#if you guys can prove otherwise than go right ahead*

[maxthesillyy]

”if max and chloe arent together in double exposure that means something really bad must have happened to make them break u—“ pricefield isnt canon. you realize that right. pricefield is not canon.

edit because i only expected my mutuals to see this (my mistake i know): in the words of someone much more articulate than me, Pricefield isn’t any more canon than Amberprice. thats what this post means. thats literally it. Pricefield is on the same level of canon as Amberprice.

[overtrred28]

Stargirl | matildas x original character fic [part thirteen]

Words; 1.8k

Pairings; matildas team x astrid taylor (OC)

Warnings; swearing

A/N; Hi all. Hope you're enjoying this story. Just wanted to apologise for such a late update and a really short chapter but I started a second job and I've got less time to write so updates may take a little longer sorry. But I will try to keep it within two weeks of each other and write when I can so you guys can keep reading. Love you all xx

masterlist

The next morning after breakfast the team assembled for their pre match meeting where they would do last minute reviews of their opponents style of play, and plan their own around the starting lineup Tony was going to reveal. 

Astrid’s prediction from the night before was proved right when Kyra’s name appeared in the midfield, a smile donning both of their faces as Astrid lightly punched Kyra’s shoulder. The rest of the line up was almost the same as it always was but with Cortnee replacing Sam’s usual position as the left forward and Charli staying in that back right in replace of Ellie who was still out with her ACL injury.

Although Astrid had yet to be named again in the starting XI since that Phillipines game, the plan involved her coming on later in the game and continuing her super sub reputation. 

Arriving at Kingsmeadow again the energy was high and the team were ready for what was to come. They got ready and headed onto the pitch for the warm up, Astrid, Charli and Kyra trailing at the back of the group. 

“Will you three hurry up? Otherwise you’re not part of the rondos.” Alanna turned around, yelling at the three of them who were still slowly walking out of the tunnel. 

“How dare you!” Astrid dropped her mouth in shock, separating from her friends as she ran to join the team, rather ditching her friends than missing out on the only fun part of warm up. 

“Rude.” Charli called out as Kyra scoffed beside her, watching the youngest player run out of the tunnel to the team on the pitch, jogging to catch up behind her. 

Training like always was full of laughter and fun, slightly distracting them before the tough match but still focused on the drills ahead of them. When it began time to partner up, Astrid began walking towards Charli but was pulled away before she could even process what was happening. 

“You’re with me today, chicken.” Steph finally spoke as she walked with Astrid further away from the younger of the Matildas. Astrid was confused but not complaining as she had begun to form a stronger bond with Steph through these camps and over long distance while at clubs. 

“Cool with me.” Astrid shrugged her shoulders as they began their partnered drills and passing skills. 

“So, how’s Hammarby?” Steph asked, looking over at the younger player. 

“It’s really good, I think I’ve finally settled back into the team and the rhythm again.” Astrid smiled as she talked about her club. 

“That’s good. You always want to feel good at your club and comfortable in that environment.” Steph nodded at her, happy she was content in her current club and team. “What about Sweden though? How’s living there treating you?” 

“It’s fine, I’m glad I have Kyra and Nevs with me, and Charli not far away.” Astrid drifted off slightly and looked back up at Steph instead of the ball they were sending between each other.

“But?” Steph quizzed, looking her softly in the eye, Astrid pausing to think before responding.

“I don’t know. Something’s missing or off, I think. It’s just not what I’ve been used to, you know. Especially with a whole different language and customs and lifestyle; it’s just different.” Astrid shrugged casually. “But I’ll get used to it, and the weather.” She laughed with Steph who also missed the Australian sun whilst living away.

“It’ll get better, that feeling of being misplaced sorta. I promise.” Steph pulled Astrid into her side as they began to walk back to the group who were finishing up their warm ups as well.

They all returned to the locker room, changing from their training gear to their game jerseys, Astrid donning her 31 proudly as the subs exited the room, hyping up the starting line up as they went past. 

Courtney and Astrid sat beside each other on the bench as they waited for the match to start. The whistle blew and the ball was taken into quick and easy possession by the Australian side, keeping it close to them and weaving through the South Africa defence. A few chances were made within early minutes, almost getting Astrid out of her seat ready to celebrate, but it wasn’t till Steph took a corner at the fifth minute that she was able to. 

Steph struck with her left foot and the ball headed straight to Mary who attempted to head it in but struck the post, Cortnee saw it and quickly knocked it into the net, scoring her first international goal on the senior team. 

“YES VINEY!” Astrid screamed from the bench, cheering loudly as the players on the field celebrated Cortnee’s goal; Tony also cheering loudly from his place in the tactical box. 

And it wasn’t long until they were celebrating again, Cortnee knocking the ball into the net just 10 minutes later, bringing the Matildas to an easy 2-0 and getting herself a brace. Polkinghorn further advanced their lead just before halftime with a header from another one of Steph’s corners, letting the Matildas leave halftime 3-0 as they retreated down the tunnel. 

While the starting XI were having their halftime meeting with Tony, Astrid took this time to practise her shots with Macca and Courtney for a few minutes before the two younger players were called over to the bench again. They discussed the tactics again for the second half and when they were both going to come on to make a difference in the game, not that there was anything wrong with how it was panning out so far. 

The second half began with the kick from Vine, the Matildas once again taking quick possession and earning corners as they stayed down near the box. Caitlin was the one to give them their next goal, taking a long ball from Aivi to Steph and dancing around the defenders to send it to the right side of the net. 

Astrid and Courtney got up not long after that to warm up once again, running up and down the sidelines as they watched the game progress.

At 70 minutes the Australian side made three substitutions, taking off Steph, Caitlin and Charli and bringing on Courtney, Astrid and Larissa as their replacements; the three of them quickly settled into the rhythm of the game and added to the dynamics of the players on the field. 

Astrid came into the left forward position, slightly further up to where Caitlin had been playing before but somewhere she was more comfortable and was now working with Hayley and Larissa up front. It didn’t take long for Astrid to get her feet on the ball, running ahead of Chidiac who delivered it to her in open space and she slotted it past the South African goalkeeper into the bottom right corner. 

The team were thrilled with her contribution so early after coming on, bringing them to 5-0 at 75 minutes in; but it’s not like they were surprised, it’s what she’s known to do. 

Only 3 minutes later and the ball had landed at her feet just outside the box, but she was surrounded by defenders, all eagerly watching her feet to see where she might go. Astrid paused, lifting her eyes up to the defender in front of her before shifting it in the direction of Hayley who was free to the right of her. 

She moved her left foot, indicating to go right where her eyeline was, the defender turning over her left shoulder but Astrid quickly rolled the ball under her foot and went around her other shoulder. She could hear the defender groan as she tricked her, running closer to the goal, jumping over an outstretched leg from South Africa and continuing the ball towards the goal. Striking with her right foot hard, she aimed for top bins as the keeper bent down to block a low shot, missing it completely. 6-0 to Australia. 

The small Australian crowd who had gathered cheered and so did the girls as they surrounded Astrid who made her way to Kyra first like always. As they parted Kyra pointed to her mouthing, “You owe me lunch.” with a smirk. She was right so far; but so was Astrid as Kyra didn’t seem to be coming off anytime soon and they were inching closer and closer to full time. 

Chloe and Sam joined the field with only 7 minutes of regulation time remaining and just minutes after South Africa scored their first goal of the match in the 87th minute after a terrific lob from Hilda Magaia. 

Three minutes of injury time were given and Astrid was not ready to finish up, neither were any of the Matildas subs who felt like they had just begun to play. 

And with only 40 seconds of time remaining, Courtney delivered the ball to Kyra who then shot it up the field in the direction of Astrid who had made her way into the box, watching as the ball flew in the air. There were a few defenders closing in on her but she had plenty of space, jumping into the air and joining her head with the ball, steering it hard to her left and hoping the keeper was just away from her. 

She landed and looked into the net, finding the ball rolling on the ground and the net still rippling from the impact; she scored another goal and earned herself a hattrick for the first time on the international stage. A wide smile donned her face as she spotted Sam, Hayley and the rest of the team running towards her, screaming and cheering for the youngest player. 

It’s a late goal and a hattrick from number 31 Astrid Taylor, the 18 year old in her 8th appearance for the Matildas. 

Play resumed but not for long as the whistle blew and the game ended 7-1 to Australia, both teams immediately shaking hands with one another and their own teammates. Charli ran over to Astrid when she was free, almost tackling her to the ground. 

“Just casually scores a hattrick within the last like 20 minutes of the game. Are you even human?” Charli squeezed Astrid who laughed at her. 

“Fuck off.” Astrid playfully pushed her away as they began their victory lap, clapping to the crowd that had gathered for the match and waving to the Matildas fans. 

“You just had to be the only one right huh?” Kyra had caught up to Astrid who walked behind everyone else taking in the post-match feeling. 

“I guess I did.” Astrid casually shrugged her shoulders as she turned to Kyra with a smile. 

“I’m proud of you.” Kyra unexpectedly pulled Astrid into a hug but she quickly reciprocated. 

“Thank you, I’m proud of you too.” Astrid spoke as they parted, both with blushed cheeks and large smiles. “So,” They began walking again. “When are you taking me out for my free lunch?” 

to be continued....

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

[goodluckclove]

The thing that's keeping me from writing is pressure from myself. Pressure to write faster. Pressure to write more. Sometimes it's like a vise against my throat that makes me dread writing and makes me do whatever I could to avoid it. Sometimes I meet my own expectations, and that's like a curse in itself, because the hungry monster inside me craves for more. It is never enough. That's toxic productivity for you.

I think I'm getting better at handling it. Getting better at being kinder to myself. Not really looking for advice, just sharing. :3

Yeah man first off - mood. Here's the thing I learned though, and I'm glad you're the first person to bring this up to me because I feel more comfortable being a bit more blunt to you.

So like, toxic productivity does not make your work...better? It just means you have more of it. And eventually you can go back and recraft the initial work you did to make it solid and cool and fun, but at that point you're essentially the car that was swerving through lanes to get ahead faster, only to end up stuck at the same stoplight as everybody else.

I have that monster too, and sometimes it helps to ask it it's motivation. Why is it so hungry? What does it think will happen if you write slower, or stop writing at all for a few days?

It might be that you think if you stop for too long you'll lose the ability to write forever. That's not true but if you think that I don't think I'm the person that can convince you otherwise.

Or maybe it tells you that writing is the most important thing to do in life and nothing else comes close in terms of interest in satisfaction. That's also not true, but that's what my monster tells me so I don't really have any strategies other than ignoring it.

I can tell you from experience, and on a solely practical level, that your monster likely wants you to create at a level that is not physically sustainable. I wrote 220K words in three months making Blind Trust and in that process gave myself tendonitis to the extent where my wife had to open my medication bottles at night.

People see a hardworking writer and they might go yup, that's just how it looks! When I told Wife that they had the full authority to tell me to stop writing whenever I wanted they laughed and told me they would never do that. Then they watched me write for twelve hours straight without eating or getting up to go to the bathroom. This happened multiple times. That's the point where their perspective when from that's just how it looks to oh it seems my spouse has some sort of obsession that might prove to be a problem.

I have pretty bad carpal tunnel because of the amount I write. That's just a thing that develops from repetitive hand motions like typing. I'm supposed to do stretches but those are hard to remember. I'm attempting to get better, but so far the best I can do is remember to break for lunch now.

What I mean to say is, I know drive. Drive will drive you right off a goddamned cliff. Your craft is like a Tesla Cybertruck in that it's a marvel of existence and also it's likely profoundly broken in a few key ways that could get you or someone else killed.

I don't have the kind of advice I have for this like I do other things - but you aren't looking for advice, which is good. I'm mainly using you as a way to reach out to other writers here with similar issues. Because it happens, especially when you start young. Especially when you pick it up quick. But you got to get a handle on it. Otherwise you're one of those guys that says they love that they spent 100k on a truck that's completely inoperable if an issue comes up on the app you need to drive it.

(light roast but it's you rk so i'm assuming you're down for it)

(i love you rk)

[starshinewriter]

Troy likes doing things for Abed, the others notice.

Link

Alternative to Ao3:

Troy and Abed are close, everybody knows that. But the study group especially knows it. They see more than everyone else does, see things everyone else doesn't get to see. Because the Troy and Abed the world sees are not the Troy and Abed they see. Abed is more comfortable with them for one thing and that means he's more relaxed, more willing to let down some of his walls. They get to see just how much he relies on Troy. And Troy is more vulnerable around them, he lets them in in ways he never would with anyone else. They get to see just how much he loves Abed.

The two of them… they have something special. You barely have to know them to know that. But sometimes… sometimes the others wonder, wonder if there's something more to it than friendship. Everyone but Shirley thinks there's something going on, but Shirley is.. biased. She doesn't want to notice things the others do.

They all have their opinions but decide to leave Troy and Abed alone about it. It isn't their business really, and if Britta's right that the two of them don't know what's going on then they could do more harm than good- an Annie worry. Jeff doesn't care one way or the other so he mostly just goes along with the girls. The three of them know one thing for sure though, Troy definitely has a crush on Abed. How do they know that? Well to answer that we have to go back a bit.

Annie is the first to notice. She's always been the most observational of the group and she spends a lot of time with Troy and Abed. It just makes sense, really. That's what she tells the others. She sees Troy renting movies and buying snacks, she sees him making sure Abed is okay after one of his meltdowns, she sees him being right by Abed's side when he's having a bad day. She sees all of that, and she realizes.

Jeff is the next to notice. It's not because he cares really, but it's hard not to notice. It's always in front of him all of the time. It's Troy being the only person to listen to Abed's rants when they all stop pretending to study. It's him going off on anyone who would dare say anything negative about Abed. It's him who's always the first on board for Abed's plans. And it's Jeff who wants to tell him to just confess already.

Britta is the last to notice. Guys can be friends and be really close without anything else going on. They can do things couples can do without it being weird and anyone who thinks otherwise is closed-minded. But then Troy constantly starts going along with Abed's antics, he becomes aware of Abed's every single need. He memorizes everything Abed ever says like it's a damn bible to prove he has someone in his corner. That's beyond close friendship, way beyond.

So, yeah, they know Troy likes to do things for Abed. Things that none of them will ever do, simply because they have no desire to. They do some of that stuff sometimes, cause some of it is friendship stuff and they all like being Abed's friends- no matter how hard it can get, but not to the extent Troy does. Not to where it's blatantly noticeable. Not to where it's blatantly desperate.

The study group may have noticed Troy, but Troy wants Abed to notice him, wants him to see everything he's doing for him. But what he doesn't notice is that Abed already has. That Abed is more than willing to do stuff he doesn't want to for Troy. Troy doesn't notice what that means, just like Abed doesn't. Troy doesn't notice what his own willingness means, just like Abed doesn't.

According to Britta, they've got a long road ahead of them.

According to Jeff, they're both idiots when it comes to feelings.

According to Annie, they will always have people on their side no matter what happens.

According to all of them, Shirley included, they're Troy and Abed, and they don't make sense otherwise.

[feverinfeveroutfic]

the skeleton key | chapter seven: a caress of silver

”men wish to feel desired, women wish to feel in control”

-something i read learning about sexual needs (because i’m clueless otherwise) and something i wish this new generation of fic writers would understand already

It was one of those mornings in L.A. where the fog had rolled in and I was more than eager to head on out to the airport. I had to figure a way to go and meet the other guys again like what Marcy had told me, but for the time being, I was on my way to the Pacific Northwest. It had been quite some time since I had been up there, only ten years before.

Ten years. Ten years since I was last in Seattle.

It proved to be a homecoming for me the more I thought about it, and more so when I reached the airport and checked myself in for the first flight up the spine of the West Coast. I was going up there alone, and at some point, I was going to have to find my way back down to Sacramento to meet up with Marcy and Eric. And I was going to have to go back to work as well.

But for the time being, I was on my way up to the Emerald City, and I had my eye out for Alex once I touched down: apparently, his flight from Burbank came in at about an hour before me, which meant it was going to be me and him for a good chunk of the day. I chuckled to myself when I thought about seeing him from the plane window, that little plume of gray from the view into the airport. But I never did, until I reached the inside of the airport instead. He greeted me with those little buck teeth and his arms wide open for me.

“Hey, stranger!” I declared, and I held him close to me for a good long minute. It felt so wrong, but it felt so right at the same time. I then held back and gazed into his face, and I thought about giving him a kiss on those cherry lips. But then he beat me to the punchline and gave me a kiss, and he held me close again.

“Warm just like a bakery,” he remarked.

“I try my best,” I assured him with a smile.

“Come on... let's go check in and I'll take you to meet the guys,” he told me, and he offered to help me with my things out to the rental car that awaited us. I had my phone with me so I could take plenty of pictures for Marcy, but I was drawn to the big silvery camera dangled against Alex's hip, and more so when we prepared to go through baggage claim.

“Where'd you get that?” I asked him as we waited before the big conveyor belt.

“What, this?” He showed me the camera. “Oh, I've been into photography for a few years now. Randy—you may have seen him at the Metal Allegiance show, Randy Blythe, tall guy with the dreadlocks, the horned glasses, and the tattoos all over his arms, he's one of my best friends in the whole world—saw a picture I took and recommended I do more of that but with a proper photographer's camera. He lent me his and was thoroughly impressed by it, and then I had to give it back to him. It was an expensive camera.” And I chuckled at that.

“So you went ahead and got your own,” I followed along.

“Exactly!” he declared with a little twinkle to his eye. “And it seems to have done me justice, even as just a simple hobby on the side.”

My big blue overnight bag emerged on the conveyor belt, and he scooped it up for me and slung it over his shoulder.

“That's not too heavy?” I asked him as I remembered that I had packed a bunch of baking supplies in there.

“Not at all!” he assured me as we walked side by side. “Guitar cases and accompanying amps can get pretty heavy, but simple luggage is nothing for me.”

“You and your big, strong, lanky arms,” I noted with a glance at his biceps enshrouded under his peacoat, and I couldn't help myself. I reached up and gave him a squeeze on his upper arm.

“Yeah, you gotta be pretty strong to tour with a bunch of stuff like that,” he told me, and we stepped outside of the airport to the graying sky and the incoming rain. It was this gentle mist that fell in sheets, almost like the rain at the beach, and it was chilly enough for us to huddle together there at the walkway for a moment before we caught a break in the cars.

He led me to his rental, a small black hatchback with a rack on the roof even though we were nowhere near a place for skiing. He unlocked it for me and, once he tucked my bag next to his things, he turned to me with a deep, firm kiss on my lips.

“Make love to me,” he begged to me. “Give me what she can't give me.”

“You know I will,” I vowed to him.

“We're in Seattle, my dear,” he told me. “We should have some fun here.”

“Fun in Seattle even while it's pouring rain and drenching us down to our clothes.”

“Fun in Seattle with a cup of coffee and some scones,” he followed up.

“You want some scones?” I couldn't help the smile across my face.

“Yeah! You got any in your bag?” He chuckled at that.

“You wish,” I teased him. “I mean, I wanna make you some scones. Some chocolate ones, or chocolate and cherry like a play on the Black Forest cake.”

“Sounds devilish,” he replied with a slight squint to his eyes. “I like it. I think there is an oven in the room, too.”

“So, I could make some all for you,” I quipped, and I couldn't resist caressing his arms once again. “I brought my flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla extract, eggs, handheld mixer, measuring spoons and cups, pastry cutter, a couple of spatulas, and a sheet pan with me—I never go too far without them. I never know when I'm going to need them, so... I can definitely do that for you.”

“Oh, would you!” He cocked his head to the side a bit at the sound of that.

“You know it! Just let me get some other things first, like the chocolate and cherries and butter. I'll make sure they're kosher, too.”

He kissed my forehead right as the mist formed into straight rain, which then showered down in sheets over our heads. He then gazed up to the darkening sky, those blue eyes as bright as ever, and to the point I could not stop looking at them. In junction with the rain, they reminded me of the sky afterwards.

“You have the clearest eyes I have ever seen,” I told him, and he glanced down at me. The way his gray streak pointed up to the cold graying sky made me think it had descended from the clouds themselves. “You're like a ghost. The gray ghost.”

“I'm a dog,” he remarked with a straight face. “A wiry gray dog with floppy ears.”

“You mean the Weimareiner?” I asked him.

“Yeah, that's the one,” he replied with a snicker. He then peered up to the sky, such that the raindrops kissed his face and the crown of his head, and then he took a glimpse at his watch.

“It's after noon,” he declared, and he glanced down at me. “We don't check into the room until three, either. You wanna get a drink?”

“I'd love to have a drink,” I said. “A mimosa or something along the lines of brunch like that.”

“I think I spotted a place not too far from the hotel...” He gave me another kiss, and then we climbed into the car, and we drove to the western side of Seattle, complete with a view of the Puget Sound, and as far as I knew, it was ground zero for the grunge scene. When we climbed out, the rain waned back down to a fine mist.

Alex held his hand out for me, and I locked fingers with him. I huddled closer to him, away from the cold winds. I thought about asking him as to when the Metal Allegiance guys were going to meet up again, but I shelved it once we started walking onward to this little restaurant right down the block from our hotel.

He held the door for me, and I stepped inside first. We were greeted by the aroma of things cooking in the back part of that warmly lit place, such that he led me back there. There was a table under a single suspended lamp with a big stained glass shade covered in clusters of grapes and leaves; we huddled next to the window out to the street. Down the block stood the harbor itself.

He was going to be too tipsy to drive, but I let him have his fun with the big glass of beer and me with the mimosa in the champagne flute. I watched him drink that whole glass all the way to the bottom, and that point, his eyes drooped closed and he showed me more of a smile.

“Something tells me you haven't had a drink like this in a long time,” I remarked.

“Had a few too many,” he remarked with a little snicker.

“You certainly did, but I just had one too many,” I quipped; the mimosa was doing a number on me even without a second thought.

“Oh, c'mon, Alison, they always say that,” he hit back.

“'They'?”

“Yeah, you know. 'They.' 'Them.' The ones who always say that they—they—they—they—they—they had one too many.” He stifled a hiccup and showed me a sweet little smile complete with a peek of those little buck teeth. Sweet, but there was something tempting in there, however. He had had a few too many and now he had this look in his eyes as if he wanted to do something unthinkable in the back of that restaurant. It was just us there, after all. I leaned in closer to him with my arms folded over the top of the table before me so he would stay back a bit.

“There's something on your mind right now,” I said to him in a low enough voice for him to hear over the noise of the restaurant around us; he closed his lips so he showed me a little smirk instead. “There is something on your mind right now. We're in Seattle. We've had some drinks and now we're alone under a veil of immense passion courtesy of the sky overhead. You're feeling something.” His eyes hooded a bit, but it was enough to darken them. They went from that soft dream to the realm of a handsome devil at the drop of a hat.

I leaned in closer to the side of his head so my lips were right up next to the rim of his ear, obscured by his hair. He held still; out of the corner of my eye, I noticed him closing his, especially once I nudged the hair back away from his skin.

“Let me find the skeleton key into your heart,” I whispered into his ear, and I lightly kissed him on the side of the face. His shoulders jolted a bit, and I couldn't help but lick my lips and move on back to my spot. Alex opened his eyes again and gazed on at me, good, long, and hard right into my face as if he was trying to read my mind.

He then leaned in closer to me, to which stray tendrils of his frizzy dark hair drifted down over his shoulders: a piece spread over his brow and his eye as if to hide the two of us away from the world. Where I had breathed right into his ear, he brought his face up to mine so the full tip of his nose nearly brushed up against mine.

“I think you just found it,” he whispered back to me, and he locked lips with me. We were in public and yet he moved in slowly and deeply.

“I got my camera with me... and I just got the worst, stupidest idea, too,” he continued.

“I was thinking about that, too,” I said in a near whisper, as I helped him split the bill.

We were within range of Alki Beach, and we couldn't drive back to the hotel as of yet, at least not until the alcohol lightened up in our systems anyway. At that point, the rain had stopped enough to where the clouds broke a bit, and the sun shone down over us. I could stand by the fence that separated us from the rest of the gray waters of the Puget Sound as if I was posing for a glamour magazine. I leaned against the cables on the backs of my hands, right as the sun emerged from behind the clouds.

“Oh, that's stunning!” Alex declared as he held the camera to his face and pressed the shutter button. I opened my jacket to show off my shirt to him, including the low neckline.

One hand up on the cable closest to my head. My head tilted back all the while so I resembled Debbie Harry.

For a moment, I swore he was a young buck again, especially when showed me that crooked little smile from behind his camera. It was going to be something to meet the guys that evening, especially when I knew how things flowed between the two of us.

And I wondered as to how I was going to make those scones for him, too, especially since we were going to be tipsy for quite some time, possibly for the next few hours until we could check into the room.

But it made no difference to me as I posed for him and that camera. I was having too much fun, and I wanted to give him what he couldn't have back home. And all the while, I hadn’t thought about Jerry for one second.

[oceansprompts]

marvel's midnight suns | misc quotes 3

Tell me, do you have any tried and true ways to avoid being triggered?

How has your, uh, [abilities/job] affected your loved ones?

On the Stark scale of recklessness yet daring heroics I give it a solid six out of ten. Don’t worry, you’ll get there. With a little help.

Stopped here before, while you were out- wanted to surprise you with a nice little housewarming present. Was all set to write you a lovely welcome note but I’m fairly certain that wasn’t red ink in your “quill”.

Certainly got that new suit of yours done a lot faster than I expected. Speaking of… what’s the verdict, boss?

The roar of the ocean, winds moaning through the rafters…

So, you tell me: what’s not to be troubled about?

Hydra may be on the rise, but they will never rise above the Tower.

Go ahead! What are you waiting for?! Say it! Tell me I screwed up!

How did I let him play me like that?!

Half the night I’m shaking hands and managing expectations…

Are you really going to chase the birthday girl through a hellish dimension?

It’s not gonna be easy to get that sample…

I mean call me crazy…

Give me a couple hours and a decent lunch…

Gives us our biggest ace in the hole! I know, the irony isn’t lost on me.

I’m serious, what kind of hero are you…

If you can deliver, great. Otherwise, he should get out of the way, you know?

So in a way, it’s kind of poetic. I’m gonna use dad’s shady tech…

My appreciation of magic is evolving quite a bit…

I think he’s afraid I’m gonna turn around and become an even greater sorcerer than he is.

Every problem has a solution, my friend…

I don’t like to say that I do my best work under pressure, but I think this time, I even amazed myself.

Or maybe you’re smart and you know I can get us across the finish line?

How would you, ah, handle something like that?

If that fails, we shoot him off into outer space…

I know I said I was completely comfortable with that thing before, but I may have lied…

And now here we are, two friends, enjoying a moment…

Yeah. I don’t want to know card tricks or anything like that…

If you don’t mind, can we keep these lessons between you and me?

Is it crazy that I’m actually kind of enjoying this?

Yes! Blazing trumpets, fiery pits, Thor’s backyard–where did you end up?

Acceptable answers are “genius design,” “work of a genius”–really, anything involving the word “genius”.

Money isn’t everything, but it’s a lot of things…

No, the whole situation. Chasing magic pages from an evil book…

Well, I am in the middle of something. Come back later.

I cannot let such a fate happen to her.

And when all you knew was darkness and despair growing up…

What I eat is none of your business.

I do not think I will ever sleep again: not until we find her.

Don’t you also hear it calling out to you in your dreams sometimes, whispering secret things, dark think?

Like I said earlier, we’re all mutants. Not to freak you out or anything.

Wait, if you found your way to this place… What did you hear?

This day is an anniversary of my weakness… Nothing more.

I should stay here, this evening. I can endure the stares and the whispers… But not tonight.

You can, but I should not. Don’t worry, I will return in the morning.

She should trust us… We should be trusted.

I do. I just think wearing a hellhound’s skin to bypass a demonic barrier…

I don’t know if I’ve recovered from my traumas…

I did not say you. This…is a place I like to take all my…colleagues.

The others would not understand. But I know you do, as we both… Have so much in common.

And more importantly, you’re proving to be quite a good… friend.

It never felt right for a bad person like me to fight with the good guys… Until you showed me how.

Am I a monster for being grateful it happened as it did?

I will never apologize for being comfortable with my darkness…

When this battle is over, you should come back with me, join the X-Men.

There is always strangeness in the background. Like hippie aliens…

Made from octopus, marbled with ginger shavings…

Hunter, what I most appreciate is that you always know when to say nothing.

No. Something you can do by yourself during the bleak moments.

It must be worse for you. All the faces are new.

It comes so easy to you. Even when you are a butt, you are a likable butt.

This was the only music I had for so long…

Replacing you was too much to ask of her.

Not to me. You are incapable of replacing her.

[helluvapurf]

*claps* Just finished the newest HB dropped today, lets talk about it! :>

TL;DR version: Found it a... "decent" ride overall (prob among the "better" eps of the S2 lineup so far), though nothing really to write home about compared to other fave eps-

Longer Version: *warning ahead for spoilers*

So, positives out of the way first!

-Striker's back again... and YAY, didn't end up dying after all 🙏😭Was kinda scared with him going against Stolas they were gonna start watering him down to a "mwaha I'm macho~" cliche, but imo he remained pretty competent from start to finish (and even still carried that whole "f*ck the monarchy" attitude towards Goetias while interacting with Stolas (whilst simultaneously working under Stella)... which I really hope the show builds on more for any future appearances down the line)

-M&M themselves got to lead the show in chasing Striker/fighting him (no Blitz or Loona intervention whatsoever), which was also pretty refreshing! 👍 I enjoyed their antics in the Wrath ring and the eventual fight scene itself proved a fairly entertaining one too (*that music change midway though lol*)

-Ngl, I was kinda worried that with Stolas' "damsel" bit it was gonna get old quick... but I'm pleasantly surprised to see the guy actually bite back fairly strong in his own way (both with words and a bit with physical strength too like the stone-stare attempt). And with the inclusion of that "heavenly" rope voiding his powers, it helped offset him feeling too "woobified" compared to past eps .3.

-Blitz and Loona stuck together throughout their visit to the hospital, which proved sweet & funny to watch too ^^. Always nice to see some vulnerable sides in this girl aside from just being moody all the time imo.

-We finally get Andrealphus' canon debut, and he proved to be a fairly decent villain himself too. Being smart enough to recognize the risk in killing off Stolas too quickly (esp. while Via's still his only other heir), and seems to be generally manipulative in steering his sister in the "right" direction (while talking down to her at the same time like a ditzy child), which I'm curious to see played out as well as the season progresses further.

-Bit more of a "minor" point, admittedly... but yay! A Via mention~ 🥺Looks like she'll eventually be more involved in Andre & Stella's plot in the far future, so that'll be interesting to see~ :o

Now... for the negatives? ...Weeeell-

-Stella... just, *sighs*. What more can I say about her that others haven't done so before? 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️While I never really minded her being a bitchy villain tbh, I was expecting at least a little competency written in to her role trying to tear Stolas (+Blitz) apart... but, now? She's... literally just so one-tracked & immature onto wanting Stolas dead (not even reacting to Andre mentioning her daughter during their "plan"), that even her own brother is calling her out of how stupid she's being...? 😐Just... yikes, man...

And like, even all this I wouldn't so much mind if HB was a strictly comedic cartoon/Stella herself was just a one-off threat (like Martha & those old guys from the "Cherub" ep)... but with Stella clearly being framed as the new "big bad" of the series after first calling that hit on Stolas back in "Harvest Moon" (framed all dramatic-like both there and later on in "The Circus")... its otherwise embarrassing that Stella's about as complex as a slice of white bread... 😒😒

(*Heck, if you think about it I don't get why we couldn't have Andrealphus be Stolas' evil ex since he's clearly gonna be given more substance than his sister by the looks of it (esp if those potentially dangerous ice powers of his are any indicator)... but, idk I'm just rambling at this point lol >>*)

-I feel like some of the emotional beats didn't... quite hit as they should've, at points? Like, that last shot of Stolas browsing through his phone messages w/ Blitz seemed like it was trying to address what happened in "Ozzie's" (with Stolas even seeming to respect Blitz' boundaries better while their "deal" is still ongoing)... but then with the sad music playing and Stolas just turning away all sadly at the end, I wasn't sure whether to take that as hopeful or... just angsty, I guess? .-.

-In terms of the humor this time, while def a step-up from the last couple eps... I feel like some of the jokes didn't land as strongly compared to others? Like, for every decent bits like Striker (then later Millie lol) telling off the annoying music band, others like the... erm, "endowed" Striker statue & the karen fight Blitz had at the hospital just felt a bit too... "on-the-nose", I guess? 🤷‍♀️

-While I don't really mind this being a shorter episode, pacing-wise I feel like got a bit rushed at certain points (Like, I'm surprised Andre just kinda randomly showed up right at the first few seconds with how "hyped up" his initial concept was lol). Which could easily be fixed by just tweaking down some of the unnecessary filler bits imo.

[binary-not-found]

Episode 10 season 2

NCISverse crossover

Here's the thing, I thought long and hard about whether or not I wanted/should post this recap, mainly because I don't like crossovers, in a very personal opinion, I think they just interrupt character continuity stories to focus on a case that has no relevance within the context of the season. I'll do the recap and come back later to my opinions.

First Katherine

The growth that my blondie has had within the series is something impressive, and every day makes me love her more, the way we meet her as someone who works with the team only if she has to and as she progresses she becomes more and more a main and indispensable part of the investigations.

Plus the dynamic she has created to work with each of the team members, it seems like she is one of them and not just the FBI liaison.

Another thing is that we see her always firm with what she knows is the right thing to do and needs to be done, Kate follows the rules and does things the way they should be, but she knows that the rules sometimes need to be ignored when doing the right thing is different than what the rules say.

You guys know one of my favorite things in NCIS Hawai'i is Ernie and Kate working together, the way they are both so different but it just makes sense the moment they need to discover/find something, it's like being so different helps them be equals and complement each other as they work. And I love that Kai doesn't understand them but he does

That's what I was telling you, when they are wrapped up in the work, it's like they are one, where Ernie goes, Kate goes

And the moment we've all been waiting for finally arrived, Katherine Marie Whistler in a bulletproof vest 👀

Back to the growth she's had and how much her character proved it in this crossover (and she proves it with every episode not just this time) we see her back in the field

Showing that she has been training and that she remembers her mistakes very well, checks her blind spots, doesn't get ahead of herself, waits for any noise and is attentive to everything around her

And even when she is surprised to see the wall with the photos of all the members of the teams involved, she is alert to what she hears

And that's how we get to the best scene of the episode, Kate pointing straight ahead, not backing away or giving any sign of giving in to what he's telling her to do

One more thing I NEED to point out, is the way Kai doesn't doubt for a second that if he takes the shot, he's not going to miss, more than to prove a point, I KNOW he was doing it to assure Kate that he was going to protect her. Because he says it in response to Callen, but if you pay enough attention, you can tell he's looking at her

They're siblings, fighting crime together. And anyone who says otherwise can argue with the wall

She's this size 🤏🏼 and Kai too, they're both babies fighting the bad guys

1/2 episode 10

[spineless-lobster]

I just finished binge watching season 4 with my friend so I am going to try my best to write down cohesive thoughts. (Warning: They’re not very cohesive) Spoilers ahead!!!!

Ep. 1: I love Kitty and Thomas in this episode!!! The way Kitty’s voice changes when she becomes his agent is hilarious! And then Robin becomes his bodyguard!!! Fanny and Julian bonding over their voyeurism will never not be funny. The reference to Ötzi is my favourite but I think it’s because I’m a massive nerd. Mary’s description of her day to day life was honestly so wholesome and beautiful I loved it. I related far too much to Alison’s anxiety about being liked by guests and such. Also Cap and Mick at the end <3

Ep. 2: AAAAHHHHHH CAP AND KITTY BONDING EPISODE THIS IS MY FAVOURITE THING EVER YESSSSSSSS!!!!! Mary backstory time!!!! Annie teaching Mary how to be a girlboss!!!!! Also Thomas is a confirmed former drug addict and I honestly love that for him. Pat becoming a prison guard is incredibly funny! Wonderful Humphrey and Thomas moments in there!!! As soon as Mike’s friends talked about their little “business opportunity” I immediately knew it’s was a shady pyramid NFT scheme type situation. Cap’s bug obsession!!! Alison trying to bond with the ghosts!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHH THE CAPTAIN WITHOUT HIS JACKET AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Ep. 3: The closest thing we’ll get to a musical episode!!!!!! Honestly good on Alison for putting the ghosts in their place. And Mike being the best husband ever is the sweetest thing!!!! “Julian fingering Fanny’s lip” will probably be my favourite Fanny joke to date! DOUBLE CAP GUN NOISES!!!! <333 I love Mary sticking up for herself!!!! Then she goes and has a self care day!!! “My heart belongs to daddy” 👀 okay Cap. Aaaaand Mike is running around in the nude… good for him. The sorry song is the greatest thing to grace this earth! Literally better than any other musical undertaking ever! They had choreography and everything! They left a review for Alison!!!!! I genuinely thought Mary was gonna burn the place down, I love my feral housewife!!!

Ep. 4: This one broke me. But birdwatcher Cap makes me incredibly happy! :) the fakeout with Robin and then making it so Mary is the one sucked off absolutely destroyed me. You can’t just kill my wife like that!!!!!! It happened so suddenly!!!! And then it shows all the different ways the ghosts grieve, it absolutely broke my heart. Then Robin talks about how he looks to the stars as a coping mechanism 😭. And ALISON WEAVED A BASKET WITH MARY AND IT’S FIVE POTATOES HIGH!!!!! Then there’s Cap about to cry and Julian comforting him! And the fact that Humphrey didn’t even know 😭😭 I can’t with this show this is a comedy why am I sobbing!?!?!? Beautiful episode. Damn you Ben Willbond! (Affectionate)

Ep. 5: New ghost!!!! He seems like such a chill guy I love Maddocks. (I really hope that’s a reference to Yonderland) He really is just the guy ever. I love the fact that Robin has known about him for so long. I wanna stab Barlcay <3. Mike trying to get out of the bubble thing is so silly I love it! And Robin and Julian playing with the giant chess board is everything!!!!

Ep. 6: Holy shit what an opening. I knew Button House HAD to be fine but a little voice in my head kept telling me otherwise. I love that Julian is trying to be a good person just to prove Cap wrong. Idk why that’s so amazing to me. Robin backstory!!!!!!!! I knew the struck by lighting theory was right!!!!! I feel so validated!!!!!!!!!! Also ROBIN IS A THUNDER GOD NOW!?!?!! Like he can control lighting essentially. That’s a lot of power for one ghost to have. My guy can CONTROL THE SKY!!!! Over all a pretty open-ended ending. I’m very excited to see what they have planned for season 5.

I really liked season 4! The vibe was definitely different but it wasn’t bad at all. I love how we got more Humphrey and the Plague Ghosts and I think each character had their time to shine and it all went really well! Episode 2 is definitely my favourite!

[justaredheadf1fan]

The joke of Jeddah

Heyoooh!

It's (finally) time for the good stuff, I hope at least.

I wanted to comment on this, since I didn't do it on the previous post. I obviously read about Angela's departure yesterday. I know she's pursuing something else and that she's happy with her choice but it honestly makes me sad that she's left Lewis' side. Wasn't it enough losing Seb, Mick and Daniel? Not Angela too 😭

Quali - Saturday

Now onto praying for no crashes (bad ones at least). At the moment the only thing worth mentioning is Sargeant's time being erased in a turn where there's no space to go off actually, but what do you expect nowadays. He then almost crashed and barely made it out untouched. Lucky guy.

Other than that, more or less going through to Q2 the ones that always do. Drama starts now, here's hoping.

Sid the Sloth having engine issues is giving me back my will to live, but WHY IS THIS NOT HAPPENING ON THE RACE!? If this isn't fixed on time he might start tomorrow close to Sharl, and that might give Sharl an opening to crush him. Hopefully. YES, HE'S OUT!!!!!

Finally, Q3 time and now the reality check might hit me in the face. Let's see.

Looking pretty solid for Ferrari and Aston Martin, Lance putting a hell of a lap right there. Seriously, he has me on a chokehold this boy. Even Pedro de la Rosa was defending him, saying to the others "Hey hey hey, we do NOT talk shit about Lance in this house". Obviously, I'm... paraphrasing. At best 🤣 Sorry, I'm a fangirl.

Sharl getting a very good P2 but unfortunately my baby boy is getting a penalty tomorrow, so we're starting off the season really well. I know Vasseur's pulling at the hairs he no longer has at the moment. Someone help that man and Sharl 🥲

George is right there in the fight which is a good sign for sure. Lewis on the other hand is starting P8. I know there's hope, I know he can achieve anything (last year proved it), but it sucks seeing him go through this. AGAIN. Why Mercedes? WHY?

It's nice to see, or not see better said, that a certain someone isn't there. I know this is a cosmic fluke and it won't ever happen again knowing RBR, but a girl can dream. Sid the Sloth will probably overtake everyone until he gets to Checo and RBR throw team orders at him and let's him pass.

I just hope I'm wrong.

Race - Sunday

It's race day and here we go with the anxiety rocketing right before the start. Although that anthem was the light of my day. Can we talk about how BAD that sounded!? My goodness, what was that?

Anyway, so now I'm here waiting for the Top 6 so crash in into each other. I mean, that Top 6 is absolute CHAOS. In George, Esteban and Lance we trust. I saw this post that Marina sent me a couple hours ago and I'm still laughing.

Okay, so this started off well for Alonso and the rest, Alonso getting ahead but just a few seconds later there was a flash of news saying he started on the incorrect position. This is fucking insane already.

5-second penalty for Fernando, same as Esteban in Bahrain. That was quick. I do have to mention Lance's balls eating Carlos up. I'm such a fan of this dude, seriously.

The McLaren duo are having a blast, I see. Oh Karma, how good is it seeing you again this week.

Sharl is going full force after Pierre and Lewis, eats up Pierre very easily and almost gets Lewis right then and there and thank goodness for that turn, otherwise he might've done it. But there we go, penalty coming for Lewis. Or well, they gave him a warning, which is surprising since the FIA loves, LOVES giving Lewis shit for anything.

Sharl ends up passing him easily too, which I expected already. And Sid the Sloth is right there catching up quickly to everyone as expected too. I don't think it'll be long before he catches Sharl. Unless... Sharl plays it the way he knows how. I'M COUNTING ON YOU, SHARL.

I'm hoping Lance eats Carlos up. Honestly, I'm hoping he just embarrases him at this point. Ah shit, Sharl gets out just in front of him, but I hope he just passes Carlos and then Lance can do his thing.

NO NO NO NO NO FUCKING HELL. LANCE ASKED TO STOP ON TRACK. FOR FUCK'S SAKE. SAFETY CAR. AND LEWIS JUST PASSED THE PIT ENTRANCE, SHIIIIIIIT.

Fernando stops serving his penalty and off he goes. George stops too and Alonso still goes out ahead of him. Crap. And the Ferraris had already stopped no they're fucked. At least Lewis can stop now. Let's see what this does.

The medium tyres are working perfectly for Lewis, that was beautiful! Mercedes sandwich for the Sloth. LET'S GO BOYS.

I mean, I would pass George like that too if I had an illegal car. That's not normal, seriously. I mean, and they still complained about an economic penalty, but are you fucking serious?

So Alonso was useless against Sid. That's disappointing. Lewis right there behind George. And Albon in the mean time is losing the brakes and has to move to the pits to retire.

I'm reading that George has disobeyed team orders. I really hope this isn't true because otherwise, despite how much I love him, as soon as I step into Montmeló this year I'm gonna fucking deck him. I'm sorry but if this is true, nope. Lewis should just start playing a Sebastian Vettel card and do him like Seb did Mark back in the day. Seriously.

Can both RedBulls please crash into each other? Nothing serious, just enough to fuck off. Of course they couldn't. I mean, I've just watched the end of the race like looking blankly at a wall.

It's now been a while since the end of the race, I needed to cool off a bit first. Basically, because I've confirmed that the Mercedes team orders were for real and George ignored them completely, and also that Mercedes didn't inform Lewis about shit. So, yes, I'm fucking pissed.

Alonso getting the 10-second penalty (which in itself I think is pretty correct) after the podium ceremony is beyond stupid. Not that I'm going to support Alonso or anything but there was a 30-lap gap between his pit stop and the ceremony, they had more than enough time to let him know about the new penalty. The FIA is very keen on just doing things in a certain way that's pretty much on-the-go instead of being efficient about it. Unbelievable.

It's not fair that George gets the podium. It's not. He's been rewarded with it after disobeying team orders and knowingly hurting Lewis. I'm just hoping Lewis stops being the better person and enters his 2016 era (or even 2007) again. I'm sorry George, I like you, but this is truly unacceptable. And Mercedes, WTF? He's given you 8 Constructor's titles, are you out of your fucking minds? They all should know better by now. Really hope he stops giving a shit.

Anyway, I hope Australia looks better than the past 2 races. Because this is the biggest shitshow.

Peace out.

[parttimepuff]

What do you mean “if you were smarter” we love the bird brained bird man as he is

Pretty sure everyone around him does too

However yeah that problem isn’t gonna be solved easily either way//

"yeah no shit." Beep responded quietly, but with restrained force. Thought her father was kinda flattered, and maybe a little insulted, there was a far more pressing issue. "…u-um, do you know exactly, who it was in the photo?" Magolor spoke up with great hesitation, not sure if knowing would help much. "He wasn't that forthcoming about the details." Gremlin replied, shaking his head. "nothing at all?" His niece pressed.

"Just that he had a photo and he knew it was real. So, I'm not sure what all he does or doesn't know." Gremlin explained. "That's… I get why you didn't look so great when I left." Reverie expressed, wondering if he should have stuck around against his wishes. Seeing as they couldn't be sure who it was in the photo, Beep clung tightly onto the shred of hope it wasn't her. Just as tightly as she held the Lego in her hands.

"So, is he gonna have Leo follow you again? What happens now that he has a picture…" Beep asked. "He couldn't really pin me for anything. Was only calling 'cause anons told him I knew something." Gremlin elaborated, his mirror frowning. "Of course." He muttered under his breath. "And he thought maybe I could, 'track' Matters. Which I could truthfully say I couldn't do." The Dream Demon added, clearly uncomfortable mentioning it.

"Geez…" Magolor murmured, unable to verbalize what was going through his head any other way. Anons being involved in this made Beep feel even worse about the situation. But with everything laid out... "So just, stay the same? Hiding?" She questioned, looking drained. "Well, for now. Unless he pushes me a lot more, or finds something else. He's, gonna be paranoid." Gremlin figured. His brother shook his head, lamenting yet another complication. "…yeah. Do you, think he'll start looking more?" Reverie asked.

"I don't know. But I needed to make sure you all knew, so that we're ready if we need to be." Gremlin replied. He certainly hoped he'd gone about this the right way. "does this mean we can never go see him?" Beep whispered. She was practically curling in on herself, the weight of everything feeling like too much. "N-no, it's just, gonna take more caution." Her uncle assured her with what confidence he could muster.

His brother seemed less convinced, though he wished otherwise. "Move slower when he might be speeding ahead?" Reverie pointed out. Gremlin's expression fell. He had to at least share his idea. "…we… It might help, if you met him sooner. Proved you were trustworthy." He suggested. The Dream Fae's feathers bristled instantly at the thought alone.

They weren't really getting anywhere other than upset. Trying to calm everyone down, Magolor took over. "Guys, we shouldn't jump to anything. I'll just keep my ears open, ok? See how Deeds is doing and make sure not to push him." He planned, making sure he had their attention. And it did seem to help, Beep taking a deep breath. "y-yeah, thanks wiz…" She muttered. Much as she wanted to push forward, to prove she wasn't a force of evil, if the others weren't ready, she would wait.

Her friend could tell she wasn't having an easy time, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Of course, Beep. I get that this has set us all on edge, but we don't know if it actually means anything for us yet. So… we just need to, keep doing our best, yeah?" Magolor hoped. Calming down again, Reverie nodded. "y-yeah… Yeah, ok. Um, thanks for coming to tell us anyway, Grem." He said.

Gremlin paused. Maybe he had, entirely overrreacted and just made everyone feel worse. The guilt weighed on him, but he pushed it aside. "Oh, well… shouldn't keep it to myself." He responded. "yeah." Beep agreed, strained as she sounded. Pulling himself together, Reverie came over and patted Beep's back with a wing. "We'll get through it together." He assured her. "together…" She mumbled. As of today, she had more people to be together with. "…we will."

[bitchapalooza]

A couple hours

Oc(Clive) x Clavell :) because I can :))

Also on Ao3

Clavell doesn't even know why he came tonight. The music was loud. Drunk twenty-somethings all over the place, either crowding up the hallways or touching each other inappropriately in a room full of their fellow classmates or plain strangers. He even walked in on a few in the master bedroom smoking what he really hopes is a regular cigarette despite the smell. Parties just weren't his thing. He was only here because a friend dragged him here. "Live a little, man! You're only twenty-four once, dont be such a buzzkill!" Well not everyone was suited for the college party life, Willow! Some just liked to study in the peace and quiet of their dorm until their roommate returned to be as loud as possible until three in the morning.

Clavell winced as he touched the new cut on his lip. Some blood came off on his finger, but he wiped it on his jeans. He could wash it out later, he decided. He wasn't even surprised to have been cornered like that. It happens often enough that he wasnt even frustrated by it any more. After walking it off now, he doesn't feel the aches from the punches and kicks to his gut anymore. He'll feel it later, though, that's for sure. Still, he walked with a slight hunch and limp as he navigated through the crowd, heading to the outside patio.

The late night air was crisp. It bit at Clavell the moment he walked out the sliding doors. He balled his fists up into the deep pockets of his jacket, retreating for warmth. "I admire your bravery." Came a voice to his right. Clavell jumped. He thought he was the only one out here. Others stood in the yard ahead, circled around a fire pit drinking and chatting. But otherwise the back of the house was clear. "Sorry. Did I scare you?"

"No," He lied. "What do you mean by brave?"

The only light that illuminated the porch was the one mounted above the sliding glass doors. It didn't reach the far end of the porch, however, so Clavell had to squint out into the dark to make out who it was. They appeared to smile, which made Clavell comfortable enough to come closer. It appeared to be another man around his age. Dark hair fashioned into a mullet. He had a lighter jacket on than Clavell's. A simple zip up paired with dark jeans. "Being so open I mean. I don't know many other guys like you. I definitely couldn't do it." Clavell rocked on the balls of his heel, a nervous habit of his. "Uh..." He fumbled with his words.

"I'm, uh," He held his hand out, his wrist going limp. He quickly retracted his hand back into his own pocket, seemingly embarassed. Just a hint of fear if you looked close enough. "Y-yeah..."

Oh! Oh..

"Ah," Clavell anxiously turned his attention to the laughing group over on the lawn. "Its really nothing to admire, honestly. Just a cultural mistake on my part, really." Which was true. He thought if his sexual identity was well received in the majority of his home region, it would be good elsewhere. The beatings, threats, and slurs thrown at him by a select few groups of people proved otherwise. Sure, it happened back home, too. But not as much since his father was in the Elite Four. A ghostly force to be reckoned with. "Here," An unopened can of beer was thrusted towards Clavell. "This'll help." Clavell stepped back, holding his hands in front of himself. "A-ah! Thank you, but I dont drink. I mean I do! But just not beer.." Well. He does drink beer. Just not Kalosian beer. It was weak and tasted gross in his opinion. Call him boring, but he also prefers wine anyway. But he wasnt about to to say that to a Kalosian who may take great offense. That would just be rude.

He chuckled. "Not to drink. For your lip. To keep the swelling down?" Ah. Yeah, that made more sense. Clavell took the cold can and brought it up to his lip. It stung a little, but he appreciated the help too much to take it off, fearing it could hurt this kind man's feelings. "I'm Clive, by the way. Clive Desrosiers." Clive put out his hand for Clavell to shake. He took it. It was cold like everything else out here. "I think we're in a few of the same classes, actually. Kind of hard to miss a white pompadour!" He joked.

Clavell cracked a toothy smile. "Yes, I suppose it is. I'm Klint Clavell. Thanks for, uh. This." He shrugged the beer at Clive.

"Look, uh. I know we just met, so it maybe a little weird to ask," He nervously began. He lowered the volume of his voice. "But would you like to leave? I know a gay bar not far from here. There's a lot kinder folk there who could even patch you up."

Clavell looked back at the party. He couldn't leave Willow. But then again, he probably already left for the dorms with a girl or guy as his company. He knows him well enough to assume as much. And Clavell definitely did not want to stay here all night only to find out his nerd-jock hybrid of a friend had already left hours prior. Well it wouldn't hurt to have a few drinks. And to make a few new friends, he supposes. "Sure." He says. "But only for a couple hours. I have a test to study for."

"Alright. A couple hours. A couple drinks. Sounds good to me."

They sat at the bar all night. Talking. Drinking. Becoming fast friends.

[rmhashauthor]

hello hello! how is your latest writing WIP coming along? Are there any particular scenes you're really looking forward to writing? Any characters you've fallen in love with more than you anticipated? (this is a friendly excuse to talk about your story and characters!)

Oh boy... You've opened the floodgates, my friend.

The Dragon Prince's Consort is going well, I'm several chapters ahead of the posting schedule but I am having to acknowledge the fact that I've been on a little bit of a dry spell because of starting a new job. It's one of those that needs a lot of brainpower in the beginning because I'm still training, and I'm the kind of person who stresses out if things aren't just *PERFECT* so the period between "I'm new so no one expects me to know anything yet" and "I've been here long enough to know what I'm doing" is my least-favorite part of starting a new job. Some days I come home with half a brain cell and just enough energy left to eat a handful of shredded cheese and go to sleep. Damn you, capitalism! Let me write!!

But enough of that.

At the moment TDPC is hovering just under 160 reads on Wattpad, which is fine because a lot of people who follow me wait until I'm done writing to binge. STARFISH was like that, once I let everyone know it was DONE done I started getting weekend warriors who would mainline the whole thing in a couple of days and flood my inbox with screaming emojis. Someone is doing that right now and it's always a delight.

Anyway, TDPC is all plotted out and has been for a while now, so the task is to finish writing the damn thing. And like most ADHD people I already have another story lined up that I'm working on an outline for and may or may not have started drafting the first chapter 😉 I like to take little breaks from one story and work on something else to keep things fresh and interesting, otherwise it's like eating pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner - pizza is great, I love pizza, but by Day 2 I'll gnaw off my own legs for a salad or some soup.

This new one I'm excited about because I've never written a true Villain before. Well, he's not really a villain, per se, more like a "fuck you, fuck your rules, I do what I want" type of guy. I figured if I've written two stories with cinnamon-roll male leads it's time for someone who's more a walking middle finger to society and laws in general. While he's not a mass-murderer or anything, this guy definitely has blood on his hands and isn't the easiest to live with, as the heroine will find out once she's conscious again. I figure most people love a Bad Boy who is a Good Man, so I'm going to see what I can do with that.

Now for his foil, boy is SHE a mess. Look, someone is going to take one look at this sorry thing and yell BOO MARY SUE but frankly I don't care. There's a point to making her such a sad sack and it won't become clear until her bastardization arc kicks in. Plus, I figure if she has a history of making terrible decisions when it comes to men then having her do a little more of the same is in-character for her. Except maybe this time it's different because she's trying NOT to be such a good girl, maybe this time she won't be so naive and her newfound cynicism might prove useful.

The whole story has a Heavy Metal (of which I am a MASSIVE fan) vibe to it, it's a lot grittier than my last two and that's on purpose. I've been listening to a lot of psychedelic doom metal (more than usual) to get my head in the right space for it, which has been interesting. It's not going to be a pretty story, full of flowers and sparkles and happy, because at this point in the universe in my head all the shiny has worn off the concept of First Contact and now we have to deal with the realities of life in space among half a dozen other species, all with their own goals, fears and issues. I've decided to leave my comfort zone of writing cute stories about sweet people and instead do something that I think a lot of people are going to see as dark and even problematic - some themes are not going to be easy to digest, even for someone like me who's lived a relatively easy life, but I hope that I can do some justice to it by 1, talking about it and thus making it less taboo, and 2, doing what I usually do which is make the plot as important as the sexy bits.

However, I do have some hard rules I DON'T break while writing, and there are a few things I will NOT use as plot devices or tropes - I don't write about SA, I won't write an abusive relationship, and I don't do age gaps where one person is underage. I may go right up to the line and stare at it, but not only am I not comfortable writing those I don't want to drive readers off. I'm grey about "trigger warnings" in that I think people should be prepared to run into things that may upset them in fiction, film and art because that's the whole point, but I also believe in self-censorship and letting people decide for themselves to put down something I or another creator has made. It's only fair to give readers an out when things get too hairy, I've put down a LOT of books because the author decided that dubcon was okay when it wasn't, or because their male MC was just an insufferable ass with Alpha Male syndrome (yuck). Hell, I've lost interest in entire SERIES because I've seen tropes get subverted and then the author goes back on the old trope, completely derailing and destroying what could have been a WONDERFUL twist because they didn't commit to getting weird with it. Like my late father always said, "If you're gonna be a bear, be a Grizzly." At the very least, be a Grizzly in a funny hat.

Scenes I'm really looking forward to include Captain PTSD's "aren't you tired of being good?" speech, Miss Sad Sack discovering his "Daddy Mode" and being UNCOMFORTABLY turned on by it, a recurring bit where she has to sit in his lap for business reasons and it is excruciatingly embarrassing how much she comes to like it, an incident where wounds are literally licked in super-inappropriate places, a plethora of R-rated one-liners, and a frankly STUPID amount of sexual tension between two idiots who know EXACTLY what needs to happen, but pride, stubbornness and personal convictions keep it from happening (just... SO MUCH TENSION). A lot of really bad decisions will be made and people are gonna get hurt, but I'm hoping by the end what looks like the beginning of a Very Bad Situation will turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to both of them. I'm also looking forward to playing with more Daddy-dom scenarios that AREN'T borderline abusive, the concept of "you cannot legislate morality", a new alien species with some WEIRD behavioral quirks, and ☆*KNOTTING*☆ Yaaaay!

If you're gonna be a bear, be a Space-Grizzly with a wizard hat and a tricycle made of napalm and glitter.

[the-firebird69]

So went ahead and we made this plastic boat and really a plastic you mold it and you pop it out you mold it you pop it out it takes 1 millionth a Time really it shaves several days off each boat it is so much time it's ridiculous he says it's not even close it's like a month because you have to let it sit in the mold for so long I said he's right he was plastic you can put it in beds and just bolt it up and we tested it's true and you can imply you can you can glue them in you can do all sorts of stuff but we wanted chines and I'm saying what the chimes are for and you're saying in the rough it's going to be a huge mess so we tested him in the water and with the chimes it comes up and it goes on playing and it behaves nicely without the chance it's a mess when it's come but when it's rough the chimes get in the way and make the boat handle in a funny way and it kind of makes it a little terrifying so it looked at what the times are doing and really it's just like a stepped Hull that's what people call it and they were actually blocking the wave from coming up and throwing the boat upwards but when you're riding on plane it levels the boat off so you came up with a mild chain right here you saying, it looks like a shallow v and it works in both applications even when it's really rough it doesn't cast it down as much keeps the kind of straight and heavy waves cuz it kind of pushes away from them a little and it's not a bad thing so we did a study and I was right and you were right and it proves that you're doing the job here that's what you want to show me even though we know how the boat turns out right here you want things to work no matter what and we're going after it and we're going to make it work

What we talking about is plastic boats and recycling to make them and we have a different material than he's used to and you can repair it and heal it and meld it it's not crackling type it's not like a garbage can it's more or less pretty hard it's not brittle and he wants to see it and it's similar to the mix that was on the Saturn and a sticker and stronger and it it kind of dents in though but it doesn't really rip and tear like fiberglass and takes quite a bit to dent it may make it thicker and we can reinforce it so he tried one with a reinforcing pattern and it works much better but there's no give to it so we'll poke a hole but you need strength in the hall so there's a give and take to put some reinforcing in is otherwise you're just going to pull holes in your hole and you're bumping into people and usually it tears a hole and doesn't really takes a lot to tear a hole. Fiberglass is very flammable this plastic is nowhere near as flammable and we tested it and it works pretty good it won't make a huge flame it takes a long time to get you on fire and it's not like the mental hell but you're not flammable but there's not much you can do about it and we can put a coating on that would be smart he says and we're going to do that and the beauty of it is that you pop these out faster than hell so he wants to be a wise ass and you wanted to send Mac the mock up I didn't say what size boat and so he sent over these boats and they're like the rowboat from China lake and they're kind of designed like the rowboat it's not a bad design we had some things and it's our design for it's a real boat and we called it China lake and it's because it's supposed to think it's made in China and do we have some other names of lakes are named after and he took it as a thing of pride then he said you sent me 20 of these little teeny boats. He said laughing but they all had outboards so he had his guys all go out and they're cruising around the canals checking the levels so you said all right and you showed up with the regular boats and they're like 20 ft 30 ft 40 ft and some cabin cruisers and the price is a lot cheaper cuz the top parts made out of plastic too. And it is reinforced with plastic yes but also some metals that won't conduct as much the entire special metal and we put beans in and so forth in the big ones and it's a beam system but boy he was right you can cast them into it or cast the mold onto it and we make double home ones too and we use that method just cast a hole right onto it and it takes a lot less time and a lot less money. And he says this is a great opportunity for Bayliner to make a change and we decided something it's true. And she was excited she said this is great I'm going to have a boat so more in a moment

Thor Freya

[buttercream-squad-imagines]

Tinder in Real Life

Pairings: Harry Lewis x fem!Reader, Sidemen x platonic!Reader Word Count: 2k Warnings: Language some people may find offensive, sexual themes, recycled lines from Sidemen Tinder in Real Life because I'm not at all creative Request: Hey! Could you do reader x Harry imagine where the sidemen do a collab video with the reader who is also a big youtuber and Harrys celebrity crush. And during the video the reader is very flirty, leaving Harry a flustered mess when the flirting is directed towards him, but very jealous when its with any other sidemen.

The Sidemen were one of the biggest groups on YouTube and one that you were very familiar with. At the age of 23, you were a fair bit younger than some of its oldest members but yet you had a close relationship with JJ, whom you had met through YouTube.

You had started your channel when you were 17, just under four years ago, making makeup videos, which was a passion of yours when you were younger. Not that you were any good at it back then. Those videos quickly become unlisted when your channel started blowing up in late 2016, now nearing 20 million at the present time.

It wasn't long before you expanded your horizons and had started making different sorts of videos, including vlogs of your everyday life - which wasn't and still isn't that exciting in your opinion - and those where you just had a laugh, attempting to do stupid challenges that were so popular back then. It was those, however, that grew your channel. Your fans seemed to love them and so you gradually started to make more.

As your small channel began to grow significantly, it caught the attention of KSI, a member of the Sidemen, who reached out to you to for a collab. You were ecstatic. You couldn't believe it at the time, why would someone like KSI with 20 million subscribers want to collaborate with you? By that time, you couldn't exactly call yourself a small channel anymore, with almost 5 million subscribers but it still didn't make any sense to you.

You and JJ quickly bonded after filming together. You had a very similar sense of humour and interests. As the years went, the older boy became one of your best friends, the nature of your relationship being very teasing and flirtatious but the both of you knew it was a joke. It was just the way you both were.

Though despite having known him for nearing 3 years now, you had never met the rest of the Sidemen, with the exception of Simon, as he lived with JJ. Which is why when he texted asking you to collaborate with the Sidemen, you couldn't turn the offer down. You were a fan of the group and the content they were producing. You thought the videos that they made were exceptional, that they were pushing the envelope of the standard of content on YouTube and often found yourself excited for new videos.

He had explained that they were filming another of their 'Tinder in real life' but a YouTuber version with the likes of BambinoBecky and ChiWithAC. You were so excited. You were finally going to meet the rest of JJ's friends and you had the opportunity to be a part of a Sidemen Sunday.

You arrived at the studio the boys were filming at in the afternoon, finding and greeting JJ before he introduced you to the other sidemen in addition to Lux, Freezy and Stephen.

"And you've already met Simon." He finished.

"Yeah. Nice to finally meet you all. JJ tells me a lot about you guys." You laughed.

"Because that's assuring." Ethan pointed out with a chuckle, the other boys letting out agreements.

"Not all bad, I promise." You teased, winking at him. Ethan felt the blood rushing to his face, immediately becoming flustered and stumbling over his words. You found that you often had that effect on people as you could be very direct and flirtatious even when you didn't mean it. To you it was just friendly banter.

"Geez Y/N, stop flirting with people you met literally five minutes ago." JJ rolled his eyes.

"You sound a bit jealous, Jide." You smirked, a teasing grin spread across your face.

"Nah, allow it." There were eruptions of laughter around the room, coming from the boys. You were quick to notice Harry standing out of the way and was significantly quieter than the others, with what seemed to be a forced smile on his face.

Harry was in his own head, barely paying attention to what was going on around him. When JJ had told him that you were going to be in the next Sidemen video, he panicked. You were an accomplished YouTuber who he was quite fond of to say the least. Well, that would be an understatement, he had a fairly large crush on you. A crush that no one but Freezy and Lux knew about.

He knew that JJ had been friends with you for some time now but never considered the possibility of even meeting you. His anxiety acted as a barrier to even the thought of it. But he was currently in the same room as you and had said nothing more than a short 'hello'. He longed to have the confidence Ethan had to speak to you, even more so for you to look at him the way you were.

Already you were flirting with JJ and Ethan, something that caused a pit to form at the bottom of his stomach. He wouldn't admit it, but he could slowly feel the jealousy forming. Not that he had anything to be jealous about in the first place!

You continued to speak with the boys as you got your mic set up, telling them stories you were sure would embarrass JJ.

"Y/N, stop." The older boy whined. He could be like a child sometimes, but it was one of his more endearing qualities. He simply wouldn't be JJ if he wasn't.

"No, carry on." Simon laughed.

"Oh, don't worry, there's plenty more where that came from." You teased.

"I think it's time we started, don't you think?" Harry grumbled.

"Right." You smiled at the boy, who's cheeks became tinted red. He ducked to hide his face and walked around to stand in the line, hiding himself in the middle.

"Hi, I'm Y/N, I'm 23 and I'm from Y/H/T." You spoke to the camera once you were given the go ahead.

"I'm Simon, I'm 28. I like to practice safe sex."

"Always a good start."

"I could tie you to the bed, so you don't fall off." He finished with a giggle. You acted like you were pondering it for a moment before letting out a laugh and swiping right.

"I'm down for that." You teased. The boys all let out rumbles of laughter

"Hi, I'm Ethan, I'm 26 and kiss me if I'm wrong, but you're gonna swipe right."

"What would you rather?" You joked. Ethan shrugged his shoulders and walked closer to the board, sticking his head through with his lips puckered, eliciting a cry of protest from Harry that this wasn't allowed. You laughed and made an over exaggerated motion to swipe to the right, causing him to pout playfully but walked over to the right anyway.

"Hi, I'm Josh, I'm 28. KSI has a top ten single, but you're the only hot single I can see."

"Wow, that was smooth!" You said with a grin. "Definite yes from me."

"I'm Callum, I'm 26. Are you into fitness?" Freezy asked.

"Can't say I am." You replied, unsure of what turn this could take.

"How about you fitness dick in your mouth?"

"I wouldn't get too excited babes, I gag on my toothbrush." You laughed. "We could try though."

You swiped right on him, chuckling as you watched him let out a yes before joining Simon, Ethan, and Josh. You frowned slightly, a crease forming between your brows as you saw Harry whisper something furiously at his friend but ultimately got distracted by Vik stepping up to go next.

"I'm Vik, I'm 25. My ex-girlfriend always said I'd never do better than her, wanna prove her right?" You could hear the cries of the boys in the background, some scolding him, others laughing.

"Man actually said prove her right. Not wrong." JJ shrieked with a shocked look on his face, holding his head with his hands.

"You need to find someone for that." You snarked, swiping left on the boy, who shrugged and walked off.

"Damn! You got told!" Lux cackled.

"Uh hi. I'm Harry. I'm uh 25, no I'm not I'm 24." He stumbled. "Are you sure you're a muggle? Because that ass is magical."

"You should see how magical it can be." You spoke before cringing at yourself and laughing, swiping right to avoid a reply. The boy's face grew a bright shade of red, closely resembling the colour of a tomato.

"Geez, is that an offer?!" Freezy yelled from the right side. You laughed, observing how Harry whispered furiously to the boy to stop and winked at him once he had could see. Your laughter only increased as you watched JJ step up.

"I'm JJ. I'm 28 and are you a raisin? Cause you're raising my dick." The boy in question stood in front of you so confidently, hands clasped together in front of him so seriously that you just lost it. By the time you composed yourself, there were tears almost falling from your eyes.

"A* for effort." You laughed, swiping right eliciting a cry of success.

You had wrapped up filming your segment of the video, which conveniently was the last of the day. You found JJ who you spoke to whilst the other boys were otherwise occupied talking to each other.

"Cheers for coming, Y/N/N. You've been great."

"Anything for you." You joked.

"Don't tempt me." He laughed. You could feel eyes on you, eyes that were burning into your side. You turned your head to see Harry staring you and JJ down before looking away after being caught in the act, and suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

"Does Harry not like me or something?" You whispered to JJ, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden.

"Not that I know of." He frowned looking at the younger boy. "He can be a bit awkward at times and gets flustered a lot."

"Right." You agreed. You excused yourself before sauntering up to the boy in question, calling his name to snap him out of the daze he appeared to be in.

"Oh, um hey Y/N." He stumbled.

"Hi." You smiled gently. "I uh, I was just wondering, do you... have I done something to offend you?"

"Offend me? Why, uh, why would you think that?" He rambled.

"It's just... it's nothing, it's probably just me overthinking things." You waved it off, feeling like a complete idiot.

"I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I don't like you. I don't not like you, in fact I really like you! Oh, um I mean I like you, you're very pretty." The boy couldn't stop rambling which made you laugh. "No, wait."

"You think I'm pretty?" You blushed interrupting him. Harry felt his mouth go dry, not being able to get anything coherent to come out. "Well, Harry, I really like you too."

"What?" His eyebrows shot up so far it was almost comical. "Really? So, you don't like the other guys?"

"What? No." You laughed. "That's absurd. Why would you think that?"

"You seemed very..." The boy trailed off, not wanting to offend you after you had admitted to liking him.

"Flirty?" You finished, causing him to nod. "I'm like that with everyone, I don't mean to be half the time."

"Oh."

"Well, how about you give me your phone number and when you finally grow a pair, you can ask me out?" Your confidence levels had shot up spontaneously.

"Uh, sure." His cheeks had become a dark shade of red as he passed his phone to you so you could put your number in. You kept looking up at him as you typed, putting your name under 'Y/N x' in his contacts before handing it back to him.

"Y/N! Come on! We're going to Nando's!" JJ called from the other side of the room.

"Call me." You winked. Your bottom lip was caught between your teeth and was currently the only thing from stopping the wide grin from spreading across your face. A grin that hadn't disappeared from your face for the rest of the day, much to the curiosity of JJ, who was disappointed when you refused to tell him why, or more appropriately who, had put the smile on your face.

[words-writ-in-starlight]

day 4: "do you trust me?"

(part one)

There are logistics to consider, when it comes to publicly executing a wizard. It’s a show of assurance from the Dynasty, to have him killed under the eyes of all Rosohna, to prove their strength, but also a risk. It looks unprofessional for a captured traitor to make a last stand within feet of the axe, even if all he achieves is going out in a blaze of glory rather than a quick drop of steel.

Steps have been taken to avoid this eventuality. Essek’s hands are shackled behind his back, forced into gloves with steel wires running through the fingers and palms to prevent even the smallest gesture. Between the cloth between his teeth and the metal muzzle holding his jaw tightly closed, he’s no closer to speaking a spell than he is to walking on the sun. Every fiber of his plain prisoner’s shirt and pants has been searched, twice, to ensure that he has nothing on him that might conceivably be used for casting.

Essek has seen this before, although rarely. It was not a surprise, when the appointed day arrived and his guards brought the restraints. Yet it feels unreal, as everything since his trial has felt unreal. As everything since Jester’s message has felt unreal. A dream, unspooling before him, outside his control.

There is a kind of ease to it, that Essek has never experienced before. There is nothing left for him to do. He made his attempt to run, and he failed. He said his words of defense at his trial, and they were not enough. And now, they will use the same techniques that he helped to perfect to drag him to the block and kill him for his treason, his callous disregard for all the lives lost in the war. All neat and tidy, and all he has to do is let the current carry him forward to the inevitable end.

He tells himself, as the gloves are locked onto his hands, that this is one of the better possible outcomes, and he even believes it. His friends, his family—they are not here. Jester has done as she agreed, giving him time to resolve the situation, and hasn’t messaged him since his trial. The Nein are well outside the possible radius of destruction that Essek has caused, in his arrogance and carelessness. He knows his actions will reflect poorly on Den Thelyss, but he hopes that Verin might escape with a mere demotion, as unscathed as anyone could hope to be, protected by Essek’s full, willing confession.

It’s worth it, to pay for their lives with his own.

Essek believes this. He believes it with his whole heart.

The gloves keep his hands from shaking.

Two guards, a goliath with her arms tattooed so densely she looks scaled and a burly half-orc with skin nearly as grey as the stone walls, haul him to his feet in his cell and push him forward. They hold him up by main force when he stumbles and he would otherwise take a head-first fall into the stone. Nonetheless, his pride prickles and burns when the half-orc yanks him upright after his latest near-fall, grip hard on the collar of Essek’s shirt, and snorts a laugh.

“Can’t believe he’s the fucking traitor,” the half-orc says over Essek’s head, drawling the words in a tone full of vindictive amusement that Essek has become regrettably familiar with, lately. “Fucker can’t even walk in a straight line. Can you, Shadowhand?” He gives Essek a sharp cuff on the shoulder to punctuate the insult, and it’s only because Essek has a sense of how this goes by now that he manages to anticipate the blow and stay on his feet.

The goliath laughs, a rolling rumble of thunder as she checks Essek hard with her hip, sending Essek into the corner of the next corridor hard enough that he’d have a bruise, if he lived long enough for it to show up.

“You’re telling me,” the goliath says. “Goddamn, wizards are useless once you get ‘em quiet, huh? Up this way next, what is this, your first time down here?”

“You’ve got to do a pretty good job, but yeah, pretty much just decorative once you shut ‘em up.” The half-orc grabs the cuff holding Essek’s hands together and tugs to indicate the next corridor, ignoring the way it forces Essek up onto his toes against the pain in his shoulders. “I just got in from Jigow,” he continues, as if Essek isn’t even there. “Y’know how it is, they were looking to cover y’all’s staffing problems since this bastard’s confession did a real number on things. Anywhere good to get a drink around here?”

“Thought you looked new,” the goliath said. “You trying to get lucky, new guy?”

“Hey, miss every shot you don’t take,” the half-orc said, sly, angling a glance up at her. “How’s my progress?”

“Depends on how much you spend on those drinks. Hold him, I’ll get the gate.”

The half-orc’s hands close firmly around the tops of Essek’s arms, holding him in place as the goliath strides ahead. In front of her—in front of Essek—is the great gate to the courtyard, and beyond it he can hear the roar of a crowd, bloodthirsty and victorious.

He can picture it. He’s put people here himself, attended executions for treason. The flagstones, smooth and dark beneath the crowd of witnesses. The stone dias with the Bright Queen’s throne, the chairs beside her for close advisors and other nobility. His mother might have been there, if he hadn’t so recently destroyed the reputation of Den Thelyss. And at the center, where all could see, the stairs, and the platform, and the block, and the axe.

The goliath is at the door, and the lock clatters, metal-on-metal.

Under cover of the noise, the half-orc lowers his head and speaks into Essek’s ear, no longer the careless drawl, but quick, clipped words in a familiar accent.

“I don’t have time to explain,” the half-orc murmurs in Fjord’s voice, so quiet that Essek would think it was a hallucination if he couldn’t feel the air move against his skin. “We have a plan. Do you trust me?”

Essek’s first response isn’t relief. It’s not even shock. It is pure, undiluted, blazing rage, that, after all this, these fucking morons are here. It hits him so hard that his skin burns with it, his vision spotting black at the edges, lips twisting against his gag. All at once, for the first time in a week, Essek is awake, jarred back to the present by the fury pounding through his veins. He can feel the air rushing into his throat, the hammering of his heart against his ribs, every fiber of his coarse prisoner’s clothing and every imperfection of the stone under his bare feet.

Fortunately, Essek has been a traitor in the heart of the Dynasty for too long to let it slow him down, and he nods, once, minutely.

“Okay,” Fjord breathes. “She’s going to open that door. When I yell, make a run for it.”

Once upon a time, Essek would have spent valuable time thinking about how astronomically terrible that plan is, but prolonged exposure to the Mighty Nein teaches a person to accept the reality of a plan being terrible right away and move on to thinking about managing the terrible plan quickly. And—

Even if it was the worst conceivable plan, even if it was—well, make a run for it, when there’s a sword-wielding goliath between him and the outside, which is entirely populated by guards, magic users, and a crowd that wants him dead—even then, Essek can’t imagine turning down the offer. It’s not exactly a port in a storm, but it’s something.

Essek is twenty paces from his own death, and even if this plan just ends with him having a friend at his side while he dies, it’s already better than dying alone. He never claimed to have entirely cured himself of selfishness.

And besides, Essek reassures himself as the goliath shoulders open the door. If this gets Fjord killed too, Essek will just have to find a way to drag himself back from death and throttle the entire Nein on principle. Stranger things have happened.

The door creaks open, and Fjord’s hands loosen, just slightly, and Essek runs.

“Fucker!” Fjord roars behind him, sounding breathless—pained? It buys Essek a bare moment to close the distance to the gate, and then dart around the goliath’s side as she starts to turn. “He’s using magic! Stop him!”

The goliath snarls, and Essek puts on a reckless burst of speed. Her hand shoots out and grabs his shirt, but Essek is moving too quickly. The fabric cuts into him as it rips, and then he’s stumbling into the courtyard.

He doesn’t get any further. His luck doesn’t hold up to a second blow from the goliath, and she slams a fist into his chest so hard he hears ribs crack. He’s shoved backward, toward the door, with a helpless, strangled shout of pain that draws every eye.

He’s caught from behind, a fist in his tangled white hair, and he hears a whisper of “Trust me.”

And then Fjord’s hand, unremarkable guard’s sword in his grip, comes down, and cuts Essek’s throat.