt in the tweet, but either way it’s just confusing.

Again, I need you to know that I am completely okay with Newt being gay and I’m not trying to sit here and act like I’m against it or trying to be an asshole about it. I’m just generally confused with the sudden information because of the fact that the character literally can’t be explored anymore.

I am again not trying to be disrespectful or erase a part of Newts character, I just need to comprehend this all for a bit. You guys should all know by now how much I love Newt, the character in himself, and how Thomas Brodie-Sangster added onto that. 

My love for Newt will never falter, but I just wanted to voice my opinion because of my series for the character.

I am posting this with nothing but love and I would like to hear your guys’ thoughts in the comments or in my messages.

Please stay kind in response to this and I deeply respect it if Newt is actually gay. Stay safe everyone- Alex :)

[petri808]

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30-Epilogue

Lucy POV. TW: Panic Attack, Mental trauma/coping, PTSD

The university and Lucy’s professors had been really wonderful about everything, even offering to convert her classes to an online option so she could continue. She wasn’t happy about the idea of taking a sabbatical from college, but there was no way she could manage. Not only was it difficult for her to leave the apartment because seeing anyone that remotely resembled Touka sent her into a panic attack, focusing on anything at all was a struggle. Night after night it haunted her dreams and spilled into her waking moments. She’d run scenarios through her mind, all the what if’s, should haves, could haves, often leading to horrifying outcomes. They’d survived, yes, but at what cost?

She didn’t feel the same anymore as if a part of her did die in that apartment or fled to a hidden part of her brain too scared to come back out. The once happy, positive person had become a nervous wreck unable to control her emotions or outbursts. Lucy’s bedroom became her safe zone from everyone, even those closest to her, ashamed and insecure of their judgement. In her heart she knew friends like Levy or Natsu wouldn’t judge... but tell that to her broken mind, because her brain was the one in control at the moment, and insisted they’d look down on her.

All the irrational thoughts. It was her fault for not being careful, her fault she was kidnapped. Lucy knew Touka was growing dangerous, yet walking alone, at night... utterly stupid. She should have been overzealous at protecting herself, but oh no, stupid girl didn’t want to believe anything would actually happen. Until it did. And now she was even more pathetic and weak for not getting a hold of her emotions, for not controlling it instead of it controlling her. The danger had passed. They were alive. Touka was in jail. It should be over, but it wasn’t. Lucy couldn’t move past that night, stuck in an endless loop of fear. So many nights she’d wake up in a panic covered in sweat, the fading images of red... blood... like dripping down a tv screen in a horror movie. It was Natsu’s blood she saw and his screams when the knife had sliced him open.

The first week after the event had been difficult, sitting through an interview with Gajeel, and reliving all the mental wounds. It took several hours to get through it all despite the man doing his best to go easy on her. Each time painful parts came up, Lucy felt the anxieties rise, the mental blurring, the shaking, literally a physical shaking of her body in an effort to dispel the rise of adrenaline coursing through her veins. Interviews are best done without any other potential witnesses in the room to avoid cross contamination, but after Lucy’s first two attempts to talk to investigators failed, Gajeel was forced to allow Natsu in with explicit instructions to sit quietly and say nothing while the woman talked. Of course, Natsu’d been fine with that, he’d do anything to help, even if it was just holding Lucy’s hand. But it only added to her embarrassment. Surely Natsu will eventually tire of having an unstable girlfriend.

Then there was the therapist Levy helped Lucy to find which she hoped would help her to quickly get over the events and move on. So, when the woman explained that such traumas take patience and time to process, Lucy was devastated. It almost felt like nothing was going her way anymore, falling dominoes with no end in sight. She felt so ashamed for having to see the woman in the first place, and now she’s told it would be a long journey towards recovery. Just great! What’s next?!

“Lu?” Levy knocked before opening the bedroom door. “Are you gonna eat your dinner in here again? It’s ready.”

With the curtains drawn, Lucy’s room was dark and the only light available was a small desk lamp next to the bed set to a low setting. She peeked out from under her blanket. “I-I’ll come out in a minute, thanks Lev.”

As soon as her friend closed the door, Lucy exhaled in relief. She knew Levy was worried about the amount of time she stayed holed up in the room, so to dispel some of those concerns, Lucy would join her roommate for meals. She quickly applied a gauze wrap, threw on her long sleeve hoodie, and left the room. It made her feel safer to be shrouded and covered up, so gone were her skirts and tank tops, and hello to long sleeves and pants. If she could cover her face from the world, it would make her happy. Even her overall hygiene suffered. Lucy would forget to bathe or wash her hair for days on end, and it took Levy or Natsu with gentle prodding to get her to do it. She would wear the same clothes for a week if it wasn’t for Levy who made sure she changed at least every couple of days. Hell, she’d starve if her roommate wasn’t feeding her. This was a frustrating cycle, not having the mental energy to take care of herself, then feeling bad because they had to help her with things, which made her feel even worse.

It tore at Lucy’s heart to watch Natsu going through this process with her. She knew he was going through his own struggles, not just mental, but physically healing from his wounds. And here she was, the basket case of instability. Bless him, he never gave up no matter how distant she grew, but after that night, Lucy really didn’t want to talk about anything out loud, not that night, and certainly not the true extent of her pain from it. Both Levy and Natsu knew only what she couldn’t hide from them. Like the panic attacks, and since she really didn’t want them to see her go through one or what she’d resorted to, to calm herself, so the safest solution was stay quiet and not trigger them in their presence.

To show his dedication, Natsu even went with her to her therapy sessions and waited outside the office. Lucy knew it was costing him money to do this, because she couldn’t ride a train which meant cab rides every single trip. It bothered her a lot, but she did her best to hide it, and besides there was one small measure of security in having him at her side when she needed to venture out into the public.

“So, the nightmares are still a problem?” the therapist questioned Lucy. “Are you sure you don’t want to try a medication? It would help to ease them until we can get things under control.”

Lucy gripped to the hem of her sweater. “I just don’t wanna become addicted to that stuff...”

“That’s understandable. But not all are addictive, and I’ll be here to make sure it doesn’t get out of hand.”

“I... I don’t think I’m ready.”

“Okay, that’s fine,” the woman smiled. “Remember I’m just here to help you, at your pace. I won’t force you take anything you don’t want to.”

“Thank you.”

“What about the breathing and relaxation techniques? When you feel the anxiety rising, are you trying out the steps?”

“I try... I don’t think I’m very successful at it.”

“Does it work sometimes?”

Lucy pauses for a few seconds in thought before nodding yes.

“See, that is progress!” The woman encouraged excitedly. “Two weeks ago, it didn’t help at all, and now it works sometimes. It’s a big step forward Lucy.”

“Doesn’t feel like it is...” Lucy mumbled.

“I know it’s hard to see it for yourself, and that’s okay. These things take time and practice. Do you remember what I said about these things?”

“Not really.” Which was true. During the first week when the therapist explained the processes, Lucy had stopped listening as soon as the woman said it would take time.

“Let me ask you a question. You like to write stories, right?”

“Yeah.”

“When you first started, were you able to just write perfect stories.”

“Pfft, no.”

“Then how did you get better at it?”

Lucy rolled her eyes, knowing where this was going. “Practice.”

“Yes! The PTSD requires learning new coping skills as well as unlearning irrational ones. To do both takes practice. The more we work at it, the easier it will get, I promise. One day you’ll be able to look back at this experience and feel stronger for it.”

She really wanted to believe the woman, but it was so hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel! Tears well up in Lucy’s eyes, seconds before they start to flow down her cheeks. “Why is this so hard?! I just wanna get back to normal!” She could feel her anxieties rising. “I... I-I don’t wanna talk about it anymore! I just wanna forget it ever happened!”

The woman reached over and took Lucy’s hand, applying a strategic amount of pressure while rubbing her thumb over the webbing in a counter stimulus. She softened in tone. “I wish I could say that would work, but in order to get past it, you need to confront it. Together we’re gonna turn the boogieman into Casper the friendly ghost.”

It was such a weird way of putting things, it caused Lucy’s mind to snap out of the anxiety and snort a sniffling laugh in response. “Casper the friendly ghost?!”

“It was the first thing to pop into my mind,” the therapist laughed too. “The point is, we’re going to work together and slowly bring you to a place where this no longer scares you.”

“O-Okay...”

The rest of the session was tough, and Lucy had come close to a panic attack several times, but as a trained therapist, the woman stepped in at the right times to bring her levels down again using breaks and breathing routines. Sure, with a professional in front of you, it wasn’t as bad, but doing this on her own, the attacks were still winning. At the end of the session, the woman suggested a new technique to try out based on Lucy’s love of writing.

“You’ve heard of art therapy, so just think of this as a different form of creative therapy. Writing a diary is helpful to get out your feelings out in a healthy way. But let’s take it one step forward to use your skills in fiction writing. I want you to try before the next session, writing a story where you interject your emotions, feelings, whatever you want into the characters and story. Kind of like your character becomes you, but now you get to control what happens to them after the trauma they endure.”

“Wait, so you want me to write about a character that goes through what I went through?! Like torture my own character?!”

“Yes, to put it bluntly. Take your pain and unleash it onto the fictional character. It’s a much healthier way of releasing your anger or frustration in something that can’t really be hurt. Do whatever you want to them. But remember you also get to give them the ending you want to. It’s about utilizing a tool you’re already comfortable with and taking back some control. It’ll be normal if you cry, scream, and get upset through the process, but that’s okay, because instead of holding it all in, you’re getting your feelings out.”

Lucy slumped back in her seat. It sounded strange, yet at the same time made a bit of sense to her. Angst type stories were not really her forte, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t do it, especially since pain is all she was channeling at the moment. She sighed. “I’ll try.”

“And that’s totally okay. All I ask is that you give it a try.”

[nancylou444]

I forgot if i sent it to u or someone else so i'm sending it again anyway

Please Read this to the end and then judge me.

I do not understand at all why you and all other anti destiels dont ship destiel and think that dean is straight and i hate you for that from the bottom of my heart. i mean cant you see how dean truely loves cas and gives no shit about Sam, his brother?and also jensen and writers ship it.

You are so stupid and do not deserve to live in this world period

Read this list below.it may help you take off your anti destiel colored glasses and Accept the truth:which in fact is that Destiel Will become canon.

Reasons Why Destiel Will Definitely Become Canon Before The Show Ends 101:

1.Jensen Ackles: Destiel Doesn't Exist.

2.Jensen Ackles: Because Dean is a lover of the LADIES.

3.Dean will always choose SAM over anyone else.

4.SAM and Dean are soulmates.

5.Castiel: you chose EACHOTHER.

6.Jensen Ackles' Unscripted Frustrated look into the camera in "Fan Fiction" episode.wink wink

7.Jensen Ackles: there wasn't a whole lot of dean and cas storylines in season 9.personally,i kind of enjoyed that.

8.Jensen Ackles: i think the whole dean and cas thing has gotten a little out of proportion.

9.Jensen Ackles: "destiel is real" is it?? Where?? Where is it real??

10.Jensen Ackles: What? What castiel? Nah just me and my pies!

11.Jensen Ackles: We sit down with the writers in a couple weeks. It boils down to these two brothers, that’s the core and the heart of the show, their journey, their fight for each other.

12. “You are homophobic if you don’t ship destiel!"

13.Dean Winchester is fuckin Straight.

14.Eric Kripke : I'm just really interested in guys, STRAIGHT guys who have a tight friendship,they are really fun to write...

15.Dean Winchester: I'm Dean winchester.i enjoy sunsets,long walks on the bitch and frisky WOMEN.

16.Dean Winchester : I dont swing that way.sorry.

17.Dean winchester : yeah sorry again pal i dont play for your team.

18.Dean sold his soul for SAM.

19.Dean died so that he could meet with Death and get SAM’s soul back which of course Castiel left in hell.

20.Dean gave away the Impala and was willing to die with a Croatoan infected SAM.

21.Dean breathed in the poisonous smoke, so that he would die with SAM.

22.Dean wanted out of an AU with Mary and Jessica alive, because AU!SAM didn’t like Dean that much.

23.SAM and Dean made promise to each other, made vows to each other really, in a church.

24.SAM and Dean choose each other over the world, anything, and everything, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

25. Dean refers to SAM as though HE is his spouse (”does he want a divorce?”, “Lucy”...)

26.Dean would rather live in a world WITH demons than live in a world WITHOUT SAM.

27.When Dean forgot everything else, including his own name, he still remembered SAM.

28.Dean : I can’t do it without my brother, I don’t want to 

29.Dean to Sam :You’re the ONLY one who could’ve talked me out of it 

30.Dean to Sam :There ain’t no me if there ain’t no YOU.

31.Dean to Sam :“Because whatever we have between us, love, family, whatever this is, they’re always going to us it against us.”

32.Dean to Sam: “You’re my weak spot SAMMY, and I’m yours”

33.Dean or Sam i dont remember: “All that matters now, all that’s ever mattered, is that we’re together.“

34. Dean to Sam :“Don’t you dare think that there is anything, past or present, that I would put in front of you!“

35.Dean to Sam : “I made you a promise in that church, you and me, come whatever!”

36.The canon friendship between Dean and Castiel is toxic and borderline-abusive, full of lies, threats, insults, abandonment, beatings, and betrayals.

37. Sam, possessed by the devil himself, took control of his own body and beat Lucifer because Dean was there, because Dean didn’t give up even though he was hurt and covered in blood, because seeing Dean bombarded Sam with the memories of their life together.

38. Dean didn’t leave SAM’s bedside , didn’t bury him, didn’t burn his body, didn’t want to say goodbye, and how later he didn’t hesitate to sell his soul.

39.Dean decided not to go into a box, because SAM asked him not to.

40.SAM and Dean were the ones whom were mistaken with gay couple by several people if that matters.

41.SAM to Dean :“you always put me first. Your whole life”,

42.Dean to SAM: “I know where I am at my best, and that is right here, driving down crazy street next to you”,

43.Sam or Dean i dont remember:“you know what brought me back? You did”.

44.Dean’s siren-as admitted by the siren herself-was a copy of SAM.

45.Dean told a male cop "you're awsome".OMG!! He is bi!!!

46.Dean fanboyed over a male tv character.Holy Chuck!! He is bi!!

47.Jensen or Jared:“At its core, it’s the story of two brothers.”

48.Jensen or Jared:“At the end of the day, this starts and stops with the brothers.”

49.Jensen or Jared:“When it comes down to it, it’s about these two brothers.”

50.Dean told Castiel to get the hell outta bunker for SAM while he knew he didnt have his angel powers.Damn! Dean truely loves Cas!

51.Dean figured Castiel was too far gone to be convinced back into their group and bound Death to do their bidding. Dean’s order to Death was to kill Castiel where he stood.#couplegoals

52.Castiel blackmailed Dean by torturing SAM.oh dear god!!! What a True Lover!!

53.Castiel Betrayed sam amd DEAN with crowley.but that's what all lovers do Right???

54.This isnt some romantic show.

55. Castiel is a genderless celestial wavelength of light wearing a male vessel.

56.Dean's chemistry with Baby the Impala is far more noticable than the one with Castiel.

57.Sam even once asked Dean and Baby the impala to get a room.

58.The possibility of Dean and Baby the impala to get sexually involved and the two of them having sex in the finale full frontal is far more than the possibility of non existant Destiel to become canon.

59.Destiel shippers are only a tiny minority of the SPN fandom.

60.Jensen Ackles is fucking done with this shit.

61.Dean left Ben and Lisa for SAM.

62.Misha Collins is the only one who queerbaits.

63.Dean in "red meat" described SAM as the man he loved.

64.Dean sang in a colorful background.OMFG!! he is bi!!

65.Jesen ackles : because being with his BROTHER and doing that is the happiest he is.

66.Dean to SAM: "because i couldnt live with you dead"

67.What show you've been watching???

68.Jared : because that would have RUINED the show to make it about something it wasnt about.

69.Dean has kissed and had sex with an angel.her name was Anna

70.Sera Gamble said “supernatural is the epic love story of SAM and dean”

71.Cw_supernatural IG: it has always been two brothers and the open road.

.

.

.

*Manic laughter*

*Aggressively drop the mic*

*The door is over there*

*Boom! Suck it*

*It sucks to be destieheller*

You are very welcome

Btw I'm a Proud anti destiew and a logical SPN fan.

If You think I'm right,then Chuck bless your logical souls and if not,let me find some fucks to give....sorry,none was found.

The begining part was an example of a savage destieheller.it wasn't me😊ignore it.

Yours truly,anon.

=============================

Holy crap, that is one longass ask. An ask I was thisclose to deleting until I skipped to the bottom. 

💖💖💖💖💖

[bunnylouisegrimes]

Headcanons about your man Charles Talent Manx III?

Ooh boy, this is gonna be long and good:

Charlie’s birthday is November 1st, 1894. I made it that because he’s inbetween Halloween and Christmas (being a vampire that owns a Christmas theme park). Plus, November 1st is the Day of The Dead for children (I believe it’s called “Day of The Little Saints”). “Dead” children certainly connect to him for... obvious reasons 😉. Plus, I imagine his zodiac to be a Scorpio (he’s definately a water sign to me, either cancer like me or Scorpio, but the other elements to making it November 1st attracted me too much, so Scorpio it is).

His favorite shows to watch on TV are Downton Abbey (and other Masterpiece Classic shows), and Antiques Roadshow (but he also loves tuning into Turner Classic Movies when something good is on).

His favorite genres of movies (and books) are horror (which makes him laugh) and Christmas (which makes him happy), but he’s open minded to all genres. What matters most is if the storytelling and concepts are good.

Given that he was around horses as a kid, he knows how to handle one and they would connect instantly (he’s no horse whisperer, he just knows how to deal with them).

He calls his dick “Little Charlie.” 😝

He can crap out candy canes and Hershey kisses as a joke, and his farts and burps smell like gingerbread and sugar cookies. It happened in the 60’s at Parnassus: He was with some of his friends and getting drunk, when one of them jokingly told him he’s full of so much Christmas cheer, he might as well shit out candy canes and Hershey kisses. Charlie thought about this and after everyone else had passed out drunk, he considered maybe using his psychic power for something comedic. When he found he could do it, he offered his friend, who was waking up, some candy canes and Hershey kisses. After he ate them, Charlie laughed and said, “You just ate my ass candy!” Everyone burst up laughing. Well, a few days after that, he noticed his farts and burps smelled... festive. It hasn’t gone away since then and he hasn’t felt the need to change it.

He’s bisexual, but he mostly prefers girls. I’ve explained why many months ago, but to give the long and short of it, it’s a combination of the experience he had when he was thirteen affecting his budding sexuality, but it’s also generally because immortals’ and their sexuality are a complicated thing, and most likely, when you’ve been around a long time, it becomes irrelevant in many ways. Even if Charlie’s experience hadn’t happened, I’m sure he would still have this experience with his sexuality. I like the idea of exploring this complicated aspect to human sexuality rather than just outright making him bi for no reason, as it’s a complicated subject that’s not often heard of.

Chubby women with red hair and very handsome, dashing men are his ideal types, but he makes exceptions because all that matters is if he feels a strong bond with you.

He has two sets of teeth: his naturally sharp teeth and fangs secreted behind his teeth he can jut out when he’s pissed. His finger nails also grow and retract at his will. His bite can cause frost bite.

He has a wide array of abilities, including mind reading, telekinesis, fire starting, making ice/general cold (this one is easier than fire starting), hypnosis/mind control, flight (to an extent), speed, invisibility (but it takes a lot out of him unless he’s hiding with his car), the ability to transform into a bat (but this one takes the most energy out of him), and the ability to eat people, both whole and alive and in pieces, and he can even prevent digestion when needed. He’s not like his kids where he needs people more frequently, but he does have his cravings from time to time he needs to satisfy. Like with his kids, he’s very particular about his meals. There are a bunch of other abilities I have listed somewhere, but those are just a few of others I’m forgetting.

He’s the big spoon when cuddling, but occasionally, he likes to be the little spoon, particularly when he’s upset or in a certain playful mood.

Favorite music: Anything from songs he used to sing as a kid to the 1970’s he enjoys. 1980’s is when interest goes down, he mostly enjoys newwave stuff though. 1990’s it’s hit or miss. Anything 2000’s and up and he’s lost.

The Vehicle Identification Number (or VIN) on his car happens to be: FWM03041922060329. This translates to: FWM= F.W. Murnau, who made Nosferatu. 03-04-1922= When it first released in Germany. 06-03-29= When it first released in America.

He calls the Wraith “Nana Wraith” occasionally (I give credit to my friends Fae, Parasol, and Wraith for this one, they made this one, but it’s definately worth a mention on the topic of Wraithie).

That’s as many headcannons as I can think of right now, there’s so many others, but thank you for the ask and I hope you enjoy them!

[charmmycolour]

Answer questions about Dakavendish pls UwU

YES! I love any excuse to talk about my dorks!

1. Who kissed the other first?

Cavendish.

I know, I know, but hear me out! Let me put a short and a long answer because the long one is long.

Short answer: Cavendish kisses Dakota for the first time without realizing, because he’s simply too excited and not thinking properly. And we know how touchy he gets when he’s excited.

Long answer (you can skip): It’s a personal headcanon that in the future Cavendish alone will get a better job at PIG, and at Dakota insistence he will accept. There’s a ton more to that hc, but basically at some point Cav would be in danger and, in his usual fashion, Dakota would rush to save him. But because they are trying to blackmail PIG and Cav is now important, they kidnap Dakota.

Cavendish tries to convince PIG to send a team to save Dakota, but Bob is all “he’s just the janitor, we can’t waste resorces on a rescue mission for him. Don’t worry about it!” and Cav is FURIOUS, but can’t really do anything about it and he’s too scared to go on a rescue mission on his own. This is too dangerous and he’s clumsy and insecure.

So Cavendish is mopping alone, not knowing what to do. At some point, Milo, Melissa and Zack find him and unaware of the situation just ask where is Dakota. And Cav is like, I can’t tell them the true! They would want to help and get worried, and I can’t involve three innocent children on this. So he lies and tells them everything is fine and Dakota is doing his own thing somewhere else.

But since the topic is there, Milo mentions Dakota is a cool guy and the rest agree. Cavendish, still on his "everything is fine" act tries to act like usual pointing Dakota's flaws "you won't say that if you had to work with him, he's messy, irresponsible, impulsive, always hungry, has no sense of fashion..."

But then he starts to trail off "and he gets excited with the smallest of things, can you imagine? I guess that's quite admirable on it's own way, but... I mean, I don't hate him, Dakota can be pretty helpful sometimes. He knows how to act under pressure, can talk his way out of situations, made our job a lot less boring, and to be honest, he's quite funny, even with that odd sense of humor; and he's the most loyal person I have ever know, he's kind and  witty and selfless and..."

He ends listing all kind of virtues and the kids look at each other and Melissa goes: "Wow, someone likes-likes Dakota, uh?". And Cavendish is just "What? No! I don't... I would never... Dakota is not..." then he suddenly is hit by the realization and just stares in the void, eyes wide. And Melissa of course would tell Zack "I told ya" and he would give her five dolars, because they absolutely have a bet going about this.

The kids will leave saying "Tell Dakota we said hi!" and after a few more moments of existential crisis, Cav would change to absolute determined and will go "I will" and decide to save Dakota on his own. And he goes and is BADASS CAVENDISH rescue mission.

And THEN, when he finally gets to Dakota, and sees him, and screams his name and hugs him, he kisses Dakota out of pure joy, and then smiles at him and says “Milo and his friends said hi”.

END OF LONG ANSWER

2. What was their first fight about?

We know it was about using the training car to get burritos hehe

3. Who sleeps in the couch more often?

Once they had a proper bed? Absolutely Dakota. Cavendish gets super huffy and Dakota would rather use the couch that listen to his complains (also Dakota probably don’t have problems sleeping everywhere, not because of the place at least.)

4. Who drinks coffee and who drinks tea?

Easy one! Cavendish drinks tea, Dakota drinks coffee.

Although I will say Cav secretly puts a lot more sugar on his tea that the average person would find acceptable, and despite his sweet tooth in other deparments, Dakota likes his coffe very bitter to keep him awake.

5. Who goes grocery shopping more often?

Dakota. Cavendish had been so sheltered all his life that he’s blissfully unaware on how much money food cost, or what is truly needed in a house. If you let him go shooping, he ends getting too much, and half of it totally unnecessary.

On the other hand, years and years of poverty had made Dakota an expert of how to buy cheap. However he also buys a lot of unhealthy food, but fortunately Cav is improving that part.

6. Who brings breakfast in bed?

Dakota does so often, the thing is that his concept of “breakfast on bed” consist mostly of a cup of tea and whatever sparse pastry was around at the moment.

Cavendish only does so on rare ocassion, but when it happens, he gets flowers, the most fancy breakfast he’s able to prepare and a a sweet note, if not some small detail. He takes the gesture very seriously.

7. Who sleeps first?

Cavendish. He enjoys routine, wakes up at 6:30am every day and it’s in bed at 9:30pm. By 10 he’s sleeping.

8. Who watches the other sleeping?

Dakota has bad sleeping habits, but it’s mostly due to night terrors and nightmares. He often watches Cavendish sleep, just happy he’s there, and he’s alive.

He also enjoys watching him mumble on his dreams, except when it’s about Hildegard or any of the other previour crushes of Cavendish, which Dakota hates. Not as much because the jealousy but at the fact Cav always gets rejected and hurt on these dreams.

9. Who met the parents in law first?

Assuming they ever get to see their families again, Dakota would be the one meeting Cavendish parents for sure. In fact, I’m not even sure Dakota wants to ever introduce Cavendish to his abusive mother and probably absent father, if father at all.

10. Who does the laundry?

Sunday is laundry day (Dakota doesn’t wear much on Sundays!), and the shorter man is the one that takes care of it. Putting clothes on a washing machine it’s easy, so he jumped at claiming the task inmediatly.

Plus he can pretend there’s no clean clothes he can wear for the day...

11. Who washes the dishes?

Cavendish, altough Dakota had to teach him because he hadn’t washed a dish before in his life prior to his job at BoTT.

12. Who clean up the house?

Cavendish. Again, he needed some help, but now he knows how to keep the space clean and tidy, he WILL keep the space clean and tidy. Dakota really don’t care much for order, but Cav can’t live without it.

13. Who washes the car?

You can bet Dakota not only washes the car, but absolutely does a lewd spectacle of it. There’s always more water and soap over him that over the vehicle.

14. Who brings take outs?

Both of them take turns, as take out is one of their favorite things. Sometimes Dakota just appear with them without warning, though.

15. Who calls the other to ask if they want something from the street?

Dakota is always too loud “Hey Cav, Cav, what do you want?? I take a large or an extra large?? What’s better? Cav, Cav, CAV!”

Cavendish often wants to sink on the ground out of embarrassment.

16. Who’s more likely to make plans?

Count on Dakota making plans on the spot and making most of the day. Cavendish has problems with changes, but still obliges because, well, it’s Dakota.

17. Who dreams about a big wedding?

Cavendish always had imagined his wedding as the most big, fancy, white party in the world.

Dakota was unexpected on that plan, of course. Wearing white around him can’t end well, Cavendish knows it. But somehow... he doesn’t care as much about the wedding anymore.

Dakota didn’t even want to get married, but now the idea looks a lot more appealing, if only to have the change to carry Cav around on his arms.

18. Who breaks the cups?

Cavendish, actually, all the time. Too clumsy for this world.

19. Who holds the umbrella?

When raining starts, Dakota usually silently puts the umbrella over Cavendish, which more often than not doesn’t even realize it’s raining and what Dakota is doing for several minutes. Dakota ends wet a lot, but he don’t care. When Cav finally realizes, though, he makes sure to put both of them under it and hold the umbrella, since he’s a lot taller. Dakota is thankful because his arm was starting to hurt.

20. Who takes the other to the dance floor?

Cavendish is a good dancer, but he absolutely never dances on his own volition. Dakota drags him to dance every time, and every time, Cavendish ends enjoying it.

21. Who does the big romantic gestures?

I think sacrificing yourself hundreds of times to save the other’s life counts as a big romantic gesture, so Dakota.

Cav tries his best, but is misfortune doesn’t help. Not that Dakota cares.

22. Who’s more likely to serenade?

Dakota. Not only has he the better singing voice, but he can make songs in the spot. Plus he likes to fluster Cavendish serenading him in public.

23. Who forgets the wet towel in bed?

You can bet Dakota does and you can bet Cavendish nags him for it.

24. Who don’t pick up things when they fell?

Dakota. What’s another thing in the floor?

25. Who keeps losing the keys?

Cavendish is CONSTANTLY missing everything. He don’t even understand why, his order is impeccable! Meanwhile Dakota, that thrives on his own messes, can locate any item in seconds.

26. Who sings the rap part?

The idea of Cavendish trying to rap anything is making me laugh too hard, so Dakota.

27. Who pretends to be sad just so the other will cheer they up?

Dakota is always cheering Cavendish up, although Cav is genuinely sad. It’s possible that he gets more pouty than necesary just to get Dakota’s attention, though.

28. Who wakes up ready for a maraton?

Cavendish does exercise every morning. Dakota hated it, until he discovered Cav wears a really ridiculous and tight 80 workout aerobic outfit for it. Since then, he wakes up early too only to watch Cavendish doing exercise in front of the TV.

29. Who buys them tickets for shows?

Cavendish. He insist they need to do more cultural things. Half of the time they end leaving at the middle and going to some childish activity instead, though.

30. Who choose the movie?

Oh, they are always bickering about who is choosing the movie and who has better taste. True is, both have terrible taste.

31. Who says ‘I love you’ more often?

After the first time (that took more than ten years!), Dakota finally feels free to say I love you, and will absolutely use it. Dakota reminds Cav he loves him several times a day for the tiniest of things.

Cavendish is more reserved, if only because he still gets flustered with the idea. He likes his words to hold a sense of uniqueness, and so he limits his love words to the most intimate or romantic moments.

32. Who keeps waving at people after they got engaged?

Half the city knows all the details about Dakota’s ring, because he can’t stop himself from bragging about Cavendish to everyone.

33. Who uses the most ridiculous nicknames for the other?

Cavendish is not a fan of pet names and only uses Dakota, and sometimes Vinnie or at most dear. Dakota don’t extend the courtesy to him.

Dakota calls Cavendish every pet name under the sun. Babe, handsome, amore, casanova, cutie, cupcake, muffin, sugar plum, sweetie, tesoro mio... even mister hot stuff or sexy pants.

Cavendish hates it.

He tried to make ridiculous names for Dakota, but Dakota loves every one of them. So now Cav calls him teddy bear.

34. Who’s responsible for date nights?

Date nights, as an event, is mostly Cav’s job. He organizes wonderful dates, but gets frustrated quickly if anything goes wrong, so Dakota spontaneous nature it’s a blessing.

35. Who wakes up one day and decides to stay in bed?

That’s Dakota 90% of mornings.

And 85% of the time, Cav doesn’t let him.

Sometimes, though... a few extra cuddles can’t hurt anyone.

[natromanxoff]

Queen live at Colston Hall in Bristol, UK - November 18, 1975

x

The photos could be from either night.

This article from the November 29 issue of Sounds chronicles the second night in Bristol.

Queen triumphant

QUEEN ARE the type of group that make a man want to abandon rock writing. They pose questions and never provide answers. They exist in their own space-time continuum, visible and audible but keeping their secrets to themselves.

On the surface they couldn't be a nicer bunch of people, but they carry English reticence to an epitome. It isn't, as Geoff Barton said two weeks ago, that they're boring, it's just that they're reserved. Or in writer parlance, they don't automatically provide colourful copy. All my instincts as a writer tell me that there is a great story in that band, but after two nights with them I'm hardly any the wiser.

Skin tight

That their insularity has a lot to do with them being one of the most amazing heavy-metal and/or rock bands in Britain - with all the signs that they'll end up monsters on the order of Zep - is fairly obvious, but just how much bearing it has on the matter is hard to say. The enigmas they might pose mightn't even have answers.

Is there any logical reason why they present an image and persona straight out of the Beatles school of interlocking chemistry?

John is reserved, almost nonchalant on stage, as if it's all in a small, personal joke. When asked how he saw himself within the framework of the band he replied, with a small smile, "I'm the bassist".

Roger is his opposite, the cheeky sidekick in a Clint Eastwood movie, and attracting a lot of cheesecake attention in America and Japan.

Freddie is an original - one of the most dynamic singers to tread the boards in quite a few years. His attraction is obvious.

Brian is perhaps the biggest enigma of all. What is this seemingly frail, gaunt astronomer doing on that stage, striding purposefully and blasting diamond-hard rock? They're all equally strong personalities - like the Beatles there's no one major focal point. Ask four fans who their dream Queen is and you'll get four different answers.

Queen have been busy lads these past few months. Having disassociated themselves from their former management and joined with John Reid, the fourth album was seen to. Reid decided that a tight schedule wouldn't cause them undue harm, and figured on two months to record before embarking on this current tour.

Only Queen are driven to better each previous album - which at this stage of the game is obviously producing some excellent results - and 'A Night At The Opera' turned into a saga - culminating in 36-hour mixing sessions in an effort to allow at least a few days for rehearsal. In the end they managed three and a half days at Elstree with four hours off to videotape the promotional film for 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.

Their first few dates had not been without errors and the quartet were still not feeling totally comfortable their second night in Bristol, fourth night of the tour. You'd never know it, though.

Like all other aspects of the group, the stage is sophisticated. A black scrim provides a backdrop bounded by a proscenium of lights both front and rear. At each side the p.a. rises like a mutant marriage of Mammon and Robby the Robot. Amp power is readily evident but the most extraordinary is Brian May's subtle set up: nine Vox boxes stepping back in rows of three. The only packing crate visible is holding a tray of drinks, and you may rest assured that no roadie will rush, crawl or lurk across the stage while the show is in progress unless it's to rescue Freddie's mike from the clawing crowd.

As the auditorium darkens the sound of an orchestra tuning up is heard over the p.a. The conductor taps his baton on the music stand and a slightly effete voice welcomes the audience to A Night At The Opera. The Gilbert & Sullivan portion of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' follows, a brief glimpse of Freddie is allowed, and then in a blast of flares and white smoke the blitzkrieg begins.

Roger is barely visible behind his kit, just his eyes and tousled locks. John is wearing a white suit and playing the-man-who-must-stand-still-or-it-will-all-blow-away. Brian is slightly medieval in his green and white Zandra Rhodes top, while Freddie is...

Around his ankles his satin white pants flare like wings - fleet footed Hermes. Everything north of the knee is skin tight - tighter than skin tight - with a zip-up front open to AA rating. But further south, definitely in X territory, lurks a bulge not unlike the Sunday Telegraph.

There have been sex objects and sex bombs, superstar potency and the arrogant presentation of this all-important area, but never has a man's weaponry been so flagrantly showcased. Fred could jump up on the drum stand and shake his cute arse, leap about and perform all manner of amazing acrobatics, but there it was, this rope in repose, barely leashed tumescence, the Queen's sceptre. Oh to be that hot costume, writhing across the mighty Fred!

Phallic

Freddie is not pretty in the conventional sense of the word; like Mick Jagger of '64, he is his own convention. Also like the Jagger of the time, his stage persona and action is unlike anything else. Although it borrows - like most of the group's plagiarisms - slightly from Zeppelin, in tandem with Freddie's supreme assurance and belief in himself - he always refers to himself as a star - it explodes into something that is a constant delight to watch.

He reacts to his audience almost like an over-emotional actress - Gloria Swanson, say, or perhaps Holly Woodlawn playing Bette Davis. At the climax of the second night in Bristol he paused at the top of the drum stand, looked back over the crowd and with complete, heartfelt emotion placed his delicate fingers to lips and blew a kiss. Any person who can consume themselves so completely in such a clichéd showbiz contrivance deserves to be called a star.

Freddie's real talent, though, is with his mike stand. No Rod Stewart mike stand callisthenics here, just a shortee stick that doubles as a cock, machine gun, ambiguous phallic symbol, and for a fleeting moment an imaginary guitar. He has a neat trick of standing quite still in particularly frantic moments and holding the stand vertically from his crotch up, draw a fragile finger along its length, ever closer to the taunting eyes that survey his audience.

Their show contains lots of bombs and smoke, lots of lights, lots of noise. They fulfil the function of supremely good heavy metal - i.e. you don't get a second to think about what's going on. When they do let up for a few minutes, it's only so you can focus in on the bright blue electric charge crackling between your ears.

Bulldozer

Dominating the sound is Roger's drumming, a bulldozer echo that bounces like an elastic membrane, meshing with your solar plexus so that your body pulses in synch with the thunder. Tuned into that, everything else is just supremely nice icing.

For three days rehearsal, after eight months off the road Bristol was extremely impressive. In speculative mood I quizzed people on how long they thought it would take to headline Madison Square Garden. I was thought a radical at a year and a half. John Reid smilingly assured me it would take a year.

That Queen should end up with John Reid is an entirely logical proceeding. Everything about Queen demands that the world eventually kowtows at their feet in complete acquiescence - so big that bodyguards have to accompany them at every step. Well, no - they found that an annoyance in Japan, but, you know, huge.

Such status demands a Reid or a Peter Grant, and whatever the causes for their leaving Jack Nelson and Trident, an elegant group like Queen is going to look for a man with class. Reid found the idea of managing a group interesting, and having to deal with four strong personalities a challenge. He only concerns himself with their business and ensuring that the year ahead is mapped out. In January they begin a jaunt through the Orient, Australia and America, by which time it's March and they begin preparations for the next album.

Reid's prediction of a year was proven highly credible the next evening in Cardiff. The band had still not paused from the rush up to the tour and spent most of the day relaxing and sleeping - no doubt a factor in their near recumbent profile. Also, unlike most groups, they were keeping their dissatisfaction with the show to themselves.

They stopped off at Harlech TV on the way to see a cassette of the video for 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. The general consensus was quite good for four hours, with much laughter during the operetta. Brian finds film of the group educational - the first time he saw himself was a Mike Mansfield opus for 'Keep Yourself Alive' - "It was 'All right fellows, give it everything you've got but don't move off that spot.' It was terrible." You don't like Mansfield, eh? "Oh, I hate him - we all do... I was horrified when I saw it - I couldn't believe we looked that bad. I looked very static - seeing myself has taught me a lot about stage movement. Some of the things I do are planned for effect, but it's mostly just feeling the audience and communicating that back to them."

Arriving at the motel - several miles out of town - Freddie immediately fell asleep, John held court of a sort, joined later by Brian, while Roger went jogging, a daily event when touring. Tuning in to rock via Bill Haley and Tommy Steele, he became a drummer because he was better at it than guitar. All through school he was in bands; he only went to dental school out of "middle class conditioning, and it was a good way to stay in London without having to work". His mother thought it a bit strange when he opted for a career as a rock star, but she doesn't worry too much now.

The concert starts in much the same manner as the previous night, but there are signs that tonight is work, with posing an afterthought. The endings to most of their songs are magnificent and majestic, especially 'Flick Of The Wrist' and the rapid harmonies of 'Bad Boy Leroy Brown'.

Maniacal

The audience, seeing their faces in town for the first time, are vociferous in their appreciation. Guys know all the words to every song, yelling enthusiastically at every effect and solo. The band picks up, Freddie receiving the crowd beneficently, telling them they’re beautiful.

As the show builds it is obvious that things are gelling more. The previous night Brian had seemed totally out of place, not moving too much, taking solos with the weirdest half blank half possessed stare, talking to himself; cocking ear towards guitar. He was the proverbial stranger in a strange land, one step removed from the plane inhabited by you and me.

Tonight he moves fluidly, the gonzo lead guitarist of a gonzo band. His expressions are just as maniacal, but it only makes him look more demonic. His solo in 'Brighton Rock', an exposition in riffing and echo, is a treat because of his physical response to both music and audience, complete with ham acting. Freddie gets into the same game on 'The Prophet's Song', where he conducts an acapella madrigal with himself. It's a pretty commanding moment.

It’s soon after this that Madison Square seems reasonable. About a minute into 'Stone Cold Crazy' it becomes very obvious that Queen have suddenly Plugged In. Found the metal music machine and Connected. Freddie's movements explode in perfect unison with the music, the lights and surroundings go crazy, and the audience goes berserk.

Freddie asks for requests and receives a roar out of which one can vaguely make 'Liar'. Fred walks along the stage, nodding, agreeing he will do this one and that one while the kids roar on. "I'll tell you what - we'll do them all!"

'Doing Alright' opens slow and portentously. Queen's variation of light and shade is one of the major factors in their popularity, but even so the quiet sections frequently find the audience's mind wandering. One kid starts getting a joint together, totally forgetting it when everything blasts off again; guys talk among themselves, only to instantly leap to their feet, fists flying to the beat.

'Doing Alright' changes into a cha-cha beat, Freddie snapping his fingers, the coolest hipster in town, and then instantly drops into faster-than-light drive - the whole row next to me leaps to their feet as a man, rocking back and forth as Brian roars into a blinding solo.

Two songs later, in 'Seven Seas of Rye', the kids break - very fast - and in five seconds half the audience is a seething mass in front of the stage, climbing on each other in pyramids, sudden openings appearing as a splintering seat sends a few bodies to the floor.

The rest of the show is equally intense, especially for a couple of minutes during 'Liar; where Fred and Brian merge into a tight little triangle with Roger while John stands in front of the bass drum, staring out with his small smile.

Freddie has treated his encores - 'Big Spender' and 'Jailhouse Rock' - differently on successive nights, once appearing in a kimono and in Bristol with rather rude tight white shorts, giving the song title new emphasis. In Cardiff, though, he doesn't bother to change at all. Later it transpired that Brian had twisted his ankle during 'Liar'. While he’s attended to, kids out front pick up chair slivers to keep as mementos.

On the bus back to the hotel Brian sits quietly at the back, chatting with two girls. John sits at the front, as always. Freddie stares out of the window, lost in his own world. Roger bounces around, starts a pillow fight with Brian - which stops as soon as Brian scores a direct hit to the face - then discovers an eight track of 'Sheer Heart Attack', punching it through the channels as he conducts the group. The two hours towards which they have channelled the day's energies are spent.

Ambition

That Queen have become a top attraction through a fair degree of plagiarism is amusing. Stealing is nothing new in rock (or any art for that matter) and mostly Queen use the borrowed material better than the originals. That they would be big I don't think anybody really doubted. All four have immense desire to be successful, and that kind of ambition will keep them slogging until they achieve it.

But there are popular heavy metal bands and there are popular h-m bands. From watching Queen's audience it is apparent that Queen speak for them in a way that bands such as the Who and the Stones and the Beatles spoke (and continue to speak) to their audience. Uriah Heep may be great at what they do, but five years after their demise who'll remember them? Creedence Clearwater Revival demonstrate the same thing - who remembers them? And yet five years ago they were the largest band in the world.

Queen will probably always be remembered, because as their tour is beginning to demonstrate, they have the ability to actualise and encompass the outer limits of their sense of self-importance. Queen and their music, presentation, production - everything about them says that they are more important than any other band you've every heard, and who has there been, so far, who has objected? Certainly not the 150,000 people (plus 20,000 a day) who bought 'Bohemian Rhapsody' in the first 20 days of its release. Certainly not me.

See you at Madison Square Garden.

[text © J. Ingham 2007; photos © Kate Simon]

~ You can see the photos which was mentioned on the article, from the link on the title. ~

[gdwessel]

Rumors About Ospreay + Unrest In The NJPW Locker Room; Government Adds Okinawa to State Of Emergency, Another Extension Possible; Quick Review of DSOTR Collision In Korea; Shota Umino News!; Ren Narita on Dark Elevation; Satoshi Kojima In Impact Next Week

Strap in because this is going to be a long one.

There are rumors and reports coming out now (mostly from one source, the Voices of Wrestling website, from behind a Patreon paywall) that Will Ospreay's injury may not be what it seems, and there is growing discontent to the point of "mutiny" among the non-Japanese wrestlers regarding the state of emergency, the last-minute decision to resume touring when some were already travelling out of Japan, and the constant need for quarantining when coming back into Japan. Unfortunately this is as much as I can say, because this is behind a paywall, so until it gets made for public consumption I’m kinda limited in what I can say.

I can totally buy that all is not well within NJPW, especially after the COVID-19 bubble has burst. I've already discussed the creative malaise happening in the company right now. That there seems to be backstage dissent shows possible signs of trouble ahead for the promotion, and this golden period that we've been accustomed to is well and truly over. (I mean, it already was once lockdown happened, but they did the best they could, in my honest opinion, including a Pretty Good if not great WK15. Right now, creatively, we are below 2nd-half 2018 levels of poor.) But NJPW has weathered these storms before, although not with a global pandemic looming over everything. I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that Ospreay is indeed injured, because a) they haven't exactly been shy about wrestlers being injured and needing to vacate titles before b) if Ospreay is legit injured, he is far more likely to receive treatment as a citizen of the UK from the (somehow still alive if not totally hobbled by Brexit) NHS, as opposed to Japan's healthcare system which is far more like the US model. Some wrestlers are swearing up and down he is injured, from the rumors. Ospreay certainly hasn’t said anything in his own words, beyond RTing NJPW’s announcement of his injury and vacating the title, and posting a pic of himself kissing the belt. RevPro kinda sorta said something but were also pretty vague. But for an injury suffered on 5/4/2021, this pic posted on 5/18 does not look like someone who just had such a severe neck injury they need to fly back to the UK (mind you, it COULD have been taken much earlier than that). Indeed, Ospreay’s still-active Twitter is more focused on Hana Kimura at the moment*. All this said, professional wrestling by it’s very nature has a baked-in amount of bullshit as part of it, so that this injury might be phony is always a distinct possibility.

It is utterly believable there is conflict between wrestlers and management, and communication is piss-poor at best. It is also believable that NJPW and Bushiroad are only taking their cues from a government Hell-bent on holding an Olympics an overwhelming majority of those polled are against, and who are treating the extended state of emergency as a vague suggestion rather than as a, you know, state of emergency. Pretending everything is hunky dory hasn't worked so far, so not sure why NJPW, nor the Japanese government, think eventually it will. (And NOAH is on my shit list right now too.) On that note, the government has now officially added Okinawa to the state of emergency. There is also talk that it will be extended further, as a government subcommittee member is quoted in the article as saying “it is difficult to think” that it will be lifted on 5/31/2021. Among that talk is word that Tokyo particularly will be under a stricter lockdown if this goes on. On a piece of actual GOOD news, it has been announced that the government has approved both the Moderna and AstraZeneca versions of the vaccine, so perhaps the vaccination rates will start to go up at last.

* - The anniversary of Hana Kimura’s tragic death is tomorrow (5/23/2021). I still sometimes struggle with the idea she is gone. Tonight at 10:30pm EDT (which is 5/23/2021 12:30pm in JST), FITE TV will be showing a live Hana Kimura tribute show put on by her mother, Kiyoko Kimura. Have a look in if you can

I was able to watch the Vice Dark Side Of The Ring episode on Collision in Korea, the two-night joint NJPW & WCW show from May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea, on 4/28 & 4/29/1995, as it aired Thursday. It will hit YouTube here pretty soon. I am working on a podcast project about this documentary, and the (WCW version of the**) show itself, with the good lads at the Days Of Thunder podcast, so I won't talk too much here, but I will say a few things about it:

I did appreciate the detail here, as well as being able to get an interview with Antonio Inoki for this, especially as he was the principal driver of this show happening. I did also like that they took time to detail Inoki's mentor, and the "father of puroresu," Rikidozan, who himself was a North Korean national by birth. I did not appreciate the mythical pathos they added to the death of Rikidozan, which by all accounts was a random street fight with yakuza over a perceived insult (stepping on Rikidozan's shoe). I also felt they could have done a better job explaining the situation between Japan and North Korea at the time. When the event was first proposed to the NJPW roster, Scott Norton recounts Masahiro Chono telling Norton that "they want us dead," but it took until introducing former CNN foreign correspondent Mike Chinoy nearly halfway through the documentary to (briefly) explain the brutal colonialism that Japan wreaked on North Korea in the first part of the 20th century.

Also, as salacious as DSOTR can get, I am very surprised one of the most famous rumors/stories about this show did not get discussed, the internet wrestling legend that Kensuke Sasaki and Akira Hokuto were, erm, Quite Vocal when they were together, which of course did eventually lead to their marriage four months later which continues to this very day. But that was also part of another critique I had, which is, they mainly focused on the WCW part of the events, when this was an NJPW promoted show. The way it was told on DSOTR, the only Japanese wrestlers there were Antonio Inoki, Shinya Hashimoto, Akira Hokuto and Bull Nakano. I'd love to hear more from the NJPW side of things, besides how proud Inoki was of this political stunt that did not get him re-elected to the Diet anyway.

Overall, I do recommend watching this when and how you can, because it is absolutely bonkers. I will definitely keep you posted on when the podcast project for this drops. ** - I've tried looking for the NJPW version and have failed so far. NJPWWorld only has two matches from this, Antonio Inoki v. Ric Flair, and Akira Hokuto v. Bull Nakano. The WCW version is not officially released, even on WWE Network, so yeah search the internet to see it.

We finally have an update on Shooter! That is, Shota Umino. Earlier in the week, RevPro's official Twitter had a tweet saying This Summer, showing Umino in not only his white/pink Tanahashi-esque tights, but holding his Death Riders jacket from Jon Moxley, that Shota retweeted, making this his first tweet since September 2019. Two days later, a hype video appeared with footage of Shooter, including performing Death Rider. Now a Sports Illustrated article is claiming that Shooter was supposed to have reunited with Mox on the NJPW Strong episode that had Mox & Chris Dickinson face Yuji Nagata & Ren Narita, but Umino had an unspecified injury preventing that. (They further say that Mox v. Nagata’s IWGP US title match was originally set for Strong but Tony Khan convinced NJPW to hold it on AEW Dynamite.) Umino's last match listed on Cagematch was on 3/14/2020 in ATTACK! Wrestling in Cardiff, Wales, on the winning side of a 6-man tag match with Kyle Fletcher & Kid Lykos II defeating Shigehiro Irie, Chief Deupty Dunne & Los Federales Santos, Jr. It's great to have him back wrestling again, and I hope we get that reunion with Moxley soon enough too.

As an update to an item from an earlier post, it appears that the Ren Narita v. Royce Isaacs match that was teased but then not aired on AEW Dark this past Tuesday will actually be on AEW Dark: Elevation this coming Monday instead. Also part of that will be approximately 35 other matches (I only slightly kid), one of those being Rocky Romero v. JD Drake. This usually drops on YouTube at 7pm EDT / 6pm CDT Mondays.

This past Thursday on Impact, a video package showed that Satoshi Kojima would be appearing on next week's episode. This will be Kojima's first time ever wrestling in Impact under any name, as the last time NJPW and TNA were working together, Kojima was still away in All Japan Pro Wrestling. No word as to what he will be doing or whom he will be wrestling.

Also on Impact, Juice Robinson & David Finlay Jr. successfully defended the Impact World Tag Team titles against Ace Austin & Madman Fulton... before getting blindsided by two members of the Violent By Design unit (in this case, ECW veteran Rhino and former AJPW Triple Crown champion + cancer beater Joe Doering) with whatever Impact's version of a Anytime Anywhere Challenge is, and took the belts from FinJuice. They claimed FinJuice were going back to Japan, but, erm, who knows if that's the case or if it was for a time period when Wrestle Grand Slam was still a thing that was happening.

Also also, it seems Don Callis is no longer in any executive capacity at Impact. This is a little significant as it seems it was Callis who opened the negotiations back up for Impact to work with NJPW. Of course, lately he's spent more time as an on-screen heel manager for Kenny Omega, the Good Brothers and now the Young Bucks on both AEW and Impact programming. We'll see how much longer Kenny Omega's belt collector shtick goes on for with Callis no longer part of creative or management.

And that is actually it for now! Yipes!